(Relaxnews) – A number of major exhitions around Europe open this season and will be welcoming visitors into 2013, including shows in London, Paris, Madrid, Berlin and St. Petersburg — perfect for that weekend break or comprehensive cultural excursion.
Pre-Raphaelites: Victorian Avant-Garde
September 10, 2012 – January 13, 2013
Tate Modern, London, UK
Painting, scultpure, photography and the applied arts are here displayed to present the Victoria-era Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and associated artists as part of a deliberately avant-garde movement of undeniable influence.
tate.org.uk
Van Cleef & Arpels: The Art of Fine Jewelry (L’art de la haute joaillerie)
September 20, 2012 – February 10, 2013
Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, France
A selection of four hundred pieces that demonstrate Van Cleef & Arpels’ flair, innovation and elegance, presented with a range of designs and drawings to illustrate some of the inspirations behind the 106 year old jewelry house.
lesartsdecoratifs.fr
Jake and Dinos Chapman: No Laughing Matter
October 6, 2012 – January 13, 2013
State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia
Contraversial British siblings Jake and Dinos, known for provocative and challenging works, are given a run at the prestigious State Hermitage. Shown one floor below will be the complimentary Goya exhibit Horrors of War — the Chapmans’ early work was directly inspired by Goya’s prints.
hermitagemuseum.org
Russians & Germans: 1000 Years of Art, History and Culture
October 6, 2012 – January 13, 2013
Neues Museum, Berlin, Germany
Elucidating the depth and richness of a longstanding crossover between German and Russian culture, this historical retrospective includes jewelry and carving, costume and portraiture, and even examples of mechanical ingenuity.
neues-museum.de
Richard Hamilton: The Late Works
October 10, 2012 – January 13, 2013
National Gallery, London, UK
The National Gallery’s free marquee exhibition is held in memory of the influential painter and collage artist Richard Hamilton, by its very nature exploring his artistic relationship with the Gallery’s collection of Old Masters — particularly Balzac — and the Frenchman Marcel Duchamp.
nationalgallery.org.uk
Edward Hopper
October 10, 2012 – January 28, 2013
Grand Palais, Paris, France
Hopper’s time in Paris provided fuel for the etchings that, in turn, led to his crucial 1920s breakthrough as an oil and watercolor artist, and the Grand Palais show is to display his output in all three mediums, as well as the recurrent themes of his work: of people, architecture, theatre and urbanism.
rmn.fr
Late Raphael
October 11, 2012 – January 14, 2014
Louvre, Paris, France
Produced in co-operation with Spain’s Museum el Prado as well as the universities of Cambridge and Kent, this exhibition collects late period Raphael (portraits, drawings, and devotional works) together with a selection of his pupils’ output, thereby putting the Renaissance master’s influence in context.
louvre.fr/en/expositions/late-raphael
The Young Van Dyck
November 20, 2012 – March 3, 2013
Museo Nacional Del Prado, Madrid, Spain
Profiling the formidable Anthony van Dyck during his tenure under Rubens, it was the teen’s work in Antwerp that brought him to the attention of the English royal court, and Venetian colossus Titian to the attention of young Van Dyck.
museodelprado.es
Dali
November 21, 2012 – March 25, 2013
Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
Painter provocateur Salvador Dali returns to the Pompidou, with soft watch panorama The Persistence of Memory as centerpiece of this retrospective exhibition, drawing links with the work of Freud, Einstein, and the importance of Dali’s art as vehicle for the expression of personality.
centrepompidou.fr