For those who are fed up with art, we recommend the largest gastronomic exhibition-fair, which will take place from October 30 to November 11 in Dijon, France.
AUSTRIA
Art Week, November 15-21, Vienna. In mid-November, Vienna will host the traditional contemporary art showcase Vienna Art Week. During this week, anyone interested can visit exhibitions, seminars, lectures, master classes by contemporary artists and designers, as well as purchase works of art. In Vienna's museum quarter, the exhibition 'Art of Design' will open, the forum 'Gods and Monsters' will take place at the Kunsthistorisches Museum, and from November 16, a contemporary art fair will open at the Kunstlerhaus cultural center, where any painting you like can be purchased for 80 euros. www.viennaartweek.at
Female Pop Art, November 5 – February 20, Vienna. A new exhibition opens at the Kunsthalle Wien, featuring works by nine female artists created in the 1960s-1970s in the pop art style, closely linked to mass culture and mass media. Among the exhibits are 'Ice Cream' by Evelyne Axell, 'Still Life with Frog' by Christa Dichgans, 'Marilyn Pursued by Death' by Rosalyn Drexler, 'Love's Bombs' by Kiki Kogelnik, and other works. www.kunsthallewien.at
BELGIUM
European Orientalism, until January 9, Brussels. An exhibition dedicated to oriental motifs in European art from the late 18th to early 20th centuries ('from Delacroix to Kandinsky') recently opened at the Royal Museum of Fine Arts. Exotic landscapes, colorful portraits, and genre scenes by artists such as Ingres, Delacroix, Vernet, Gérôme, Fromentin, Marquet, Renoir, Kandinsky have been gathered specially for the exhibition from museum and private collections around the world. www.fine-arts-museum.be
UNITED KINGDOM
Glasgow Boys, October 30 – January 23, London. An exhibition dedicated to the painting of post-impressionist artists from the Glasgow Boys group has opened at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. The exhibition features over 80 paintings, watercolors, and pastels by John Lavery, James Paterson, Arthur Melville, James Guthrie, William McGregor, Joseph Crawhall, and other artists, created between 1880 and 1900. The paintings for the exhibition have been gathered from European museums and private collections. www.royalacademy.org.uk
Egyptian Book of the Dead, November 4 – March 6, London. A new exhibition dedicated to the 'successful transition to another world and a happy eternal life in the afterlife' as envisioned by the ancient Egyptians will open at the British Museum. The Book of the Dead consists of 160 chapters and includes both poetic hymns and short magical incantations. The exhibition will feature amulets, funerary figurines, statues, ancient papyri, and modern interactive objects that help interpret the rituals associated with the deceased person's passage to the afterlife. The exhibition is accompanied by lectures and film screenings devoted to the history and culture of Ancient Egypt. www.britishmuseum.org
GERMANY
Picasso: The Artist's Books, November 25 – March 6, Munich. In May 2009, a new museum of modern art opened in Munich based on the collection of Udo Brandhorst – Museum Brandhorst. At the end of November, a temporary exhibition dedicated to Pablo Picasso's book illustrations will open there. This is a little-explored area of the artist's work, although between 1905 and 1973 Picasso created 150 book projects. The exhibition explores the close creative ties between authors and publishers and the artist, and the problem of combining text and image. Visitors will see Picasso's illustrations for books by Max Jacob, Paul Éluard, Tristan Tzara, Pierre Reverdy. www.museum-brandhorst.de
Caravaggio, November 12 – March 6, Berlin. An exhibition dedicated to the painting of the Italian artist Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610) will soon open at the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin. It is timed to the 400th anniversary of the artist's death. The exhibition will feature the paintings 'Amor Victorious' from the museum's own collection and 'The Incredulity of Saint Thomas' (Sanssouci Palace, Potsdam), as well as works by Caravaggio from Roman collections. The exhibition will also include paintings by Caravaggio's great contemporaries – Rubens and Rembrandt – and his numerous followers, known as Caravaggisti. www.smb.museum
SPAIN
The Impressionist Gardens, November 16 – February 13, Madrid. This exhibition was a huge success at the National Gallery of Scotland (we wrote about it in our August overview of European exhibitions) and now moves to the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid. About 90 works by 19th-century artists from many museums in Europe and the USA will be on display. Visitors will see paintings by Renoir, Monet, Pissarro, Manet, Sisley, Cézanne, Bonnard, Gauguin, van Gogh, Liebermann, as well as works by the predecessors of the Impressionists (Delacroix, Corot, Courbet) and their followers (Klimt and Sargent). www.museothyssen.org
Rubens, November 5 – January 23, Madrid. The halls of the Prado Museum in Madrid that house the Flemish painting collection have closed for renovation, so a temporary exhibition of paintings by Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) will soon open in the Prado's Jerónimos exhibition building, featuring works from the main collection and the museum's storerooms. The main part of the Prado's Rubens collection, numbering 90 works, was assembled by the Spanish king Philip IV. Visitors will see the paintings 'Saint George and the Dragon', 'The Apostle Paul', 'The Garden of Love', 'The Three Graces', 'Hercules and Cerberus', 'Nymphs and Satyrs', 'Saturn Devouring His Son', 'Diana and Callisto', and other works by the artist, as well as watch a new documentary film dedicated to Rubens's work. www.museodelprado.es
ITALY
Čiurlionis, November 17 – February 6, Milan. The Milanese Palazzo Reale will soon host an exhibition of the Lithuanian artist and composer Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis (1875-1911). Čiurlionis's work was greatly influenced by Art Nouveau and Symbolism, and his works also feature reminiscences of Japanese, Indian, and Egyptian culture. The last years of Čiurlionis's creative life were devoted to a search for a synthesis of the arts and analogies between the language of music and visual art. The Italian exhibition will feature more than 100 works by the artist, as well as photographs and documents. Visitors will also be able to hear musical compositions by Čiurlionis. //www.artpalazzoreale.it
Teotihuacan – City of the Gods, November 9 – February 27, Rome. A new archaeological exhibition dedicated to the culture of pre-Columbian America will open at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome. It focuses on the life of the abandoned city of Teotihuacan (2nd–7th century AD), located 50 kilometers from modern-day Mexico City. The ruins of this city were discovered by the Aztecs, and actual archaeological excavations were conducted throughout the 20th century. The pyramids of the Moon, the Sun, and the Feathered Serpent, along with palaces of rulers and dwellings of ordinary people, were uncovered. The Roman exhibition will assemble over 300 artifacts, including monumental sculptures, jade figurines, masks, carved objects, household altars, pottery, utensils, and jewelry. Photographs and a documentary film will provide details about the archaeological excavations of the "City of the Gods." //english.palazzoesposizioni.it
NETHERLANDS
Made in Holland, November 4 – January 30, The Hague. A new exhibition at the Mauritshuis museum in The Hague offers a nearly unique opportunity to see 44 paintings by 17th-century Dutch masters. These paintings are rarely exhibited as they belong to American private collectors. The Hague exhibition includes portraits, landscapes, and genre scenes by artists such as Rembrandt, Frans Hals, Jacob van Ruisdael, Jan Steen, Hendrick Avercamp, Balthasar van der Ast, Ambrosius Bosschaert, Jan Davidsz de Heem, and Willem Heda. //www.mauritshuis.nl
FINLAND
Flemish Painting, until January 16, Helsinki. The Sinebrychoff Art Museum recently opened an exhibition dedicated to Flemish painting from the 16th to the 18th centuries from the collection of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp. Baroque Flemish painting is characterized by dynamism, "fleshliness" and opulence of forms, monumentalism, and decorative quality. The Helsinki exhibition will present Flemish Baroque through paintings and engravings by Peter Paul Rubens, as well as works by Quinten Massys, Jan Brueghel, Jan Gossart, Abraham Govaerts, Jacob Jordaens, and David Teniers the Younger. //www.sinebrychoffintaidemuseo.fi
FRANCE
International Gastronomy Fair, October 30 – November 11, Dijon. The Dijon Gastronomy Fair is among the ten largest fairs in France. This year it will be held for the 80th time, so an even larger influx of visitors is expected. About 600 exhibitors present their products, and it is visited annually by 200,000 people. The most popular sections at this fair are wine and local delicacies, handicrafts, games and multimedia, and cosmetics. Each year the fair hosts gastronomic events under the banner "Cuisines of the World." The special theme this year is Hungary. //www.dijon-expocongres.com
Luca Cambiaso, November 11 – February 7, Paris. The Louvre in Paris will soon open an exhibition of drawings by the Italian Mannerist artist Luca Cambiaso (1527-1585), who had a significant influence on the formation of the Genoese school of painting. The exhibition will feature more than 50 drawings and engravings by Cambiaso and his followers from French museums and private collections. Cambiaso's drawings were eagerly collected by Louis XIV, and later became very popular among 18th-century collectors. //www.louvre.fr
SWITZERLAND
Luxury Items of the 16th Century, November 28 – March 13, Zurich. At the end of November, the Museum Rietberg in Zurich will open an exhibition dedicated to luxury items of the 16th century. The core of the exhibition is the collection of ivory objects and precious stone jewelry of Queen Catherine of Habsburg (1507-1578) of Portugal. The exhibition will feature precious colonial goods of that era, which quickly came into fashion and became coveted luxury items in many European royal houses. //www.rietberg.ch
Nyuta Kukushkina.
