Exhibition of the week
America’s Cool Modernism
The desolate urban vision of Edward Hopper contrasts with Charles Demuth’s futurist hymn I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold in this survey of American art in the jazz age.
• Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 23 March to 22 July.
Also showing
Anthea Hamilton
The artist who entered a big bum for the Turner prize returns with more fun.
• Tate Britain, London, 22 March to 7 October.
Murillo: The Self-Portraits
Metaphysical portraits about time, art and fame take you to the streets of 17th century Seville.
• National Gallery, London, 28 February to 21 May.
Another Kind of Life: Photography on the Margins
Casa Susanna, a refuge for male transvestites in 1950s and early 60s America, is one of the alternative cultures this exhibition celebrates.
• Barbican Art Gallery, London, until 27 May.
Pop! Art in a Changing Britain
Richard Hamilton, Eduardo Paolozzi and all that. The birth of the consumer society revisited.
• Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, until 7 April.
Masterpiece of the week
Men of the Docks (1912) by George Bellows
The broad chunkiness of this painting’s tough brushstrokes powerfully conveys the cold and rawness of a morning at the New York docks. Bellows painted visceral scenes of city life including his renowned depictions of boxers. Here he vividly captures the reality of life on the waterfront. The men hunch against the bitter cold as they wait to see who will be hired today. This is working-class impressionism as the French never did it.
• National Gallery, London
Image of the week
A Devon pensioner got a £381,000 surprise when she looked in shoebox left by her late husband. It contained a rare vase by the British artist Hans Coper, which raised a record sum at auction.
What we learned this week
Liverpool Biennial 2018 lineup takes global view in the age of Brexit
Tacita Dean unveiled two five-star shows in London
Historic British mosques have gained important architectural listings
Bad blood derailed a court bid to tackle Russian forgery
Wikipedia is learning more about women in the arts
Renowned architect Richard Meier has stepped down amid claims of sexual harassment
Joan Jonas has come to Tate Modern
Marc Quinn sculpted Zombie Boy for London’s Science Museum
Tracey Emin has sent birds of peace to Sydney
… while Ai Weiwei is the star of the city’s biennale
London’s Hoxton Square is a study in gentrification
Photographer Arthur Crestani exposes India’s dream cities
Nan Goldin staged an opioids protest at New York’s Met
… while this year’s Armory Show art fair has a markedly political flavour
US schoolchildren used their artistic skills to get their gun-control message across
… while Anish Kapoor made his own protest against the NRA
Elizabeth Heyert brought dignity in death to a Harlem woman
You can take an artistic trip through Victoria’s farm country in Australia
RB Kitaj liked to draw his friends
And in The Start podcast, Will Self talked about his early days as a cartoonist
Don’t forget
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