Vagina kayaks, sunken cities and a cheeky Turner list…

Sunken Cities: Egypt’s Lost Worlds at the British Museum. Photograph: PR Image/Christoph Gerigk © Franck Goddio / Hilti Foundation

Exhibition of the week

Sunken Cities
Egypt is the most darkly alluring of ancient cultures. Underwater archaeology is one of the most adventurous ways to study the past. Put them both together and the British Museum hopes for a summer smash hit with this survey of two lost cities whose treasures have been recovered from the depths.
• British Museum, London, 19 May-27 November.

Also showing

Francis Bacon
This new exhibition focuses on the existentialist painter’s claustrophobic fictional architecture.
• Tate Liverpool, Liverpool, 18 May-18 September.

Martine Syms
A video poem in 180 parts and still growing is at the heart of this Los Angeles artist’s meditations on representation and reality.
• ICA, London, 20 April-19 June.

Maria Lassnig
Body-conscious paintings by this influential Austrian artist.
• Tate Liverpool, Liverpool, 18 May-18 September.

Ori Gersht
Lyrical images with a disconcerting historical burden make Gersht a subtle and thought-provoking artist.
• Ben Brown Fine Arts, London, until 16 June.

Masterpiece of the week

Antoine Watteau’s Sous un habit de Mezetin. 1717-1719. — Antoine Watteau’s Sous un habit de Mezetin. 1717- 1719. Photograph: The Wallace Collection, London

The commedia dell’arte character Mezetin looks at us with lyrical intimacy as he strums his guitar. His silken costume, bohemian company and the theatrical feel of the setting all reflect the fantastical, dreamlike atmosphere Watteau’s brush creates. Yet the robust, earthy quality of the faces tells us these are real people. Mezetin is a portrait of Watteau’s art dealer Pierre Sirois. Art and life magically merge.
• Wallace Collection, London.