Summer's long gone now.... gone and just a memory Curling up in front of the fire with a good book, bingeing on a TV series box set or heading south is how you might normally try to get through the northern winter, but this year you could just go to Stockholm to dispel the chill. Yes, Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, because there you can immerse yourself in the delights of the long summer days on display in To the Sea! The Beach as Borderland and Summer Dream at the Nationalmuseum. Really, those Scandinavian coastlines are so tempting: What could be more attractive than A Stroll on the Beach at Skagen, at the very northern tip of Denmark? Here are five ladies enjoying Skagen's almost endless strand and endless skies, as painted by Michael Ancher (husband of Anna ) in 1896. Luckily those hemlines were just off the ground, so as not to get dirty on the sand. This very wide-ranging exhibition in Stockholm explores the growth of seaside tourism in Europe an...
We'll start this month at the almost brand-new Young V&A in London's East End -- Bethnal Green to be precise. It opened in July, as a museum specifically designed to appeal to children and families. October 14 sees the arrival of the first big exhibition there, called Japan: Myths to Manga . It explores landscape, history, folklore, culture, technology and design -- with toys, games and cartoons playing a big part as well as superb art like Hokusai's Great Wave . On till August 11. If you missed the magnificent Gwen John exhibition at Pallant House in Chichester this summer (and there's still a week to go!), a version will be coming to the Holburne Museum in Bath from October 21. In the Holburne's somewhat smaller exhibition space, the show, running until April 14, will have an increased focus on the intensity and intimacy of John's late work. There are pictures too by contemporaries including Vuillard, Bonnard and Hammershøi. Also on at the Holburne unti...