Exhibition of the week
Drag: Self-portraits and Body Politics
Robert Mapplethorpe, Cindy Sherman, Leigh Bowery and many more star in a survey of self-transformation in art.
• Hayward Gallery, London, from 22 August until 14 October.
Also showing
Picasso 1932: Love, Fame, Tragedy
There is still time to visit this mind-boggling revelation of what a genius looks like.
• Tate Modern, London, until 9 September.
Augustus John
This flamboyant, early 20th-century Welsh painter had talent in spadefuls, but lacked the soul of his sister Gwen.
• Poole Museum, Dorset, until 30 September.
Patrick Heron
The bright palette of one of Britain’s most renowned abstract painters is perfect for a summer day by the sea.
• Tate St Ives, Cornwall, until 30 September.
Sir Richard Wallace: The Collector
This sumptuous little show explores the luxury and indulgence of art collecting in the 19th century, and brings to life the man who built one of Britain’s finest museums.
• Wallace Collection, London, until 6 January.
Masterpiece of the week
This huge canvas – more than 4 metres wide – conveys the grandeur of Tintoretto’s scope. Most of his great works are still in Venice, where he lived. This passionate Christian created cosmic visions of heaven and earth, miracles and martyrdoms on the walls and ceilings of churches in the city. His command of space can be seen in the subtle way this painting fuses intimacy and spectacle. It is a great swath of chiaroscuro within which we see a tender moment of self-humbling, as the son of God kneels before Peter. Damaged by time as it is, there is a fairytale magic to this sombre moment at an inn.
• National Gallery, London.
Image of the week
Dylan Thomas by Augustus John, 1937-38
The National Portrait Gallery has bought a portrait of the Welsh poet as a young man of 23, in a deal funded by a philanthropic trust and the National Heritage Memorial Fund. Next year, as part of the gallery’s Coming Home initiative, the painting will go on show in Thomas’s home town, Swansea, where it will be united with a portrait of his wife, Caitlin, at the Glynn Vivian art gallery.
What we learned
£15bn-worth of architecture brings Crossrail colossal wonders – but a lot of beige
Banu Cennetoğlu’s refugee list has been defaced in Liverpool … a second time
Banksy is not happy about a Moscow exhibition of his work
Grayson Perry talked about being estranged from his mother
The painter John Minton deserves to be remembered
Huts come in all shapes and sizes
Congo fashion week brings out the sapeur spirit
Heads are rolling in Sheffield
Sidney Nolan’s Ned Kelly rides again in Perth
A new Wellcome prize puts the foundation on health
Tate has a blind spot when it comes to women artists, some believe
Emery Walker’s magnificent Islamic art collection is open to the public
Pigs and chickens help architects Feilden Fowles do their best work
Even stuffed bears can be scary
Leigh Bowery’s influence looms large still
Saul Leiter’s photographic archive is publishing unseen nudes
Modern American prints in San Diego show the breadth of prewar experiment
Photographers capture the cold facts of the Antarctic
Dotan Saguy took the bohemian pulse of Venice Beach
We remembered ceramicist Janice Tchalenko
Don’t forget
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