We must confess that religious paintings are not our favourite subject, and we've tended to regard Spanish Catholic art as being, well, just a little too religious to cope with. So we approached the Francisco de Zurbarán exhibition at the National Gallery in London with a certain amount of trepidation. A degree of contrition is due.... Yes, there were monks, altarpieces and lots of saints, but we were blown away by Zurbarán's ability to depict textures and fabrics and to convey an intensity of feeling. It's an absolutely excellent exhibition, full of truly beautiful paintings. Such religious art was intended to bring the faithful closer to God, to bridge the gap between Heaven and Earth, in an age when many could not read. Zurbarán was a master at it. Let's start with a saint: Just take a look at the fabrics, trimmings and gems in this picture. And the garments are even more striking when you are stood in front of this nearly life-size figure. This is Casild...
A very eclectic mix of shows this month, and we're starting with an exhibition that's not art at all, but of vital interest to everyone. The Science Museum is investigating the Future of Food, looking at new advances in growing, making, cooking and eating it. On from July 24 to January 4, it's free, though you need to book. Oh, and you get to see this 3,500-year-old sourdough loaf.....
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At the Lowry in Salford, they're offering a double bill of Quentin Blake and Me & Modern Life: The LS Lowry Collection. The show about Blake, who's written or illustrated more than 500 books, looks aimed at a family audience, while the Lowry exhibition includes borrowed works, marking the Salford arts centre's 25th anniversary. On from July 19 to January 4, and entry is again free, though you need to book a timeslot.
Another anniversary this year is the 250th of the birth of Jane Austen; among the exhibitions around the country is one in Winchester, the city where she died and is buried. It's taking a bit of an offbeat approach by going Beyond the Bonnets to look at working women in her novels and tracing the precarious lives of women in Georgian England. At the Arc in Winchester from July 26 to November 2. It then goes to the Willis Museum in Basingstoke later that month.
Opening at the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh on July 26 is Andy Goldsworthy: Fifty Years, celebrating the career of a contemporary British artist known for his use of natural materials. Featuring more than 200 works, including photographs, sculptures and installations, this show runs until November 2.
And a short walk across the city, something equally contemporary but rather more affordable for your home: a show of 180 fabrics created for IKEA over six decades. IKEA: Magical Patterns is on at Dovecot Studios from July 18 to January 17. Did you know there's a system to all those quirky IKEA product names? Textiles have women's names, as you can discover here. The Dovecot Cafe uses locally sourced ingredients, so we suspect those famous IKEA meatballs won't be on the menu.
In 1935, an awful lot of art in Germany was being dismissed by the Nazis as degenerate; in German-speaking Switzerland, though, the Kunstmuseum in Lucerne was marking its opening with a show that included some of the very latest art of the type banned across the border. And 90 years later, they're recreating the occasion at the same museum, looking back to a period of political, social and artistic upheaval. Kandinsky, Picasso, Miró et al: Back in Lucerne is on from July 5 to November 2.
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And now we're taking you somewhere well off the beaten track: Museum Kunst der Westküste on the German island of Föhr in the North Sea. They've got a gorgeous-looking exhibition starting on July 6 called Midsummer! Atmospheric Landscapes of the North 1880-1920, showcasing around 70 works by the likes of Anna Ancher, Akseli Gallen-Kallela, Edvard Munch and Helene Schjerfbeck. Most are from the family art collection of German optical entrepreneur Günther Fielmann, who died last year, and have never been exhibited publicly. On till January 11.
Finally this month, it's the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Bordeaux, where you can experience Childhood through the Eyes of the Artist (1790-1850), an exhibition that brings together around 100 works from across France by Corot, Delacroix, Géricault, Ingres and many more lesser-known painters, sculptors and graphic artists. July 10 to November 3.
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Last chance to see....
The excellent exhibition about how the advertising poster turned into an art form in late 19th-century France -- Art Is in the Street -- ends its run at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris on July 6. It's a wonderful slice of social history and a feast for the eyes.... just a bit too big to take in at one go.
Paul Cezanne (1839-1906), Boîte à lait et citron II, 1879-80, Sammlung Rosengart, Lucerne
Jeanne Elisabeth Chaudet-Husson (1767-1832), Enfant endormi dans un berceau sous la garde d’un chien courageux (Child Asleep in a Cradle Guarded by a Brave Dog), 1801, Musée du Louvre, Paris. © Musée du Louvre, RMN-GP; Photo: Adrien Didierjean
Images
Ancient bread, found in the tomb of an Egyptian queen, c. 1500 BC. Image courtesy of Petrie Museum of Egyptian and Sudanese Archaeology, UCL; © Mary Hinkley 2025Paul Cezanne (1839-1906), Boîte à lait et citron II, 1879-80, Sammlung Rosengart, Lucerne
Jeanne Elisabeth Chaudet-Husson (1767-1832), Enfant endormi dans un berceau sous la garde d’un chien courageux (Child Asleep in a Cradle Guarded by a Brave Dog), 1801, Musée du Louvre, Paris. © Musée du Louvre, RMN-GP; Photo: Adrien Didierjean
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