Exhibition of the week
Matisse in the Studio
The diverse world art collection of Henri Matisse is recreated by an exhibition that explores how it shaped his vision.
• Royal Academy, London, 5 August to 12 November.
Also showing
Shadows of War
The Victorian war photography of Roger Fenton preserves haunting images of the Crimean war.
• Queen’s Gallery, Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh, 4 August to 26 November.
Douglas Gordon
The most literary-minded of contemporary Scottish artists explores the legacy of national poet Robert Burns.
• Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh, 29 July to 29 October.
Bobby Niven
A temporary sculpture workshop for craft and conversation about art, politics and plants.
• Johnston Terrace wildlife garden, part of Edinburgh art festival, until 27 August.
Beyond Caravaggio
Take a break from theatre and comedy at the Edinburgh fringe to see this outstanding exhibition dominated by Caravaggio’s brilliant late Renaissance art.
• Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh, until 24th September.
Masterpiece of the week
There is a fairytale sweetness to this early painting by the gifted Raphael. A knight in brightly coloured clothes and shiny armour slumbers in a dreamy landscape with a hilltop castle and blue distant hills. Two women stand over him, one proffering a flower, the other a book and sword. The flower suggests courtly love, the book and sword the virtue of a Christian knight. A true gentleman can have it all, chivalry, religion and love – like Raphael himself, who became both the pope’s favourite artist and a legendary hedonist.
• National Gallery, London.
Image of the week
Little Electric Chair, by Andy Warhol
Rock star Alice Cooper forgot he had an Andy Warhol classic worth millions. But he’s found it now, in a cardboard tube. Read all about it.
What we learned this week
The contenders for Astronomy photographer of the year are out of this world
… while the World Illustration awards contain hidden surprises
Britain’s best-loved artwork is a Banksy
… which says a lot about the country’s artistic sensibilities
Kitsch is everywhere this year
Tech giants are competing to make giant pleasure palaces
Bacteria bloom into bio-art through Ovid’s Metamorphoses
Subversive conceptual artist Rose Finn-Kelcey was a true original
Artists are shaping new worlds for video games
An NPG portrait shows Jack O’Connell in a different light
Liverpool is celebrating LGBT art
Grandad’s old travel photos took one family on a world tour of discovery
David Newell-Smith turned newspaper photography into an art form
Masahisa Fukase’s genius is much missed
Low-rider cars have become high art
Even on a pilgrimage, you need a bath
Get involved
Our A-Z of Readers’ Art series continues – please submit your artworks on the theme of U Is for Underwater.
Don’t forget
To follow us on Twitter: @GdnArtandDesign.
