Shortlist
Artemisia National Gallery, London 3 October–24 January 2021 www.nationalgallery.org.uk
This display under Letizia Treves’s expert curation gathered 30 works firmly attributed to Gentileschi and set them amid compelling biographical material. The drama of her life story, this display demonstrated, is exceeded only by the drama in her paintings.
Pieter de Hooch in Delft: From the Shadow of Vermeer Museum Prinsenhof, Delft 11 October 2019–16 February www.prinsenhof-delft.nl
This was the first retrospective in the Netherlands dedicated to De Hooch, whose courtyard scenes influenced Vermeer and who in the 18th and early 19th centuries was better known than the celebrated Golden Age painter.
Vida Americana: Mexican Muralists Remake American Art, 1925–1945 Whitney Museum of American Art, New York 17 February–31 January 2021 www.whitney.org
Featuring nearly 200 works, this ambitious exhibition revealed the inspiration American painters such as Jacob Lawrence and Jackson Pollock found in the art of the leading Mexican muralists.
Leonardo da Vinci Musée du Louvre, Paris 24 October 2019–24 February www.louvre.fr
Based on more than 10 years of research and conservation, this exhibition focused on five key Leonardo works in the Louvre’s collection. The use of technology such as VR was especially apt, complementing the genius of this great scientist and inventor.
Sahel: Art and Empires on the Shores of the Sahara Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 30 January–26 October www.metmuseum.org
Significant loans from Mali, Senegal, Mauritania and Niger explored the trade networks and rich artistic traditions of the historic empires making up the western Sahel – as well as crucial developments such as the arrival of Islam.