Freud, Nazis and new bridges across the Thames – the week in art

Victorian photographic miracles of light … Julia Margaret Cameron’s Circe (1865). Photograph: George Eksts/Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Exhibition of the week: Julia Margaret Cameron

The portraits and staged scenarios Julia Margaret Cameron photographed are among the most beguiling of all British artworks. Very early in the history of photography, she saw how the camera could be used to create romance and fantasy. Her pictures are Victorian miracles of light.
• Victoria and Albert Museum, London SW7, from 28 November to 21 February 2016.

Other exhibitions this week

Tightrope Walk
A large exhibition of contemporary and modern figurative art, with works by Picasso and Lucian Freud, Alex Katz and Tracey Emin.
• White Cube Bermondsey, London SE1, until 24 January.

Gavin Turk
The witty, not-quite-so-young British artist brings an ironic eye to Sigmund Freud’s art collection – by taking over his house.
• Freud Museum, London NW3, until 7 February.

Abstract Landscape
Barbara Hepworth, Gillian Ayres and more feature in this exploration of abstraction and natural reality in modern British art.
• Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, until 10 January.

Michael Craig-Martin
Cool images of everyday things by the eminent conceptual artist.
• Serpentine Gallery, London W2, until 14 February.

Masterpiece of the week

Preserved for ever … Thomas Gainsborough’s The Painter’s Daughters Chasing a Butterfly (c1756). Photograph: National Gallery

Thomas Gainsborough – The Painter’s Daughters Chasing a Butterfly (c1756)
This heartbreaking painting expresses Gainsborough’s parental love in a completely disarming way. It is a tender personal moment preserved for ever, like a butterfly under glass.
• National Gallery, London.

Image of the week

Kate Moss for American Vogue (1999). Photograph: Annie Leibovitz

What we learned this week

How Nazi art came back to Berlin

Revealed: the new Thames bridge proposal that’s a “no-brainer”

That there was public fury as another bridge across the Thames was announced at Nine Elms that’s anything but a no-brainer

That Gilbert and George are still making art as undeniable as a punch in the face

Build, baby, build: how radical Italian architects did disco

How a photographer is making interracial couples speak out about the racism they’ve faced

That the Tate’s Artist and Empire exhibition is a captivating look at the colonial times we still live in

That the Science Museum is about to honour the genius of Leonardo da Vinci – by building his inventions

How Christine Sun Kim, who was born dead, has fought to become a sound artist (and how she was inspired by Bart Simpson)

That a dinosaur has proved the madness of the art market

Global panic: that an art show called Exit is bringing climate change to terrifying life

That the mystery of Vermeer’s Little Street in Delft has been revealed – and locals report a sightseeing invasion

And in the biggest shocker of the week, it was revealed that middle-class people dominate the arts

Happy fifth birthday Self Publish, Be Happy – the DIY saviours of photography

That the FitBit creators have made a wearable thermometer for kids that’s like a digital Mary Poppins

And finally ...

C is for consciousness: it’s your last chance to share artworks that show your rich inner lives