August is always one of the quietest months for new exhibitions, and this year is no different, but we do have one big event to alert you to, as well as two splendid shows that only have weeks to run. The one major opening is Gwen John: Strange Beauties at the National Galleries of Scotland in Edinburgh. Running from August 1 to January 4, this is a comprehensive retrospective of the work of the woman perhaps now seen as Wales's most significant artist, born 150 years ago this year. Maybe a little too comprehensive, according to some of the reviews of the show when it was on at the National Museum in Cardiff. The exhibition goes on to the Yale Center for British Art in New Haven, Connecticut, in February and then at the end of July next year to the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington DC. We saw a rather smaller Gwen John exhibition in Chichester in 2023. Last chance to see.... Ending on August 23 is the exhibition at the Lakenhal in Leiden ...
Picasso's artistic progress from teenager to 30-something comes under scrutiny from March 13 at the Sainsbury Centre in Norwich in Pablo Picasso: The Legacy of Youth . More than 20 of his works will be on show in this exhibition looking at his advance to the head of the international artistic avant-garde at the start of World War I, and comparing his achievements with painters including Monet, Bonnard and Redon. It runs until July 17. Now, if you wanted to combine a trip to Picasso in Norwich with something else in East Anglia, how about David Hockney in Cambridge? Hockney's Eye: The Art and Technology of Depiction is on at the Fitzwilliam Museum and the Heong Gallery from March 15 to August 29, with free entry. The shows will explore Hockney's experiments in new ways of seeing the world as well as allowing you to compare his works with those of artists such as van Gogh, Constable and Andy Warhol. If you missed the recent Laura Knight show at MK Gallery in Milton Ke...