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New for 2024: The best European cities to visit for major art exhibitions

(Editor’s note: Terry Boyd also contributed to this post on blockbuster 2024 art events in Europe’s major cultural centers. This post will be updated with new exhibitions.)

Whether during a short weekend getaway or an extended vacation, a visit to a great art show is a valuable addition to any trip. Here is our selection of the most invigorating art projects across Europe this year.

Frans Hals at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam

Now through 9 June

You can count on Amsterdam’s royal museum to bring the best of Europe to the city’s multitude of visitors. Frans Hals was a contemporary of the more celebrated (now) Johannas Vermeer, though in his time Hals was successful and (for the 17th century) stylistically avant-garde.

In fact, if you visualize a portrait from the Golden Age, it’s probably a Vermeer, Rembrandt or Hals. “Jester with a Lute” at the Louvre and Willem van Heythuysen kicking back in his chair are representative of Hals jovial, stylish approach to capturing a subject’s essence. You can see 50 of his paintings at this comprehensive show. Now, the weird thing is, the guy painted nothing but portraits – no landscapes or biblical scenes as all that had gone out of style by his day.

Though he was a celebrity painter in his day, like Vermeer, Rembrandt and every other Dutch/Flemish painter, Hals managed to go broke even though he had a long and productive career. Tough gig, painting, but few did it better.

Admission to the Rijksmuseum is 22.50 euros and you can buy tickets in advance here.

Bienal de Coimbra: The Phantom of Liberty

Coimbra, now through 30 June

Portugal rarely becomes a hotspot for art lovers. It has grown, however, to become one of the most popular summer destinations of Europe. If you find yourself traveling through Portugal this summer, check the old university town of Coimbra and its contemporary art biennale.

This year’s edition titled “The Phantom of Liberty” takes its name from Luís Buñuel’s cinematic masterpiece released in 1974, the same year when the Carnation Revolution put an end to the fascist dictatorship in Portugal.

Fifty years later, the curators of the event contemplate what remains today of the ideal of freedom:

The title has an ambiguous and open meaning. If, on the one hand, it suggests the idea that liberty is a phantom, an inescapable and spectral presence; on the other, it also points to an incomplete process, a disbelief in a once certain truth, more of a promise than something real.

Scattered across different areas of the city (including my personal all-time favorite, the Coimbra Botanical Garden), the exhibition features Portuguese vanguard artist Túlia Saldanha and fluxus pioneer Robert Filliou, as well as a number of contemporary artists, for instance, Angolan satirical muralist Yonamine and Mozambican painter Ilídio Candja Candja.

Don’t forget to check an extensive list of collateral events.

“Sargent and Fashion” at the Tate Britain in London

Now through 7 July

Madame X (Madame Pierre Gautreau). 1883-1884.

No American painter defines the early modern era more than John Singer Sargent, who worked during the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th.

And of course he was an expat.

His “Madam X” is the definition of aristocratic glamour and style, and proof that Americans could match the French in the technical demands of painting. Although the guy was far more of a European than an American.

Born in Florence in 1856 to wealthy Americans parents and educated in Paris, by his mid-20s Sargent was an established artist. Encouraged by Henry James, he moved to London In 1886, according to Gallerie.

Unlike his European contemporaries, who celebrated quotidienne life, expat-in-London Sargent was only interested in the upper classes and creative types.

The Tate show is quite a big deal and includes 60 paintings.

Tate Members get unlimited free entry to all Tate exhibitions. Become a member here. Everyone aged 16-25 can visit all Tate exhibitions for 5 pounds by joining Tate Collective. To join for free, click here.

Otherwise, it’ll cost you 22 pounds.

Read more about Sargent here in the New York Times.

“Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog”

Caspar David Friedrich in Dresden, Hamburg and Berlin

Various dates in Hamburg and Berlin

Celebrating Caspar David Friedrich’s 250th birthday, three major museums in Germany are staging a trio of exhibitions dedicated to one of the most enigmatic painters of all times.

Those who manage to see them all, will certainly become true connoisseurs of Friedrich’s art since these three places house the best collections of his work across the globe. The institutions have created a common portal encompassing all exhibitions and events of the year.

The adult tickets cost 16 euros in Hamburg and Berlin and 12 euros in Dresden and you can buy them on the respective websites.

Caspar David Friedrich: Infinite Landscapes at the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin (now thru 4 August) stages a dialogue between his pairs of landscape paintings and highlights the role of the institution in rediscovering the artist in the beginning of the 20th century. A separate section also presents the latest research on his technique.

Caspar David Friedrich: Where it All Started takes place at Albertinum and Kupferstich-Kabinett in Dresden (24 August 2024 – 5 January 2025), the city where the artist spent the longest and most productive period of his life. The museum stages an interplay between Friedrich’s pieces and the Old Master paintings that inspired his work.

“Paris 1874. Inventing impressionism” at Musée d’Orsay in Paris

Now thru 14 July

One hundred fifty years after the very first impressionist exhibition in Paris, the major impressionist museum in the world looks back into the day that completely changed the trajectory of Western art.

Paris 1874 attempts to re-stage the original display of works by 31 artists (“only seven of whom are well-known across the world today,” as the museum’s media-release notes) against at-the-time accepted art exhibited at the official Salon the same year, thus re-enacting the visual conflict and the artistic collision between the two.

Through such juxtaposition, the exhibition presents a rare opportunity to actually experience for yourself the striking rapture that shocked the French capital in 1874.

Tickets range between 12-16 euros if booked on-line and 11-14 euros if bought on the spot. You can get yours here.

Roy Lichtenstein: A Centennial Exhibition” at the Albertina Museum in Vienna

Now thru 14 July

Another anniversary celebration — now at the Austrian Albertina. Roy Lichtenstain is one of the major figures of the American Pop Art movement of the ’60s recognized for his bright-colored cartoon-like works featuring stereotypical blond ladies and war heroes.

On the occasion of Roy Lichtenstain’s 100th birthday the museum opens a comprehensive show of the artist’s work with paintings, prints and sculptures from major North-American and European collections.

Tickets are between 9 euros and 18.90 euros. You can get them here.

Now thru 21 July

Have you already watched the new Netflix series, “Ripley,” starring Andrew Scott in the role of the adventurous grifter? In one of the scenes, Mr. Ripley pays a visit to “The Martyrdom of Saint Ursula” (1610), the last known work of that master of shock and awe, Caravaggio.

This spring and summer, at the National Gallery, you can find out if this incredible work leaves you equally dazed. The painting, finished two months before the Italian master died under mysterious circumstances, represents a violent murder scene that comes to the fore through Caravaggio’s masterful usage of chiaroscuro, shadow and light.

Believed to be one of his most impactful works, the canvas will be exhibited next to the museum’s own no less impressive late Caravaggio, “Salome with the Head of John the Baptist” (about 1609–10).

Entry is free but book ahead!

“Anselm Kiefer: Fallen Angels” at Palazzo Strozzi in Florence

Now thru 21 July

Palazzo Strozzi, an imposing Renaissance palace in the center of Florence, stages its new blockbuster exhibition. This time, it celebrates the work of one of the most recognized living artists of our times — Anselm Kiefer.

Featuring both old works and new production that emerged in dialogue with Renaissance architecture, the show explores Kiefer’s “artistic pursuit in which history, myth, religion, mysticism, poetry, and philosophy merge and blur with one another.” To get into the mood before seeing the show, watch the new Wim Wender’s movie on Anselm Kiefer’s life and oeuvre from 2023.

Full price tickets are 15 euros and you can get yours here.

Britta Marakatt-Labba: Moving the Needle

Oslo, now through 25 August

“Moving the Needle” at the National Museum in Oslo presents stunning textile artworks, installations, and sculptures of one of the most prominent Swedish Sami artists, Britta Marakatt-Labba. Textiles that Marakatt-Labba made over the last 50 years explore the everyday life of the indigenous inhabitants of Sapmi, a region in northern Scandinavia.

Marakatt-Labba became internationally recognized after being exhibited at “documenta 14” in 2017. Since then her works have been purchased for major art collections across the world.

The Oslo exhibition is built around the central monumental work, a 24-meter-long embroidery “Historjá” representing Sami history, mythology, and everyday scenes. The uneasy history of the region that is constantly fighting for the conservation of its traditions and its natural habitat is presented through the movement of Marakatt-Labba’s needle: slow and contemplative, attentive to details and nuances.

“Working with embroidery you have time to think. With watercolors, everything happens so fast. To me, it doesn’t matter if something takes time,” says the artist.

The adult tickets cost the equivalent of 17 euros and you can get yours here.

Antony Gormley: “Time Horizon” at the Houghton Hall

Now thru 31 October, King’s Lynn, Norfork in England.

A large-scale installation by the British renowned sculptor Antony Gormlley titled “Time Horizon” is installed across the house and grounds of the Houghton Hall in Norfolk northeast of London. Gormley is widely known for his roadside sculpture “Angel of the North” in Gateshead.

This time, Gormley’s installation, comprising 100 cast-iron sculptures positioned at the same datum level, invades the 300 acres of the park with human faceless figures. Sculptor’s signature rusty bodyforms, mysterious and arcane, appear against the verdant landscape of the estate, creating a horizon of human time.

As argued at the Thaddaeus Ropac Gallery’s website, “this installation, which Gormley describes as a form of acupuncture, interacts with the particularity of its surroundings: trees, house, running deer, other sculptures and the changing conditions of the weather, and it invites visitors to become part of a reflexive field.”

Consult their page for the opening days. If booked online here, tickets cost 22 pounds,

“60th Venice Biennale: Stranieri Ovunque – Foreigners Everywhere”

Now thru November 24

After Florence, spend a couple of days in Venice to see the most important contemporary art show on the planet. As always, the Venice Biennale occupies two places in the city — the Giardini, with its national pavilions (90 this year), and the Arsenale with a project staged by an invited curator.

This year’s edition promises to pay special attention to the outdoor projects and performance programme, presented during the opening and closing weeks of the event.

As explained by the biennale’s curator, Adriano Pedrosa, the title “Foreigners Everywhere” has multiple meanings: “First of all, that wherever you go and wherever you are you will always encounter foreigners— they/we are everywhere. Secondly, that no matter where you find yourself, you are always truly, and deep down inside, a foreigner.”

Early bird tickets cost 25.50 euros for one day and 30.50 euros for 3-day
admission. Ynu can get them here.

“National Treasures”

Now thru early 2025 at various museums across the UK

This is kind of cool … London’s National Gallery is scattering 12 of its treasures to the four winds, sending them to regional museums across the United Kingdom. They include J.M.W. Turner’s “The Fighting Temeraire” (you’ll recognize it when you see it), a Botticelli and a Monet.

NOTABLE SHOWS COMING LATER THIS YEAR

Manifesta 15 in Barcelona
8 September to 24 November

Manifesta is a European nomadic biennial exhibition of contemporary art that was formed with the interest to “explore the psychological and geographical territory of Europe” and has grown to be one of the most important contemporary art events in Europe. Since 1996, Manifesta has taken place in Rotterdam, Luxembourg, Ljubljana, Frankfurt, Donostia/San Sebastián, Trentino‒South Tyrol, Murcia, Genk, St. Petersburg, Zurich, Palermo, Marseille and Prishtina.

Each edition is created with the focus on the chosen territory, its urban infrastructure and local communities. The Manifesta 15 will happen at multiple venues in Barcelona and the surrounding region and will cluster around the three leading themes of the biennial: Balancing Conflicts, Cure and Care and Imagining Futures.

Even though the full program is yet to be released, it is definitely a must-see if you plan to be around
Barcelona this autumn.

“In your Wildest Dreams – Ensor Beyond Impressionism” at KMSKA in Antwerp from 28 September 2024 thru 18 January 2025 – Okay, we’re biased, but we have a thing for James Ensor, one of the quirkiest artists ever. The native of Ostend, Belgium started out in the late 19th century as a fairly conventional impressionist, then transitioned into a … we don’t know what. Relgious painter? Fauvist? You don’t have to be an art snob to stand back and wonder, “What was goin’ on in this cat’s head?”

“Van Gogh, Poets and Lovers,” 14 September 2024 thru 19 January, 2025. – We never seem to get enough of the mad Dutchman, and the National Gallery in London promises a “once in a lifetime exhibit” that will include works from his years in the South of France.

__________

Read more about art and museums here in Dispatches’ archives.

See more from Nina here.

Website | + posts

Nina Danilova is an art writer and contemporary art curator. She is about to finish her PhD
in Culture Studies. She grew up in Russia and lived in Germany, Estonia, Italy and
Portugal, where she is currently based. She is passionate about history, languages, food,
and dancing.

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