Gallery highlights
Fruit of Friendship: Portraits by Mary Beale
25 April–19 July Philip Mould & Company, London
Research has revealed that Mary Beale (1633– 99), one of the first women in Britain to become a professional painter, once lived and worked in the building that today houses Philip Mould Gallery – which is now hosting an exhibition of 25 works. These include a portrait of Anne Sotheby, which will travel after a fortnight to ‘Now You See Us: Women Artists in Britain, 1520–1920’ at Tate Britain (16 May–13 October).
Augustus John and the First Crisis of Brilliance
24 April–18 July Piano Nobile, London
While Augustus John’s fortunes have waned of late, with his sister Gwen often seen as more sympathetic to contemporary eyes and mores, here Piano Nobile makes the case for Augustus’s early work. Some 30 paintings and drawings by the artist described by Virginia Woolf as the ‘saviour’ of British painting are paired with works by his contemporaries including William Orpen, Jacob Epstein and, yes, Gwen John.
Maggi Hambling: The Night Until
16 May Pearl Lam Galleries, Hong Kong
‘You, darkness, of whom I am born –/I love you more than the flame’, wrote the poet Rainer Maria Rilke in one of his Poems to Night (1916). This exhibition, taking its cue from Rilke, sees Maggi Hambling in a nocturnal mood, with a selection of dark-hued, densely layered paintings inspired by the night sky. It also features two hitherto unseen bodies of work in a more carnal vein: titles include Sexy, Sexy Dream and About to Kiss (both 2023).
The New School of Paris through its Pioneering Women (1945–1964)
13 April–25 May Perrotin, New York
The term ‘School of Paris’ was coined during the 1920s to describe the group of avant-garde artists who were flocking to France at the time. After the Second World War, the prefix ‘New’ was appended, updating the term to refer to the city’s abstract artists. This exhibition, curated by art historian Thomas Schlesser, explores the work of the female artists, gallerists and critics associated with the label.