Immerse yourself in the captivating world of art with these extraordinary summer exhibitions happening across the globe.
From London to Japan, and the cultural hub of New York and Istanbul, art enthusiasts are in for a treat this summer. These exhibitions present a mesmerising showcase of artistic brilliance, featuring the works of some of the most influential artists from the 20th and 21st centuries.
Prepare to be awestruck by the masterpieces of legends like Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso, whose artistic expressions continue to inspire and captivate generations. Each exhibition promises a unique and enriching experience, offering a glimpse into the diverse and boundless realm of artistic creativity.
Whether you're a seasoned art connoisseur or a curious admirer, these summer exhibitions present an opportunity to discover the artistic wonders of the world and revel in the timeless beauty of human imagination and talent.
Factory International, Manchester
The northern English city of Manchester has been enjoying a renaissance in recent years, with sky-scraping architecture rising above the 19th-century industrial redbrick, a fresh crop of hotels and restaurants elevating the city’s food and accommodation scene – and the little matter of Manchester City’s recent Champions League win in football. A key date in Manchester’s event calendar is the biennial International Festival, which has a reputation for original, ground-breaking creative events that has steadily grown over the years, and now has a permanent home in the form of the new Factory International. Designed by Dutch architects Ellen van Loon and Rem Koolhaas, it resembles an intricate piece of origami – a fittingly avant-garde space for its first exhibition, You, Me and the Balloons. It’s a retrospective of Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama’s colour-popping inflatable creations, a surreal world of giant dolls, polka-dot balls, and tendrilled landscapes reflected in a series of infinity mirrors.
You, Me and the Balloons runs until 28 August
factoryinternational.org
Henri Matisse: The Path to Color at Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Japan
When 20th-century western art seems just a little too dark and complex, too preoccupied with the uncomfortable realities of human nature, then it’s time to see some Henri Matisse. For the French artist, the world was one long burst of colour, positive and happy and bubbling with joy, with colour that dances and jumps across the canvas, even leaping onto paper cut-outs when ill health prevented him from painting. “I am as curious about colour as one would be visiting a new country,” he once said. While many new exhibitions use immersive technology to surround the visitor in the artistic experience, Matisse was doing this a century ago – using form and colour to create a sensory thrill of participation. This is the first major retrospective of his works in Japan for almost two decades, ranging from early oil paintings to sculptures and cut-outs, and the drafts used to make his famous Chapelle du Roasaire de Vence (Chapel of the Rosary, Vence) in the South of France, his last work.
The Path to Color runs until 20 August
tobikan.jp
National Portrait Gallery & National Gallery, London
If you want to really get under the skin of Britain, a visit to the newly reopened National Portrait Gallery is essential. After all, the faces chosen to represent a nation say a lot about the way it sees itself. The gallery has been closed for three years, and £35m was spent in restoring it and adding a new space, the Blavatnik Wing, to house 100 years of portraits from the 19th and 20th century. Rather than introducing any hi-tech interiors, the revamp has celebrated the original Victorian building, uncovering windows to let in light and building a new entrance. Famous faces on display include Shakespeare’s only surviving portrait and the earliest picture in the collection, of King Henry VII, from the early 16th century, but new arrivals include a mural of four London refuse collectors during lockdown and Shirin Neshat’s photograph of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai
Also in the frame this summer are the lives and works of Cézanne, Van Gogh, and Gauguin, the subject of The National Gallery’s After Impressionism: Inventing Modern Art. It’s a major exhibition that examines the influence they had on younger generations of artists, with works by Mondrian, Kandinsky, Picasso, and Klimt. And summer in London wouldn’t be summer without the Royal Academy’s annual Summer Exhibition, a playfully random collection of amateur and professional sculptures, sketches, and paintings that ranges from the sublime to the ridiculous.
After Impressionism: Inventing Modern Art runs until 13 August
nationalgallery.org.uk
Summer Exhibition 2023 runs until 20 August
roy-alacademy.org.uk
National Portrait Gallery
npg.org.uk
Georgia O’Keefe: To See Takes Time at MOMA, New York
Born in 1887, the Wisconsin-born Georgia O’Keefe lived to the age of 98, making her life almost entirely synonymous with the 20th century. She was a pioneer, forging a career in a male-dominated world and becoming the most successful female artist of her era. She famously painted flowers, sensual, richly coloured depictions, such as the 1927 Oriental Poppies, skulls and mountain scapes, from her time in New Mexico, and the skyscrapers of New York. But, that’s not the whole picture. This new show rewinds O’Keefe’s career to the early days for a different perspective. There are flowers, such as her banana blossoms of 1934, but here they are realised in charcoal, and a late series of aerial abstracts from a three-month plane hop around the world in 1959. But mostly the works here are from before 1917, with delicate watercolours and fine charcoal drawing – a refreshing insight into the artist before she became a legend.
While you’re in New York, make the journey upstate to the Buffalo AKG Art Museum, which re-opened in June with a striking new transparent extension and an installation by Olafur Eliasson and Sebastian Behmann.
To See Takes Time runs until 12 August
moma.org
Buffalo AKG Art Museum
buffaloakg.org
Basquiat x Warhol: Painting Four Hands at Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris
In 1982, a young street artist called Jean-Michel Basquiat met pop art legend Andy Warhol at a restaurant in New York, and Warhol took a Polaroid photo of the pair. Just two hours later, Basquiat sent the older artist a painting based on the shot, titled Dos Cabezas (Two Heads). The pair collaborated for a few short years before falling out in 1985; by 1988 both artists had died. But in that brief period, they produced a dynamic flurry of “four-hand” paintings and screen prints. Artist Keith Haring, who witnessed their creative process, described it as a “conversation occurring through painting, instead of words”, and their relationship inspired a stage play and film, along with some serious auction action (Warhol’s The Portrait of Basquiat sold for $40m in 2021). Eighty of their works have been gathered for this show, including that early double portrait, along with solo works and personal belongings, creating a vivid snapshot of the early 80s New York art scene.
While you’re in town, catch the fantastically immersive Chagall, Paris - New York exhibition at Atelier des Lumières, which projects Russian Marc Chagall’s works onto the gallery walls, along with music and episodes from the history of the time. Elsewhere, the Louvre is hosting a big-hitting show of Italian masters via Naples in Paris, with paintings from the Museo di Capodimonte in Italy – the 60 masterpieces include works by Titian, Caravaggio, and Bellini.
Painting Four Hands runs until 28 August
fondationlouisvuitton.fr
Chagall, Paris-New York runs until 7 January 2024
atelier-lumieres.com
Naples in Paris runs until 8 January 2024
louvre.fr
Picasso Exhibitions, Spain & France
It’s 50 years since Pablo Picasso, the giant of European modernism and 20th-century art, died aged 91, leaving behind a sprawling legacy that continues to fascinate, inspire, and in some cases, repel. An exhibition in Brooklyn, titled It’s Pablo-matic: Picasso According to Hannah Gadsby confronts his problematic relationship with women – but for the most part, 2023 is a year to embrace his boundary-breaking life and work, from early figurative painting to sculptures and experiments with cubism and surrealism. As Picasso was a Spanish artist who spent most of his life in France, both countries are hosting a series of exhibitions throughout the year.
In Madrid, where he studied aged 16, The Museo Nacional del Prado is hosting Picasso, El Greco and Analytical Cubism, examining the influence of the 16th- century Greek artist on Picasso’s cubist period. There’s also Picasso: Untitled at the city’s La Casa Encendida, which plays on the fact that he rarely gave titles to his work – it has asked 50 creatives to conjure a new title for 50 of his works. Meanwhile, for Picasso Celebration: The Collection in a New Light, the Musée Picasso, Paris, has invited British designer Sir Paul Smith to reframe its collection against a variety of backdrops. This is done alongside works by Dora Maar, Picasso’s long-time muse and an artist in her own right, and contemporary artists such as Congolese painter Chéri Samba. And in the South of France, in Vallauris, his ceramics show a different side to his creativity at the Magnelli Museum. As the artist himself once said: “Each work by Picasso is a unique piece of autobiography.”
Picasso, El Greco and Analytical Cubism runs until 17 September
museodelprado.es
Picasso: Untitled runs until 7 January 2024
lacasa-encendida.es
Picasso’s ceramics can be seen until 30 October
vallauris-golfe-juan.fr
It’s Pablo-matic: Picasso According to Hannah Gadsby runs until 24 September
brooklynmuseum.org
Istanbul Modern, Istanbul
With aluminium panels glittering like fish scales, Renzo Piano’s creation – launched in May this year – strikes a sleek, impressive pose on Istanbul’s Karaköy waterfront. Its design reflects the shipping containers of the port nearby, a reflecting pool shimmers on the terrace, while the see-through ground floor encourages a sense of openness – the art here is for everyone. Istanbul Modern was founded in 2004, with the intention of championing contemporary Turkish art and photography, but this new home has given it fresh purpose. One of the opening exhibitions, Always Here, showcases 11 female artists whose work has recently been added to the collection, while a new installation, Infinity Room: Bosphorus, has been created by AI artist Refik Anadol using environmental data gathered in the area. The museum also serves as an excellent viewing platform – head to the restaurant for a real-life landscape portrait of the Bosphorus Strait.
When We See Us: A Century of Black Figuration in Painting at Zeitzmocaa, Capetown
The very existence of the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa is significant: overlooking the Victoria and Alfred waterfront, this former grain storage silo opened in 2017 as a platform for Africans to tell their own stories, gathering work by artists from all around the continent and the wider diaspora. But this is its most ambitious show to date, with more than 200 works from the past century, organised around six themes, from The Everyday to Spirituality and Triumph and Emancipation, building a picture of black identity and self- representation. It’s a fascinating sweep across figurative art, featuring artists such as South Africa’s George Pemba, the early 20th- century American artist Horace Pippin, and contemporary Ghanaian painter Amoako Boafo, accompanied by a curated playlist that ranges from Miriam Makeba to N.W.A.
When We See Us: A Century of Black Figuration in Painting runs until 3 September
zeitzmocaa.museum
