October highlights
Matisse, Like a Novel Centre Pompidou, Paris 21 October–22 February 2021 www.centrepompidou.fr
This is the most extensive survey of Matisse’s work in France since the great centenary display of . Drawing on a number of important loans, it explores the various ways the artist combined text and image over the course of his career, culminating in his late, calligraphic collages (pictured).
Arctic: Culture and Climate British Museum, London 22 October–21 February 2021 www.britishmuseum.org
This display looks at life in the far north over a period of some , years, presenting archaeological objects alongside contemporary artworks. It considers how Arctic peoples have adapted to the harsh climate, and how they are facing the challenges of globalisation and global warming.
Exquisite Adornment: Turkmen and Miao Jewelry from the Elizabeth and Robert Lende Collection San Antonio Museum of Art 9 October–3 January 2021 www.samuseum.org
This display, of a promised gift to the museum, consists of some
pieces of finely crafted silver jewellery made by a variety of ethnic groups who live on the vast Eurasian steppe and in south-western China.
Artemisia National Gallery, London 3 October–24 January 2021 www.nationalgallery.org.uk
With some works and a number of recently discovered letters, this long-awaited show explores how Artemisia Gentileschi defied established gender roles to become one of the most successful artists of her time. Pictured is a typically visceral scene of the biblical heroine Jael killing a sleeping Canaanite.
Haegue Yang: Strange Attractors Tate St Ives 24 October–3 May 2021 www.tate.org.uk
For her largest show in the UK to date, the South Korean sculptor has created an environment made out of industrial and craft objects. Spanning the main galleries of Tate St Ives, the abstract assemblage will be accompanied by collages and lacquer paintings.
Anders Zorn: The Swedish Idyll Kunstmuseum Den Haag 10 October–21 January 2021 www.kunstmuseum.nl
After great success abroad as a society portraitist, from onwards Zorn devoted himself to recording the customs of his homeland. Alongside his naturalistic nudes, landscapes and genre scenes, this display includes items from Zorn’s collection of Swedish folk objects.
The Piranesi Principle Kunstbibliothek, Berlin 4 October–7 February 2021 www.smb.museum
Drawing on the collections of the Berlin State Museums, this exhibition marks the th anniversary of the Italian polymath’s birth. A display of engravings, pamphlets, satirical illustrations and drawings presents Piranesi in many modes – as archaeologist, artist, collector, publisher and more.
The Aztecs Weltmuseum Wien 15 October–13 April 2021 www.weltmuseumwien.at
This display of some objects moves from the Mexican coast – where Hernán Cortés landed in – to the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlán, exploring how art, economics and religion varied throughout the empire. Pictured is a
th-century sculpture of Mictlantecuhtli, the god of death.