Exhibition of the week
David Hockney
Hockney is one of the most original and important artists we have ever given the world – this will be a smash hit and rightly so.
• Tate Britain, London, 9 February-29 May.
Also showing
Volcanoes
A smokin’ survey of art and science inspired by nature’s most violent wonder.
• Bodleian Library, Oxford, 10 February-2 May.
Degas to Picasso
The rise of modern art in France is charted through a private collection that includes all the giants – Manet, Cézanne, Renoir, Matisse and Van Gogh are all here.
• Asmolean Museum, Oxford, 10 January-7 May.
Entangled: Threads and Making
The way women have reclaimed craft as art is revealed by more than 40 artists including Sonia Delaunay, Louise Bourgeois, Phyllida Barlow, Karla Black, Rosemarie Trockel and Kiki Smith.
• Turner Contemporary, Margate, until 7 May.
Robots
From Renaissance automata to 1950s tin men and through to the interactive droids of today, this is a thoughtful exhibition about a very popular subject.
• Science Museum, London, 8 February-3 September.
Masterpiece of the week
Johannes Vermeer, A Young Woman Standing at a Virginal, about 1670-2
The room is almost like a painted box, its dimensions are so crisp. White light from the window illumines paintings of earth, sky and flesh and conjures the silver shimmer of her dress. She looks at you, as mysterious as the shadow that falls below the window.
• National Gallery, London.
Image of the week
Photographer and vogue dancer Kia LaBeija told us about this, her best shot. “This image is taken from my 24 series, a collection of self-portraits exploring what it’s like growing up with HIV … The photo shows what I see in my head when I go for check-ups. I suppose it’s a kind of fantasy. The dress is the one I wore to my school prom … I wasn’t supposed to live long enough to see a prom. So this is my way of being defiant and resilient, of saying: ‘I’m still here.’”
What we learned this week
British museum attendance is markedly down …
… and it shows a nation without hope or aspiration
… while the RA’s forthcoming show on the subject must not glamorise this era of totalitarianism
David Hockney redesigned the Sun’s masthead … with a picture of the sun
… but are they just rehashes of his old work?
Adrian Searle reviewed Joachim Koester’s baffling new video works
You shared your portraiture for our A-Z of Readers’ Art series – see the best entries here
We spoke to photographer Mark Neville, whose latest series charts children at play across the world
Rowan Moore debated the merits of London’s new Canaletto luxury apartment building
We went behind the scenes of the Science Museum’s new Robots exhibition
The V&A announced its latest fashion blockbuster – this time on Balenciaga
Lauren Elkin looked at the legacy of Virginia Woolf’s painter sister Vanessa Bell
Oliver Wainwright looks at Ikea’s flatpack refugee shelter that won design of the year
Tate Modern is planning a “once in a lifetime” Picasso show focusing on his banner year: 1932
Get involved
Book now for Guardian members’ events: a private view of the Robots exhibition at the Science Museum in London, and a private view of Never Going Underground: The fight for LGBT+ rights at the People’s History Museum in Manchester.
Our A-Z of Readers’ Art series continues – we’re now asking for your artworks on the theme of Q is for Quality. Submit them here.
Don’t forget
To follow us on Twitter: @GdnArtandDesign.
