Opening and Closing in September

Are you ready? London's National Gallery says you're going to "be blown away by Van Gogh's most spectacular paintings in our once-in-a-century exhibition", Van Gogh: Poets and Lovers, which is on from September 14 to January 19. The show brings together "your most loved of Van Gogh’s paintings from across the globe, some of which are rarely seen in public," according to the museum. Given Vincent's prolific output and the plethora of Van Gogh shows, such hype may be a little overblown. Note that tickets are already selling well, and standard admission costs £28 before Gift Aid. 

Still, the Van Gogh show may provide more bang for your buck than Monet and London -- Views of the Thames in the rather small exhibition space of the Courtauld Gallery (for which standard tickets are £16). Claude Monet stayed in London three times from 1899 to 1901, painting the Houses of Parliament, Charing Cross Bridge and Waterloo Bridge. He showed the pictures in Paris, but his wish to give them an London audience was never fulfilled. This then is perhaps an exhibition for which we've been waiting more than a century, and it's on from September 27 to January 19.

Among the most instantly recognisable and visually appealing works in contemporary art are the boldly coloured images with clean lines, often of everyday objects, created by Michael Craig-Martin. A big show at the Royal Academy takes over the main galleries with a 60-year retrospective of his career, which started with conceptual sculpture. September 21 to December 10.

Another very distinctive and very popular contemporary artist, Yayoi Kusama, has a new show at the Victoria Miro gallery in Islington. Featuring a new Infinity Mirror Room as well as paintings, Yayoi Kusama: Every Day I Pray for Love is on from September 25 to November 2. Tickets are free but you must book; they're available from September 2, and probably not for long. 

Throughout history, East has traded with West along the Silk Roads across Central Asia, and the new exhibition at the British Museum brings together objects from across Europe and Asia to tell the story of early globalisation. The exhibition concentrates on the period from 500 to 1000 AD, seeking to show how ideas as well as goods crossed continents. Silk Roads runs from September 26 to February 23.

Nicholas Hilliard and Isaac Oliver have a claim to be England's first great artists with their mastery of the tiniest paintings imaginable. Now an exhibition at Compton Verney in Warwickshire looks at the longer history of the portrait miniature, an important token of affection or favour until it was eclipsed by the photograph. The Reflected Self: Portrait Miniatures 1540-1850 can be seen from September 21 to February 23. 

You may have seen one big exhibition of still life in Sussex -- at the Pallant in Chichester -- but it's a large county, and there's room for more. Immortal Apples, Eternal Eggs at Hastings Contemporary brings together paintings and sculpture from two major British collections, featuring artists including Patrick Caulfield, Sarah Lucas and Henry Moore. More than 50 artworks from the past century, and it's on from September 21 to March 16. 

Let's turn history on its head and cross the Channel from Hastings, because we're off to Paris now for Surrealism at the Centre Pompidou, marking the 100th anniversary of the Surrealist Manifesto. It looks like a huge show, with René Magritte, Salvador Dalí, Dorothea Tanning and Leonora Carrington, among others. Described as "an unprecedented dive into the exceptional creative effervescence of the Surrealist movement", it's on from September 4 to January 13. 

She's little known outside Norway, but she was the country's most renowned woman painter in the 19th century. Harriet Backer (1845-1932): The Music of Colour at the Museé d'Orsay will be the first retrospective of her work in France, showcasing her intimate interiors as well as landscapes, rural subjects and still lifes. Opens September 24 and runs until January 12. 

At the Fondation Beyeler, just outside Basel, the first Henri Matisse retrospective in the German-speaking world in almost two decades brings together more than 70 works from major European and American museums and private collections by one of the most influential of all modern artists. Matisse -- Invitation to the Voyage is on from September 22 to January 26. 

Last chance to see....

It's one of the oddest stories in 20th-century art: the relationship and secret collaboration between Dorothy Hepworth and Patricia Preece. This intriguing tale of deception is the subject of the inaugural show at Charleston in Lewes, but you'll need to be quick: The run ends on September 8. 

Also closing on September 8 is one of the most enjoyable exhibitions we've seen this year -- Merchandise as Spectacle: Art and Retailing 1860-1914 at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Caen, Normandy. Top-quality painting and social history at a bargain price!

More fascinating social history in Style & Society: Dressing the Georgians at the King's Gallery in Edinburgh. On until September 22, this show uses art and costume from the Royal Collection to explore how the people of the 18th century clothed themselves; we saw the exhibition at the then Queen's Gallery in London last year.

Images

Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), The Bedroom, 1889. © The Art Institute of Chicago
Ceramic figure of a camel. © The Trustees of the British Museum
Harriet Backer (1845-1932), Evening, Interior, 1896, Nasjonalmuseet for kunst, arkitektur og design, Oslo. Photo: Nasjonalmuseet/Høstland, Børre
Félix Vallotton (1865-1925), Le Bon Marché, 1893, Patrimoine Le Bon Marché Rive Gauche. © Patrimoine Le Bon Marché Rive Gauche