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Rembrandt & van Hoogstraten: The Art of Illusion

It takes a split second these days to create an image, and how many millions are recorded daily on mobile phones, possibly never to be looked at again? You can see it all happening in the palatial surroundings of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, definitely one of those tick-off destinations on many travellers' bucket lists, where those in search of instant pictorial satisfaction throng the imposing statue-lined staircase for a selfie or pout for a photo in the café under the spectacular cupola. But we're not in Vienna for a quick fix, we're at the KHM to admire something more enduring in the shape of art produced almost 500 years ago by Rembrandt and his pupil Samuel van Hoogstraten that was intended to mislead your eyes into seeing the real in the unreal. Artistic deception is the story at the centre of  Rembrandt--Hoogstraten: Colour and Illusion , one of the most engrossing and best-staged exhibitions we've seen this year. And, somewhat surprisingly, a show wi...
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Opening and Closing in June

Summer's almost here, and it's perhaps the time for outdoor pleasures; there certainly aren't that many big exhibitions to tell you about in June. So let's start with a small one, a free display at London's National Gallery. Picasso Ingres: Face to Face, running from June 3 to October 9, brings together for the first time Pablo Picasso's 1932 painting Woman with a Book, from the Norton Simon Museum in California, and the work that inspired it, the National's own Madame Moitessier by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. Picasso saw the Ingres portrait in 1921 and was enthralled by it. "Lesser artists borrow," Picasso said. "Great artists steal." 
Summer means the seaside, so what better destination to see an exhibition than the Towner in Eastbourne. Following 2021's superb John Nash retrospective, this year's big event puts the spotlight on the pioneering female collector who opened the Wertheim Gallery in London in 1930 and the artists she championed. A Life in Art: Lucy Wertheim, Patron, Collector, Gallerist and Reuniting the Twenties Group: From Barbara Hepworth to Victor Pasmore run in tandem from June 11 to September 25 and also feature painters and sculptors including Christopher Wood, Walter Sickert, Cedric Morris and Henry Moore. 

It's the 150th anniversary of the birth of Piet Mondrian, the Dutchman whose late rectilinear paintings are surely among the most recognisable works of art of any age. But Mondrian's style went through a long development process before he got to Victory Boogie Woogie. The story of the artist's journey from figurative painting to abstraction is told in Mondrian Evolution at the Fondation Beyeler on the outskirts of Basel from June 5 to October 9. The show then moves down the River Rhine (on a barge?) for a winter run at K20 in Dusseldorf from October 29 to February 10. 
Swiss trains are fantastic, if a little pricey, and if you were in Basel you could easily take a scenic trip to Lausanne for Train Zug Treno Tren: Voyages Imaginaires, with 60 works from the likes of Edward Hopper, Giorgio de Chirico and Paul Delvaux. It's on at the Musée cantonale des beaux-arts (right next to the station!) from June 18 to September 25. 

Let's just mention two museum openings happening in June: the new National Museum in Oslo -- the largest art museum in Scandinavia -- welcomes the public on June 11 and, after a long delay, the Christian Schad Museum in Aschaffenburg (just east of Frankfurt) can be visited from June 4, celebrating the work of one of the prime exponents of the German New Objectivity movement. 

Last chance to see....

If you're looking for an exhibition to visit over the long Platinum Jubilee weekend in London, why not get down to the Whitechapel Gallery for A Century of the Artist's Studio: 1920-2020, an ambitious and often fun show that's only on until June 5. 
Still running until June 11 is The 1920s: Beyond the Roar, a free exhibition at Britain's National Archives in Kew that's fascinating for those interested in social history.  

And getting back to the Towner in Eastbourne, a reminder that their current free show about the forgotten art of Eileen Mayo, much better known as a sitter for other painters, closes on July 3. Another reason to head to the south coast!  

Images

Pablo Picasso, Woman with a Book, 1932, The Norton Simon Foundation, Pasadena, California. © Succession Picasso/DACS 2021. Photo: The Norton Simon Foundation
Piet Mondrian, Church Tower at Domburg, 1911, Kunstmuseum Den Haag, The Hague. © 2022 Mondrian/Holtzman Trust. Photo: Kunstmuseum Den Haag
Lucian Freud, David and Eli, 2003-04, Schroeder Collection courtesy of the Faurschou Foundation 
Eileen Mayo, Fallen Leaves, 1946, private collection. © The Estate of Dame Eileen Mayo


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