DECKING THE HALLS WITH MASTERPIECES

For much of 1985, Gustaf Anders restaurant, the posh La Jolla eatery, has been doing its share to help local artists show their wares by surrounding diners with locally created art. Now the restaurant will offer a Christmas gift to diners or bar customers--albeit somewhat belatedly. But a little background first.

Gustaf Magnuson, the Gustaf in Gustaf Anders, likes art and wanted to do something for local artists. “I think the art in most restaurants is atrocious,” he said. “We have such wonderful walls, I thought it would be interesting to do art shows here.” The first artist he exhibited was Kenneth Capps. Local artist Reesey Shaw has curated the shows for Magnuson, who is exhibiting works by Victor Henderson, Patricia Patterson and John Halberg through Jan. 6.

On March 6, local artists will take a temporary back seat to works by masters from local collections. Paintings or sculptures by Braque, Pissarro, Gauguin, Henry Moore and Degas will be included in the exhibition, which will include a sketch by Rembrandt. The La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art is helping with transportation and security, including alarm systems, for the exhibit. A March 6 fund-raising dinner for the museum will be held at the restaurant. Tickets are $150.

When he began, Magnuson had visions of trading dinners for paintings, a longstanding tradition between restaurateurs and artists. “You know, I’ll give you dinner, and you paint me a painting,” Magnuson said. But he has not had luck finding talented and starving artists. With paintings by local artists bearing price tags of $2,000 to $6,000, Magnuson could not afford it. “Those days are over,” he said, adding that at those prices he would be fixing the artist dinner “for the next five years.”

ORIENTAL FILM: Japanese film buffs are likely to be pleased with “Before Rashomon,” a series of 10 movies made between 1930 and 1940 and previously thought to be lost. The series of films from the “Golden Age” of Japanese cinema was organized by the Japan Film Library Council, with the assistance of the British Film Institute.

The movies, including “The Groom Talks in His Sleep,” “Composition Class,” “A Star Athlete,” “A Pot Worth a Million Ryo” and “Blossoming Port,” will be shown on six consecutive Thursdays beginning Jan. 9 at the Mandeville Auditorium at UC San Diego. Sponsors are the Japan Society in New York and the UCSD International Film Series. Double features begin at 7:30 p.m., with single presentations at 8 p.m. Series tickets are $25 to all 10 films. Single tickets are $5, or $3 for seniors and students.

BUDDY SYSTEM: Tim Miller, the avant-gardish homosexual Southern California dancer who made a hit with the New York performance art crowd, returns to Sushi with “Buddy Systems,” a take on relationships from the viewpoint of a young homosexual boy. The performances will be at 8 p.m. on Jan. 9, 10 and 11 at the San Diego Repertory Theatre’s Sixth Avenue Playhouse, 1620 6th Ave.

Meanwhile, Sushi has commissioned “Streetworks,” four site-specific installations for exhibition during January. Artist David Avalos will create a full-scale “Tijuana tourist donkey cart” to focus on social concerns, including the undocumented worker. The piece will be shown throughout San Diego with associated events by Herman Baca, Michael Schnorr and performance artists Poyesis Genetica.

Artist Mario Lara’s project will delve into the need for security in the urban environment in the first in a series of streetworks titled “Topophobia,” about “landscapes of fear.” Other artists in “Streetworks” are Marjorie Nodelman and Frank Grow, whose creations, using pop-impressionist figuration and Renaissance icons to present other views of contemporary California, will be installed in the Sushi gallery.

ARTBEATS: The run of “Chester Michalik: Photographs,” color works focusing on the aura of buildings in the United States and Mexico, has been extended at the La Jolla Museum of Photographic Arts through Jan. 26 . . . The “Lou Rawls Parade of Stars Telethon” will be broadcast locally from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m., Dec. 28 on XETV Channel 6. A gala fund-raiser dance and reception will be held in connection with the telethon from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. at the El Cortez Center to help support the United Negro College Fund . . .

“Sculpture San Diego ‘86,” a juried exhibition sponsored by the Circle Gallery and the Llan-Lael Foundation and limited to San Diego County and Tijuana artists, will be held June 2 through 29 at the Old Town gallery. Guidelines and entry forms are available at the gallery. Deadline for entries is Feb. 15 . . .

Day-of-the-performance half-price tickets are available at the Old Globe Theatre box office for “Bert and Maisy” and “Pygmalion.” Subject to availability, the tickets are sold Tuesday through Friday from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. and Sundays from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Half-price tickets for Saturday and Sunday matinees are available from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. . . .

Anasa Briggs’ “Black Male: an Endangered Species” will air at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 5 on KPBS Channel 15. The interview will focus on the rising crime rate among black males and its effect on black families and black heritage . . .