New Exhibitions in May

This month’s star turn in London has to be James McNeill Whistler at Tate Britain, apparently the first major retrospective in Europe in 30 years and featuring 150 works. There’s no doubting Whistler’s position as one of the most influential of late 19th-century painters; just how often have you seen other artists alluding to his portrayal of his mother, the Arrangement in Grey and Black, in their work? On at the Tate from May 21 to September 27, and then at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam from mid-October. For a taster, here’s a reminder of a smaller Whistler show at the Royal Academy in 2022.

One of the greatest names in Spanish 17th-century art is Francisco de Zurbarán. We have to admit, many of his religious paintings leave us cold, but he’s also known for his portraits and still lifes. The first major exhibition devoted to him in the UK takes place at the National Gallery from May 2 to August 23. Zurbarán will have almost 50 paintings, including the unmistakable and much-reproduced Agnus Dei or A Lamb from the Prado. The exhibition moves on to the Louvre in early October and then to the Art Institute of Chicago in late February 2027.

Kew Gardens is staging the largest ever presentation of outdoor sculptures by Henry Moore, with 30 monumental artworks installed throughout the grounds and more than 90 smaller-scale works indoors. Henry Moore: Monumental Nature is on from May 9 to January 31.

Winston Churchill took lifelong pleasure in painting as a pastime, finding it a constant source of joy and relief from the pressures of politics and government. The Wallace Collection is staging the first major retrospective of his work since his death in 1965, with over 50 pictures, more than half from private collections. Winston Churchill the Painter runs from May 23 to November 29.

And at the Philip Mould gallery in Pall Mall, there’s a free exhibition from May 14 to July 10 entitled Elizabeth I: Queen & Court, exploring how portraiture was used as a tool of power during the reign of the last Tudor queen. Exhibits include the earliest life-size full-length portrait of Elizabeth.

Off to East Sussex now, and initially to Charleston in Lewes, where they’re staging the first major exhibition devoted to a pioneering woman artist, Gladys Hynes (1888-1958) and, at the same time, a show focusing on Walter Sickert’s works on paper. Both Gladys Hynes: Radical Lives and Walter Sickert: Working Notes are on from May 2 to October 11.

And just a short train ride away in Eastbourne, the Towner presents Comrades in Art: Artists against Fascism, highlighting the 1930s grouping set up to oppose fascist movements across Europe. While the founding members may not be so well known, prominent supporters included Laura Knight and Paul Nash. This show, at one of our favourite venues, runs from May 7 to October 18.

In West Sussex, Pallant House in Chichester presents British Landscapes: A Sense of Place, featuring more than 60 artists from the late 18th century to the end of the 20th. Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, Barbara Hepworth, Ivon Hitchens, Paul Nash and Graham Sutherland are some of the big names. May 30 to November 1.

We spent a day in Bruges just a couple of weeks ago, exploring a city that was one of the great mercantile centres of the Middle Ages. And that history is the theme of the opening show at the new exhibition centre there, which goes by the name of Brusk. They’re bringing artworks, manuscripts and objects from all over the world to Flanders for what they call “an invitation to take a broader look at history and globalisation”. Bigger Picture: Connected Worlds of Bruges 900-1550 is on from May 8 to September 6.

In Paris, the Grand Palais is devoting an exhibition to Hilma af Klint, the Swedish woman who pioneered abstraction in art at the very start of the 20th century, though her work remained unknown for decades after her death. May 6 to August 30.

We’ve had young Rembrandt, we’ve had late Rembrandt. Time to get very specific, with the artist at the age of 25 or 26 in Rembrandt 1632: Creation of a Brand at Wilhelmshöhe Palace in Kassel from May 8 to August 9. That was the year he moved from his home town of Leiden to find fame and fortune in Amsterdam. The exhibition moves on to another German venue, Friedenstein Castle in Gotha, from September 5 to December 6.

Three centuries on, and in 1932 Germany’s chaotic post-war experiment with democracy was approaching its end. A period of economic gloom and rapid cultural change also saw the rise of the Nazis. From May 12 to September 27 at the Lenbachhaus in Munich, A Long-Distance Call: Scenes from the Weimar Republic delves into stories from the era, featuring artists including Christian Schad, Jeanne Mammen and Gabriele Münter.

At the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin, they’re honouring the art dealer Paul Cassirer, one of the key figures who introduced the French Impressionists into Germany. More than 100 works will be on show in Cassirer and the Breakthrough of Impressionism from May 22 to September 27, with Degas, Manet, Monet and Renoir among the highlights.

Norwegian chocolate: perhaps not the most obvious adjective-noun combination in the food universe. But wait! Let’s throw Edvard Munch into the mix…. In 1923, for the Freia chocolate plant in Oslo, Munch painted the first-ever decorative artworks to be commissioned for a factory. They’re being transferred to the Munch Museum in the city for Edvard Munch and the Chocolate Factory, which is on from May 21 to October 11 and will also take a look at the broader social context of the time and Munch’s interest in making art for public spaces. The big question is: Did Edvard get to munch on free samples?

Staying in Oslo, let’s head to the National Museum for Asta Nørregaard: Truth and Beauty. Born in 1853, 10 years before Munch, Nørregaard became the most renowned portrait painter of her day, but this is the first museum exhibition devoted to her work. It runs from May 28 to October 18.

Toledo Cathedral is an astounding sight at any time, but this year they’re marking its 800th anniversary with an exhibition bringing together 350 works of art — paintings, sculptures, tapestries and more — with El Greco, Velázquez and Zurbarán among the star attractions. Entitled Primada, reflecting the cathedral’s claim to primacy in the Iberian peninsula, it’s on from May 25 to October 14.

Last chance to see….

Bridget Riley’s just turned 95 and she’s still going strong. Experience her mesmerising Op Art in an engrossing free exhibition at Turner Contemporary in Margate, Bridget Riley: Learning to See, until May 4.

You’ve got until May 10 to catch Joseph Wright of Derby: From the Shadows at the National Gallery in London. Some stunning paintings, but expensive for what it is. See the same show for free at Derby Museum & Art Gallery from mid-June.

May 10 is also the last day for the William Nicholson retrospective at Pallant House in Chichester, with glittering still lifes perhaps the highlight.

Closing on May 17 at the Mapfre Foundation in Madrid is the retrospective of late 19th- and early 20th-century Swedish painter Anders Zorn: Travelling the World, Remembering the Land.

And another exhibition in Madrid, this time shutting its doors on May 31, features Zorn’s close Danish contemporary, Vilhelm Hammershøi: The Eye that Listens, at the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza. It reopens at the Kunsthaus in Zurich at the start of July.

In Ghent, May 31 is also the last day for Unforgettable: Women Artists from Antwerp to Amsterdam, 1600-1750, a show at the Museum of Fine Arts that puts dozens of disregarded female artists back on the mainstream art-historical record.

And on the very same day, the Marquess of Rockingham’s Scrub reaches the finish line in Stubbs: Portrait of a Horse, a small free exhibition at the National Gallery in London that’s definitely worth a few minutes of your time.

Images

James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1, 1871, Musée d’Orsay, Paris
Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965), Cap d’Ail, Alpes-Maritimes, 1952, Royal Academy of Arts, London. © Churchill Heritage Ltd; Photo: © Royal Academy of Arts, London; Photographer: John Hammond
Anonymous artist, copy after Rogier van der Weyden (about 1399-1464), Portrait of Philip the Good, 2nd half of 15th century, Musea Brugge, Bruges
Käte Hoch (1873-1933), Portrait of Dr E Müller-Kamp, 1929, Lenbachhaus Munich
Asta Nørregaard (1853-1933), Marthine Cappelen Hjort, née Kiær (detail), 1897, Nasjonalmuseet, Oslo. Photo: Nasjonalmuseet/Jacques Lathion

Michaelina Wautier (c. 1614-1689), Two Girls as Saints Agnes and Dorothea, c. 1650, Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (KMSKA) — Flemish Community Collection

Viral News