The best art exhibitions around the world to see by the end of the year 2022 — UPDATE
The most anticipated, interesting and exciting art shows of this autumn
The year 2022 witnessed a gradual opening of the venues across the globe that had to keep their doors closed for our own safety and security during the pandemic.
Now, when we are finally unleashed to hop on the carousel of artistic endeavours, there are plenty of not-to-miss events that were prepared for us by the curators that would feed the appetite of every art lover.
From Donatello to Cézanne, from Medieval to Modern, this is an updated shortlist of what’s on the schedule of the world’s famous museums by the end of 2022.
And while you are building inspirational momentum for your future visits, why not enhance your art journey with the Smart Art — Art History Escape app? There you’ll find the carefully curated collection of over 80,000 paintings and over 1000 original short stories and curious art history quizzes to help you discover brilliant art and check your knowledge along the way.
Let’s begin with the recently opened and forthcoming museum projects, and then catch up on the shows that will close their doors soon.
One last caveat: there is absolutely no chance to name every remarkable art exhibition planned for this year, so I will focus mostly on the major shows expected in the field of Old Masters and Modern Art painting.
Cezanne
Dates: 6 October — 12 March 2023
Location: Tate Modern, London, UK
“With an apple, I will astonish Paris”
This groundbreaking retrospective sheds new light not only on how this pivotal artist created his works but also on why his art remains so vital today.
The ambitious show is named with just the surname of the painter, omitting the l’accent aigu [Cézanne -> Cezanne] to stress his international significance which outgrew his French origins.
This cross-border exhibition kicked off in May in the Art Institute of Chicago and now flies over the Atlantics to adorn the walls of Tate Modern in London in the autumn.
And while in London for Cézanne, don’t miss his 20th-century followers whose shows are in the schedule of events planned by the Royal Academy:
- the colourful work of the North American Milton Avery whose art constantly breaks records at auctions is on view on this side of the Atlantic by 16 October,
- and the quite unconventional exhibition of female German Modernists is going to present their innovative expressionist paintings and works on paper starting 12 November.
Winslow Homer: Force of Nature
Dates: 10 September — 8 January 2023
Location: The National Gallery, London, UK
The universal celebration of the art of the American Winslow Homer was kickstarted with the tremendous Crosscurrents show at the MET in New York earlier this year.
Part of those works (including The Gulf Stream, 1899 — reworked by 1906, pictured below) has safely travelled overseas and is now to be presented for the first time in the UK at the National Gallery. Overall, more than fifty paintings, covering over forty years of Homer’s career, will be shown in London.
Those who are in love with 20th-century Realism, shouldn’t miss Lucian Freud: New Perspectives show in the same NG in London — the painter’s first major exhibition in 10 years that will bring together paintings from more than seven decades (starting 1 October).
Donatello: Inventor of the Renaissance
Dates: 2 September — 8 January
Location: Gemäldegalerie, Berlin, Germany
“The master of masters”
The first major Donatello exhibition in nearly 40 years was successfully staged in Florence earlier this year and has now partly arrived north to now open its doors to the citizens and visitors of Berlin. Centred around the oeuvre of the 15th-century sculptor, it will also include numerous paintings by his contemporaries.
Sculptures and reliefs in marble, terracotta and bronze that have never been displayed together before make this show a genuine once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Those of you who couldn’t make it to Florence and would miss the Berlin version either may already book the calendars for its reincarnation in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London in 2023.
Idols & Rivals: Artists in Competition
Dates: 20 September — 8 January 2023
Location: Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria
Michelangelo, Lavinia Fontana, and Anthonis van Dyck combat Titian, Sofonisba Anguissola, Peter Paul Rubens, and many others.
An interesting exhibition concept is being prepared in the grand Kunsthistorisches in Vienna, which seeks, among other things, to trace numerous artistic confrontations from antiquity until around 1800 and to put the rival works of the past on display for present-day viewers to compare.
Curators prepared numerous comparative sets that would show how in antiquity, the Renaissance, and the Baroque, artists competed with one another and how, in addition, they measured themselves against ancient models. This kind of competition has brought forth some of the best-known works in the history of art.
In this exhibition, some sixty loans from international collections are pitted against just as many major works from Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna.
Their pretty awesome dedicated website will give you a perfect idea of what to expect (and you can even vote on the competitive pieces!).
Van Gogh in America
Dates: from 2 October
Location: The Detroit Institute of Arts, USA
If you appreciate the vibrant colours and pronounced brushstrokes of Vincent van Gogh, join the Detroit Museum of Arts in their celebration of the 100th anniversary of their purchase of the artist’s selfie — Van Gogh in America exhibition opens on 2 October.
Lucky visitors will experience around 70 authentic Van Gogh works from around the world and discover the fascinating story of America’s introduction to this iconic artist.
Things: A History of Still Lifes
Dates: from 13 October
Location: The Louvre Museum, Paris, France
The Louvre in Paris will be opening a particularly interesting large exhibition on Still Lifes [Les Choses: Une histoire de la nature morte depuis la Préhistoire]. It promises to become a new take on what was long seen as a minor genre, covering its history from prehistoric axes to Chardin, Manet and the readymades of Marcel Duchamp.
And when in Paris, consider visiting Füssli: The Realm of Dreams and the Fantastic on display in the cozy Jacquemart-André Museum from 16 September. It will present sixty of the most emblematic works of the Swiss-born British painter, Henry Fuseli (Johann Heinrich Füssli, 1741–1825) from public and private collections. From Shakespearean themes to representations of dreams, nightmares, and apparitions, and mythological and Biblical illustrations, Füssli forged a new aesthetic that shifted between reality and the fantastic.
Last call: exhibitions that are closing soon
The debut shows of two remarkable world’s foremost (and formerly-private) collections of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art have recently attracted enormous crowds to the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris. Now they have returned to their country of permanent residence.
- The Morozov collection of icons of Modern art could be seen in the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow until 30 October. It brings together 200 masterpieces from the French and Russian modern art collections of the brothers Mikhaïl (1870–1903) and Ivan Morozov (1871–1921).
- Sort of a mirror, The Birth of Modern Art: Sergey Shchukin`s Choice exhibition devoted to one of the greatest collectors of French modern with its grandiose pearl — the so-called ‘Gauguin altarpiece’ (see pictured below) — is set up in the Manege of the Small Hermitage in Saint Petersburg, Russia until 30 October.
There are also a couple of ongoing one-on-one exhibitions that focus on the juxtaposition of two painters and their artworks head to head. Both are exploring the genius of Pablo Picasso and his artistic interconnections with the masters of the past.
- Picasso — El Greco exhibition in Basel, Switzerland is going to juxtapose some 40 pairings of their pictures, tracing the course of one of the most fascinating dialogues in the history of art (until 25 September).
- In turn, the National Gallery in London prepares Picasso — Ingres: Face to Face bringing Picasso’s ‘Woman with a Book’, 1932 from the Norton Simon Museum, California, together with the painting that inspired it, ‘Madame Moitessier’ by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (until 9 October).
And if you miss the two shows above, you’ll have another chance to explore the versatile talents of the Spanish master. Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid, Spain is staging Picasso/Chanel show this time bringing art and fashion together. An unusual angle of view, this must be a really interesting dialogue between the two arts and the two masters. The show opens up on 11 October and will last until 15 January 2023.
I hope you’ll have an opportunity to visit your favourite venues and that no unfortunate circumstances are going to ruin your art endeavours this fall!
