Exhibition of the week
Portrait of the Artist
Artemisia Gentileschi, Rembrandt, Leonardo da Vinci, Rubens and David Hockney are among the icons whose images are explored in this insightful survey of artistic fame.
• Queen’s Gallery, London, 4 November–17 April.
Also showing
Emma Hamilton: Seduction and Celebrity
George Romney’s lustful portraits of a woman he was plainly obsessed with are among the highlights of this exploration of the life and times of Nelson’s lover and an icon of the Romantic age.
• National Maritime Musem, Greenwich, 3 November–17 April
Bellows and the Body
George Bellows painted bodies being pummelled in the boxing ring, but how did he learn to see flesh with such clarity and compassion? The artistic development of one of America’s greatest realist painters is explored in this show.
• Barber Art Gallery, Birmingham, until 22 January
Andres Serrano
Startling Baroque images of torture by this artist who has been shoving the truth in our faces since the 1980s.
• Void, Derry, until 17 December
Abstract Expressionism
Do not miss this richly satisfying encounter with some of the greatest artists of the modern age.
• Royal Academy, London, until 2 January
Masterpiece of the week
Artists before Rembrandt portrayed themselves and their families, but his paintings lay his life bare in a way that is unmatched. Here is his wife Saskia looking frail and vulnerable as he salutes her in a costume that symbolises spring and joy. She would die young in 1642. Rembrandt’s love is heartbreaking.
• National Gallery, London
Image of the week
Featured as this week’s My Best Shot, Roe Ethridge told us the story behind his rental car falling in a canal near his parents’ hometown of Belle Glade, Florida. “It’s like the opening shot in a film noir: a car being pulled from a canal. But there’s a self-deprecating side to it, too. People ask: ‘Did someone die?’ No, it was just stupid old me, embarrassing my family again.”
What we learned this week
The British Museum’s new South Africa show is five-star stunning
James Ensor is the Victorian outsider artist you’ve never heard of
The Moma – shamefully – acquired the first ever set of emojis
We dodged the hipsters and flat whites in Prince Charles’s ever-growing new town Poundbury
A Marc Newsom chest of drawers sold for €1m (£910,600) at auction
The Prado hosted its first ever exhibition of a female artist – after 200 years
Tate Britain opened a superb survey of British painter Paul Nash
which features a lost work of surrealist sculpture
James Franco covered some people in gel in the name of art
We went back in time to the utopian Warner Estate of north-east London
The aforementioned Andres Serrano remains provocative – and essential
Robert Beatty’s artworks go down the psychedelic rabbit hole
British artists are obsessed with the classical world
The Smithsonian is hosting the first US exhibition of the Qu’ran
Get involved
Join us for these exclusive private view events in November: The Hepworth prize for Sculpture at The Hepworth Wakefield; Beyond Caravaggio at The National Gallery, London; and Artist Rooms: Andy Warhol at The Whitworth, Manchester.
Our A-Z of Art series continues – share your art with the theme ‘M for majesty’
And check out the entries for the theme ‘L for London’
Don’t forget
To follow us on Twitter: @GdnArtandDesign
