This summer, Europe’s museum exhibits have a lot to offer. If you’re heading on a trip to the Old Continent, make sure to include one of these exhibits on your ‘to do’ list.
“Classic Beauties” at the Hermitage in Amsterdam
Through Jan. 13, 2019
This exhibit features more than 60 sculptures, paintings and drawings by more than 25 artists, including Batoni, Canova, Kauffmann, Thorvaldsen, Mengs. The focus of the collection is the human body, which has fascinated artists throughout the centuries. This topic was given a new life in the mid-eighteenth century, when spectacular archaeological discoveries of Greco-Roman sculptures were made in Italy. Artists from all over the world came to Italy to see the works, which lead to a new movement, Neoclassicism, dedicated to the depiction of the human body and its beauty to a whole new level, pursuing ultimate perfection.
“Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth” at the Weston Library at Bodleian Libraries in Oxford
Through Oct. 28, 2018
Author J.R.R. Tolkien, the mastermind behind the well-known novels “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” is also a very talented painter, drawer and illustrator. His work reflects the world that he created in his novels and for the first time since 1950, it was brought to Europe for a special exhibit in Oxford.
The exhibition features original watercolors from when he was writing “The Hobbit”, some previously unseen works and other illustrations.
Picasso, 1932 Love, Fame, Tragedy at Tate Modern in London
Through Sep. 9, 2018
Tate Modern’s first solo Picasso exhibition is a month-by-month journey through the artist’s prolific “year of wonders”. The 100-plus works include Girl Before a Mirror and The Dream, which has never been shown in the UK before. It also reunites three nudes of his lover, Marie-Thérèse Walter, for the first time in 85 years.
Alberto Giacometti at Guggenheim Bilbao in Bilbao
Through Feb. 24, 2019
This is the perfect chance to see the work of one of Switzerland’s most famous artists at the Guggenheim Bilbao. This new exhibition of Jean Paul Sartre, called “the perfect existentialist artist” covers his life’s sculptures and paintings, from the cubist and surrealist period, up to his death in the mid-1960s.
“Frida Kahlo: Making Herself Up” at the V&A in London
Through Nov. 4, 2018
London will host the first exhibition outside of Mexico to display a collection of Frida Kahlo’s clothes, cosmetics and other possessions that were discovered in 2004 at her former home. Important self-portraits and photographs will also be displayed, along with personal items including outfits, letters, jewelry, cosmetics, medical corsets.
The exhibition also features a few highlights, such as Frida’s eyebrow pencil, her favorite lipstick and red nail polish. As Claire Wilcox, senior curator of fashion at the V&A and exhibition co-curator said, “this show will offer a powerful insight into how Frida Kahlo constructed her own identity”.
