Exhibition of the week
Troy: Myth and Reality
This exhibition promises a fascinating look at how the legends of the Trojan war compare with what archaeology can tell us – does Homer’s Iliad have any factual basis?
British Museum, London, 21 November to 8 March.
Also showing
Anselm Kiefer
The latest spectacular installation by the greatest artist alive explores the cutting-edge physics of string theory.
White Cube Bermondsey, London, 15 November to 26 January.
Nan Goldin
A new slide show about drugs and memory features in what should be a compelling survey of Goldin’s raw yet romantic art. She’s one of the camera’s true greats.
Marian Goodman Gallery, London, until 11 January.
George IV: Art and Spectacle
Britain’s most reviled king presided over a golden age of creativity that included Keats, Turner, Shelley (and her bloke) and Austen. But he was mercilessly satirised by Gillray.
Queen’s Gallery, London, 15 November to 3 May.
Dora Maar
The surrealist photographs of the woman painted by Picasso as a weeping icon of 20th-century suffering.
Tate Modern, London, 20 November to 15 March.
Image of the week
Joana Choumali became the first African – and only the second woman – to win the Prix Pictet award for photography and sustainability, with her series of embroidered images of people in Ivory Coast rebuilding their lives in the wake of a 2016 terrorist attack.
What we learned
Gus Casely-Hayford will lead the V&A East
Greta Thunberg is watching over San Francisco
Troy rises again to challenge its place in history
Steve McQueen’s class act aims to inspire future artists
The winners of Australia’s 2019 National Architecture awards were announced
National Galleries Scotland became the latest institution to shun BP
China’s art market is exploding
Artemisia Gentileschi’s star continues to rise
The Martin brothers’ quirky pottery is having a moment
Cornelia Parker opened her first major show in the southern hemisphere
Nnena Kalu gives a compelling glimpse of how autism informs her art
A Welsh Botticelli turns out to be real
Multimedia works round the clock
Pennie Smith talked about her classic Clash portraits
Demolition work has raised fears for a Paolozzi sculpture
Michael Owunna searches for Limitless Africans
Winners of the Climate Visuals award were announced
Dance has always had a love affair with fashion design
We remembered the designer Richard Snell …
… and stonemason Trevor Proudfoot
Three versions of an Elizabeth I portrait will be seen together for the first time
Police foiled an attempt to steal two Rembrandts from an exhibition
The Sharjah Architecture Triennial extravaganza opened in the UAE
Masterpiece of the week
Penelope with the Suitors, c 1509, by Pinturicchio
This scene of a woman’s creativity, courage and resourcefulness comes from the ancient Greek legends that swirled around the war on Troy. Homer’s Odyssey tells how, after the Greeks finally destroyed Troy and set off home, their most cunning leader, Odysseus, got into one strange adventure after another that killed his men and delayed his homecoming. Meanwhile, his wife Penelope had to hold off an army of unwanted suitors – which she did by saying they would have to wait until she had finished her weaving, before unpicking it every night. This painting turns her into a Renaissance woman besieged by men in tights. The ship in the background looks as if it could belong to Columbus and fuses the voyages of Odysseus with the age of discovery. Penelope projects strength and wit – it’s Homer reimagined as a Shakespeare comedy.
National Gallery, London.
Don’t forget
To follow us on Twitter: @GdnArtandDesign.
Sign up to the Art Weekly newsletter
If you don’t already receive our regular roundup of art and design news via email, please sign up here.
Comments (…)
Sign in or create your Guardian account to join the discussion