What a lot of new exhibitions this October! We list well over 20 across Europe below -- many more than usual -- and have still had to leave out quite a few that we'd mention in most other months in order to keep this post to a reasonable length. Let's start at the Royal Academy in London with deep blue seas, cloudless skies, intense light and the heat of the sun. From October 2 to January 31, you can experience the excitement Renoir, Cezanne, Matisse, Picasso and many others felt while Painting the French Riviera . The exhibition features more than 160 exhibits from the 1870s to the 1960s, and a version of the show travels on to the Cleveland Museum of Art in March. Hmm, Renoir. Now perhaps seen as the most chocolate-boxy of the Impressionists, but without doubt the creator of some of the most recognisable images in French art of the late 19th century. Well worth stealing , and clearly the National Gallery is on to a winner with its Renoir and Love ex...
While we're sitting here in Britain waiting for any indications of an easing in the coronavirus lockdown that might allow museums and galleries to reopen, some countries on the European mainland are moving, albeit cautiously, towards letting the public back in. So yes, if you're in the right place, you may be able to get out to enjoy an exhibition in May. And that's important, because however much art you might be able to access online, it's never going to be the same as getting up close to the real thing. Austria and Germany look to be leading the way. In Vienna, there's a last chance at the Belvedere from May 15 to June 1 to catch Into the Night , a look at the role played by clubs and cabarets around the world in the story of modern art -- the antithesis of social distancing. Late 19th-century Paris, Harlem in the 1920s, Weimar-era Berlin: It's a great subject, and there's some fascinating art on show (especially Toulouse-Lautrec's almost abstract...