From the age of 16, the Edinburgh-born painter Francis Campbell Boileau Cadell studied in Paris and it was bound to show. This was the early 20th century when Paris was reeling with joie de vivre from Manet's impressionism. Back home, Cadell no doubt struggled to translate French techniques to fit the murk of downtown Edinburgh. Yet he somehow managed it, picturing the posh Scots sophistications of Edinburgh's 1920s new town. At Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art until 18 March 2012 Photograph: PR
This show exploring magic with toys, tricks, movie props, costumes and fairy stories is a must for fledgling Derren Browns and wannabe Harry Potters of all ages. Where witches, ghouls and sprites were once the preserve of adult folk tales, the offerings here track their evolution as children's entertainment, from wind-up Cinderella dolls from the 1950s to Wayne Anderson's decidedly 70s dragon (pictured). Magic touches everything at V&A Museum of Childhood, E2, until 4 March 2012 Photograph: Lauren Mclean
Brown's monumental and utterly cluttered attempted masterpiece, Work, is joined here by 140 choice pieces in the first major Brown exhibition since 1964. Among them is the honestly modern 1952 An English Autumn Afternoon, a view from the back window of Brown's Hampstead lodgings, as well as The Last of England (pictured). At Manchester Art Gallery until 29 January 2012 Photograph: David Rowan
Hailing from either side of the Atlantic and across centuries, the votive offerings, amulets and charms in this pair of exhibitions spin an intricate web of faith and superstition. Mexican 'miracle paintings' open a window on to everyday dramas. Meanwhile artist Felicity Powell has delved into the Wellcome Collection's stash of age-old London amulets: talismans such as acorns of carved horn to ward off lightning, coral for health, and pointed animal teeth. At Wellcome Collection, NW1, until 26 February 2012 Photograph: Wellcome Images
In this nicely timed show for the festive season, the Flemish Renaissance painter (nicknamed Hell Brueghel for his morbidly apocalyptic fantasies) is seen to have a gentler side. Typically charming is The Faithless Shepherd (pictured), in which the shepherd is shown scarpering as a wolf tucks in to one of his lost sheep beneath a sky of cobalt clouds. At Aberdeen Art Gallery until 19 February 2012 Photograph: PR
Photographs, postcards and posters document the early-70s heyday of a collaborative group of five artists who styled themselves as early proponents of the tradition of 'living sculpture'. Nice Style took the already kitsch roleplay of 70s pop and treated it to a heady dose of art-world irony. At Henry Moore Institute until 12 February 2012 Photograph: PR
These illuminated manuscripts, coveted by English monarchs of the middle ages, look back to a time when books were luxury objects, housing gilded wisdom. Alongside bestiaries, prayer books and studies of humanist thought, there are 'how tos' for the budding monarch, including how to be a good king and how to stay hygienic. The illustrations, lit up in precious gold leaf and lapis lazuli, are as bright now as they were hundreds of years ago. At The British Library, NW1, until 13 March 2012 Photograph: PR
