Belgium
Rubens and Graphic Art, all August, Antwerp. An exhibition of reproductive engravings of Rubens's paintings is open at the Royal Museum of Fine Arts until September 12. It is known that the artist himself was not an engraver, but many craftsmen perfected their art under his direction, for in 1620 Rubens opened his own school-workshop, where engravings preserving the painterly effect of the originals were created. The exhibition features engravings by Pieter Soutman, Paul Pontius, Cornelis Galle, and, of course, works by the finest master of the Rubens school, Lucas Vorsterman. http://museum.antwerpen.be
Earth from Above, until August 29, Brussels. An exhibition of works by the world-famous photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand from his famous project "Earth from Above" is being held at the Brussels exhibition park. The project currently comprises 800,000 photographs. Arthus-Bertrand photographs the earth from his favorite altitude - a bird's-eye view, from two to five thousand meters. Visitors to this unique exhibition will see 150 works by the photographer, each measuring 1.8 by 1.2 meters. "From a helicopter you can see more details and better understand people's lives and their culture," says the famous photographer. It is worth noting that Kiev once hosted these pictures - the exhibition visited the Ukrainian capital, and many fans of Arthus-Bertrand were able to see it. http://www.earthfromtheair.com
Great Britain
Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts, until August 16, London. This annual exhibition, the world's largest of contemporary art, dates back to 1769. Painting, drawing, graphic art, prints, and sculpture by contemporary British artists attract many visitors and buyers, as all exhibited works are for sale. The exhibition is divided into thematic rooms: for example, a room for invited artists - which visitors head to first; a separate room is devoted to works by honorary members of the Academy of Arts; a room for sculpture, prints, and engravings; and so on. In principle, anyone can submit their works to this exhibition. http://www.royalacademy.org.uk
Secrets of Clay: From Gauguin to Gormley, until August 30, Liverpool. Clay, one of the oldest materials in art, has always attracted artists with its plasticity, fragility, and unpredictability. The Liverpool branch of London's Tate gallery is hosting an exhibition devoted to experimental clay works by artists and sculptors of the 20th and 21st centuries, "From Gauguin to Gormley." The journey begins with Gauguin's ceramics with anthropomorphic decorations, followed by works by German Expressionists, Russian Suprematists, and Italian Futurists. Particular attention is drawn to works by Marcel Duchamp - the father of the conceptualists, Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró, and Isamu Noguchi. Works from the last four years (for example, Edmund de Waal's "Porcelain Room") arouse considerable interest among visitors. By the way, the exhibition also features an installation by the famous sculptor Antony Gormley, "Field" (American version, 1991), consisting of 40,000 terracotta human figures. http://www.tate.org.uk
Greece
Picasso and Greece, until September 26, the island of Andros. Within the framework of the Cultural Olympiad, the Museum of Contemporary Art on the island of Andros is hosting a thematic exhibition devoted to the interpretation of ancient art in the work of Pablo Picasso. The Vasileios and Eliza Goulandris Foundation, in cooperation with the Picasso Museum in Paris, has managed to bring together the artist's youthful studies from ancient casts, works of the classical period ("Woman in White," "The Pipes of Pan," 1923), series of engravings for Ovid's "Metamorphoses" (1930), "Minotauromachy" (1935), Picasso's sculptures ("Man with a Lamb"), as well as decorative ceramic dishes, anthropomorphic jugs, and statuettes ("Centaur," 1956). The exhibition aims to show the artist's enduring interest in antiquity. His 116 works will be placed in the context of genuine Greek antiquity: statues, reliefs, vases, and ceramics from the National Archaeological Museum in Athens will be exhibited alongside works by Pablo Picasso. http://www.cultureguide.gr
Germany
Long Night of Museums, August 28, Berlin. All Berlin museums and galleries will open their doors for free visits for an entire night. This kind of nocturnal cultural experiment has been successfully held in many European cities. The ticket price includes admission to all museums and travel around the night city on special buses. http://www.mdberlin.de
Exhibition of Pre-Raphaelites from London's Tate Gallery, until September 19, Berlin. The main goals of the "Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood," as Holman Hunt called them, were virtuosity of technique, direct study of nature, the pursuit of meticulous realism ("choose nothing and reject nothing") and pure color. 150 paintings and drawings by the Pre-Raphaelites from the Tate Gallery's collection can be seen at Berlin's Old National Gallery, including paintings by Madox Brown, Holman Hunt ("The Lost Sheep," "The Triumph of the Innocents"), Millais's painting "Christ in the House of His Parents," which caused a sensation in its day, and his famous "Ophelia." http://www.btm.de
Holland
Manet and the Sea, until September 26, Amsterdam. The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, in collaboration with the Philadelphia Museum of Art, is for the first time holding an unusual thematic exhibition “Manet and the Sea.” The interpretation of the marine theme in Manet's work has its own sociocultural specificity, so Manet's sea paintings are interesting not only in terms of technique and style, but also because they reflect a special vision of the era, an analysis of time. Works by Manet (from 1864 to 1883) are presented in the exhibition in a broad context of paintings by other artists, predecessors and contemporaries - Courbet, Delacroix, Morisot. Particularly interesting is the “Manet - Monet” dialogue in the interpretation of the marine theme. http://www.vangoghmuseum.nl
Spain
Three paintings by El Greco from the Oballe chapel, until September 19, Madrid. The Prado Museum is exhibiting three paintings from the last years of the great El Greco's life, painted for the Oballe chapel in the Church of San Vicente in Toledo. These are the lyrically charged painting “Immaculate Conception,” “Saint Peter,” and “Saint Ildefonso,” which according to the artist's design form a single composition. http://museoprado.mcu.es
Video art by Bill Viola, until August 30, Bilbao. The Guggenheim Museum is hosting an exhibition featuring video installations and illustrations from Bill Viola's video works, whom critics call the Rembrandt of the video art era, an artist and philosopher who managed to discover a new law of optical perception of the world. Since the 1970s, Viola has been experimenting with video, exploring the phenomenon of sensory perception as a path to self-knowledge and a search for feedback with traditional art. “The essence of modern video and digital technologies is close to human essence, and the fragile ontological nature of flickering, moving images gives birth to a new humanism in the art of the 21st century, 500 years after the Renaissance,” says Bill Viola. http://www.guggenheim.org
The Splendor of the Medieval Mediterranean, until September 27, Barcelona. Visitors to the Maritime Museum in Barcelona will be able to fully immerse themselves in the living life of a medieval port city. This large-scale cultural exhibition, created in collaboration with the Museum of History of Catalonia, provides an idea of the art, culture, everyday life, crafts, trade, politics and navigation of the 13th-15th centuries, a time of splendor and glory of the Mediterranean. http://www.diba.es/mmaritim/index.htm
Italy
Italy: Double Vision, until August 29, Rome. The theme of this photo exhibition is extremely simple - the life of Italy, as is, in general, its concept: dialogue, dispute. Italian and foreign photographers enter into dialogue here and open up to visitors different approaches, points of view, visions of the same theme. The exhibition features Henri Cartier-Bresson and Mario Giacomelli, William Klein and Mario Carrieri, Raymond Depardon and Carla Cerati, Sebastiano Salgado and Giorgia Fiorio. The exhibition is held in the Scuderie del Quirinale gallery. http://www.scuderiequirinale.it
Florentine Myths, until August 31, Florence. This country has always attracted foreigners, admired, inspired reflection and creativity. The full title of the exhibition, held in the Uffizi Gallery, is: “Gardens of the Queens: Florentine Myths among the Pre-Raphaelites and in American Culture of the 17th-18th Centuries.” The atmosphere of the old city is recreated in paintings, ancient maps, decorative and everyday objects of that era, books and letters. http://www.igiardinidelleregine.it/english/cittareale.asp
Restored painting by Caravaggio “The Martyrdom of Saint Ursula,” until August 29, Milan. This painting was created in 1610, in the last year of Caravaggio's life, commissioned by the Genoese Marcantonio Doria. Forgotten for many centuries, the painting was discovered in 1970 and immediately attracted the attention of specialists. When its authenticity was established, the best specialists were invited to participate in the restoration work. Now this work of art is traveling around Italy: first the painting was exhibited in Rome, and until the end of August it can be seen in Milan, in the Ambrosiana gallery. http://www.ambrosiana.it
France
Exhibition of works by Jozef Mehoffer, until September 4, Paris. The Musée d'Orsay is hosting an exhibition of the famous Polish avant-garde artist Jozef Mehoffer (1869-1946), who was a member of the “Young Poland” group at the beginning of the 20th century. The exhibition presents 30 paintings, decorative panels, sketches for frescoes and stained glass windows by the artist in the Art Nouveau style. Mehoffer's monumental decorative works are characterized by typical features of the Art Nouveau style with its cult of line and plant ornament, an emphasis on national style and strict composition with complex symbolism. http://www.musee-orsay.fr
Monk and Spirit: Contemporary Art of China, until August 15, Lyon. In France, contemporary Chinese art was loudly discussed in 1989, after the famous exhibition “Magic of the Planet,” held at the Centre Pompidou. Now the Lyon Museum of Contemporary Art is hosting an exhibition of young Chinese artists whose works intertwine motifs of traditional Chinese art with the latest fashionable trends. http://www.moca-lyon.org
Sweden
Cow Parade, until August 31, Stockholm. As Gazeta.Ru notes, this evergreen international project called “Cow Parade” has turned six years old. The parade has already taken place in many cities in Europe and America and has reached Stockholm. About a hundred life-size cow models painted by different artists - lying, standing, grazing - are placed throughout the city. At the end of summer, the cows will be sold at auction, and the proceeds will go mainly to charitable purposes. At the same time, such parades are taking place in Prague and Manchester. http://www.cowparade.net