We've got rather more modern and contemporary art than usual in our preview this month, starting with the first ever museum show in the UK of Wayne Thiebaud, the US artist who died in 2021 at the age of 101. Thiebaud made his name in the 1960s painting quintessentially American subjects -- pinball machines, hot dogs, deli counters and cakes -- in vibrant colours. Wayne Thiebaud: American Still Life is on at London's Courtauld Gallery from October 10 to January 18. Those sweet treats should provide enough sustenance for the short walk across Waterloo Bridge to the Hayward Gallery for Gilbert & George: 21st-Century Pictures . This show highlights work the besuited pair have created since the start of the millennium, tackling themes such as sex, corruption, religion and death. On from October 7 to January 11, and it's perhaps one to miss if you're likely to be easily offended. A rather different experience awaits at the British Library, in the form of...
Olafur Eliasson is one of the biggest names in contemporary art, and Tate Modern in London is staging the most comprehensive British exhibition of the Icelander's work to date starting on July 11. Of the more than 30 works on show, from paintings and sculptures to large-scale installations, only one has been seen in the UK before. Olafur Eliasson: In Real Life runs until January 5. Over at the Royal Academy, it's time to welcome another Nordic artist, but one you may never have heard of. The RA describes Helene Schjerfbeck (1862-1946) as one of Finland's best-kept secrets, and the show will trace a career that moved from early naturalism to highly abstracted late self-portraits. It's the first show about her in Britain and runs from July 20 to October 27. The Moon is a popular exhibition subject this year, the 50th anniversary of the first manned landing on Earth's nearest neighbour. The new show at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich aims to chart th...