New Exhibitions in February

Georges Seurat devised the Neo-Impressionist painting technique popularly known as Pointillism. He didn't live long and left only a small body of work, of which seascapes were a recurring motif; a couple of dozen paintings and drawings from summers spent on the northern coast of France will be brought together for Seurat and the Sea at the Courtauld Gallery in London from February 13 to May 17.

Lucian Freud gained recognition as one of the greatest of British portrait painters for his intensely observed works, often of nudes. From February 12 to May 4, the National Portrait Gallery is putting on Lucian Freud: Drawing into Painting, which will be the first exhibition in Britain to focus on his creations on paper, some of which have never been on public display before.  

Ramses and the Pharaoh's Gold is a travelling exhibition of treasures from Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities: 180 of them, with the coffin of the long-lived Ramses II among highlights that include gold funerary masks recovered from royal tombs. This immersive show has been to several other major cities around the globe, and it's now coming to Battersea Power Station. Tickets are on sale for dates from February 28 through to the end of May, though some days and times already have low availability. 

Samurai at the British Museum explores how a Japanese warrior class developed into the country's intellectual and political elite, with the concept morphing in modern times into an idealised vision of medieval Japan. Armour, artworks and luxury objects are among the exhibits to be seen from February 3 to May 4. 

One of the best exhibition spaces in England outside London is the MK Gallery in Milton Keynes. Their new show, starting on February 14, is devoted to Euan Uglow (1932-2000), known for his meticulous technique, which sometimes meant taking years to complete a picture. Euan Uglow: An Arc from the Eye runs until May 31; it's billed as the first solo exhibition of his work in a British public gallery for 20 years and will feature more than 40 of his most ambitious paintings.

It's 150 years since the birth of Gwen John, the greatest woman artist Wales has produced. Time then for a major exhibition of her work, the first in more than four decades, at the National Museum in Cardiff. Gwen John: Strange Beauties runs from February 7 to June 28, after which it transfers to the National Galleries of Scotland in Edinburgh before heading in 2027 to the Yale Center for British Art in New Haven and then the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington DC. We saw a smaller Gwen John show at Pallant House in Chichester in 2023. 

The Dane Vilhelm Hammershøi is one of our favourite artists: There's something about those enigmatic interiors. So we're very much looking forward to taking in a comprehensive retrospective at the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid that opens on February 17. With around 100 works, Hammershøi: The Eye that Listens will run until May 31. It then goes on to the Kunsthaus in Zurich in July. 

Madrid is clearly the place to go this spring for fans of Scandinavian art, because there's a Swede at the Mapfre Foundation, in fact his country's most prominent painter of the late 19th and early 20th century. Anders Zorn: Travelling the World, Remembering the Land, on from February 19 to May 17, comes from the Kunsthalle in Hamburg. Zorn was famous for his portraits, but also for paintings that seem to convey a timeless image of Sweden. 

Opening at the Belvedere in Vienna on February 27 is an exhibition about the Austrian 19th-century landscape painter Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller. Not perhaps a show we'd take much notice of under normal circumstances, but worth mentioning because after it closes on June 14, a selection of the works will be making their way to London for a free one-room display at the National Gallery.

Perhaps more excitement elsewhere in Vienna, where Gustave Courbet: Realist and Rebel is on at the Leopold Museum from February 19 to June 21. This exhibition aims to provide a broad overview of the work of one of the most influential of 19th-century artists, and as you can see if you follow the link, it includes paintings such as L'Origine du Monde. Can't make it to Austria? Courbet will move to the Folkwang Museum in Essen in July. 

Born coincidentally in the same year as Gwen John: the Expressionist Paula Modersohn-Becker, who's something of a cult figure, the first woman to paint herself pregnant and nude, and who died not long after giving birth. Her birthday was February 8, and that's the starting date for two exhibitions in Germany. On at the Paula Modersohn-Becker Museum in Bremen (the first ever devoted to a solo woman artist when it opened in 1927) is Becoming Paula (scroll down for the English text), exploring her artistic development. It's on till September 13. 

Meanwhile, an exhibition at the Albertinum in Dresden, where Modersohn-Becker was born, brings her together with one of her most famous male contemporaries in Paula Modersohn-Becker and Edvard Munch: The Big Questions of Life. This show, which the Albertinum says features many of the most important works by both artists, and which is being put on in cooperation with the Munch Museum in Oslo, runs until May 17. 

Before the Expressionists, there were the Impressionists, though in Germany their timescales overlapped quite a bit. Avant-Garde: Max Liebermann and Impressionism in Germany starts at the Museum Barberini in Potsdam on February 28, running until June 7. It's a big and fascinating show; we saw it at the Museum Frieder Burda in Baden-Baden in the autumn. 

Off to the Musée du Luxembourg in Paris now, for Leonora Carrington. On from February 18 to July 19, this show concentrates on Carrington's early artistic years in France and Italy, looking at themes such as her discovery of classical Italian art and her involvement in Surrealism. 

Now for two exhibitions in Amsterdam, beginning at the Van Gogh Museum with Yellow: Beyond Van Gogh's Colour. It was Vincent's favourite hue, and the show starts with some of his Sunflowers, before exploring the use of yellow in art, fashion, music and literature around 1900. There will also be a light installation by Danish artist Olafur Eliasson. February 13 to May 17. 

Scarcely five minutes walk away at the Rijksmuseum, an exhibition that sounds just the ticket for the thoughtful art historian: Metamorphoses. This work by the Roman poet Ovid with its tales of transformation of gods, humans and animals has been an inspiration to artists for centuries, and the show features interpretations by Titian, Caravaggio, Rodin and Magritte among more than 80 exhibits. From February 6 to May 25, and then on to the Galleria Borghese in Rome. 

And finally, one of the star attractions at the Mauritshuis in The Hague, Carel Fabritius's The Goldfinch, is the inspiration for an exhibition examining our relationship with Birds. Curated by historian Simon Schama, this show features art by Leonardo, Rembrandt, Picasso and Matisse, among others. It's on from February 12 to June 7. 

Last chance to see.....

Georges Seurat also features in Radical Harmony: Helene Kröller-Müller's Neo-Impressionists at the National Gallery in London, which ends on February 8; filled with light, it was one of the best exhibitions we saw in 2025. 

Also ending on February 8 is the run of Impressionism in Germany at the Frieder Burda Museum in Baden-Baden before it goes on to Potsdam (see above). 

Our favourite exhibition of 2025 marked the 100th anniversary of the death of Félix Vallotton. The show at the Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts in his home city of Lausanne, Vallotton Forever: The Retrospective, with about 250 works, closes on February 15.

It's quite a long time since we saw the celebration of 100 years of Surrealism at the Centre Pompidou. The last leg of this touring show is at Philadelphia Art Museum, where it closes on February 16. 

And you only have until March 1 to catch the spectacular exhibition at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Lyon about how Etretat in Normandy, with its stunning cliff formations, has inspired generations of artists. The show, though, will reopen at the Städel Museum in Frankfurt on March 19. 

Images

Georges Seurat (1859-1891), Seascape at Port-en-Bessin, Normandy, 1888, National Gallery of Art, Washington DC 
Suit of armour and helmet, Japan, 1519 (helmet), 1696 (armour) and 1800s (textiles). © The Trustees of the British Museum
Vilhelm Hammershøi (1864-1916), Interior, Young Woman Seen from Behind, c. 1904, Randers Kunstmuseum, Randers. © Photo: Randers Kunstmuseum
Gustave Courbet (1819-1877), The Man with a Pipe, c. 1849. © Musée Fabre, Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole; Photo: Musée Fabre de Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole/Frédéric Jaulmes
Philipp Franck (1860-1944), Wannsee, 1915, Private collection, Frankfurt am Main. © Photo: Kunsthaus Lempertz/Saša Fuis Photographie, Cologne 
Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824-1904), Pygmalion and Galatea, c. 1890. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Félix Vallotton (1865-1925), Self-Portrait at the Age of 20, 1885, Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts, Lausanne. Photo: MCBA, Lausanne