In the frame: our pick of art exhibitions across Europe for 2019

There are some major exhibitions sweeping across European galleries this year. Art aficionados, make space in your diaries for our pick of the best

By Chris Beanland
photographs by Getty Images
Published 9 Apr 2019, 00:20 BST
Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci
Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci
Photograph by Getty Images

LONDON — 22 May-27 July
Hungarian artist Laszlo Moholy-Nagy barely lived for 50 years but made one hell of an artistic impression — his paintings, posters and photographs ushered in a new era of modernism, influenced as much by industrial design and the machine age as by the classics you’ll find in most art museums. This exhibition at the Hauser & Wirth gallery in Mayfair brings together his paintings and installations, and is in part inspired by the Bauhaus centenary — Moholy-Nagy was one of the Bauhaus School’s most famous professors.

MUNICH — 4 April-21 July
The Utrecht, Caravaggio and Europe exhibition will be curated in conjunction with the Centraal Museum in Utrecht, and see over 70 paintings brought together, many of which have never before been seen in Bavaria. The collection of works gathered at the prestigious Alte Pinakothek by artists like Bartolomeo Manfredi and Valentin de Boulogne sits alongside reminders of what their hero, Caravaggio, painted. In particular, it explores how Dutch painters discovered Caravaggio’s approach to portraiture and landscapes and made the style their own in the Dutch Golden Age of the 1600s. 

BILBAO — 12 April-6 October
With Backward Glance: Giorgio Morandi and the Old Masters, the Guggenheim will highlight how the Old Masters’ works inspired Italian artist Morandi to make the minimalist, largely still-life art he did. The museum is exhibiting Morandi’s work next to a selection of Old Masters, bringing something fresh to the Basque museum that’s so often praised more for its architecture rather than what’s inside.

AMSTERDAM — 21 June-1 September
The strange power of Van Gogh’s Sunflowers has gripped viewers and collectors since it emerged from the hand of the master in 1889. Van Gogh and The Sunflowers exhibition at Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum will shed light on some of the mysteries of Sunflowers — like how Van Gogh created five different versions. Paintings, drawings, and trinkets from Van Gogh’s time in France will also be on show. 

MILAN
2019 marks 500 years since the death of Leonardo da Vinci, and Milan (where he spent some of his life) will be awash with exhibitions and events. There’s the restored Sala delle Asse at the Castello Sforzesco, which reopens in May, where da Vinci’s wall and ceiling frescoes have been reimagined (2 May-12 January 2020). Elsewhere, there’s the The Last Supper After Leonardo exhibition, at the Stelline Foundation, with works by da Vinci and the likes of Anish Kapoor and Yue Minjun (1 April-28 June 2020). 

Published in the National Geographic Traveller European Cities Collection

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