Bellotto: The Königstein Views Reunited, National Gallery, 22nd July—31st October
In 2017 the National Gallery purchased The Fortress of Königstein from the North (1756-58), a spectacular painting by the Venetian artist Bernardo Bellotto. The central keep, rising high above rugged walls into an intense blue sky, is realised with minute precision: we can see its peeling paint and battered brick work. Bellotto is undeservedly less known than his famous uncle and teacher, Canaletto. Born in Venice in the 1720s, in 1747 he became Court Painter to Augustus III, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony, based in Dresden. His five monumental paintings of nearby Königstein, completed at the height of his career, are gathered together for the first time in 250 years.
Frank Bowling: Land of Many Waters, Arnolfini, Bristol, 3rd July—26th September
The Arnolfini, a pioneering centre for contemporary art in Bristol, is in its 60th year. Part of its anniversary programme is this show of new and hitherto unseen work by the great British-Guyanese abstract painter Frank Bowling, 87. This is the first public exhibition of Bowling’s luminous, compelling and highly textured paintings since his 2019 Tate retrospective. It coincides with an expansive retrospective solo show, his first with Hauser & Wirth Gallery, spanning both the London and New York spaces.
UNTITLED: Art on the conditions of our time, Kettle's Yard, 10th July—3rd October 2021
“Untitled” is an invitation to abandon preconceptions and focus on what the art reveals. The exhibition features work by ten British-African diaspora artists, each of whom offers a distinct and original lens through which to experience the political and social movements of our time. New commissions from Barby Asante, Appau Jnr Boakye-Yiadom and NT will be unveiled alongside new and recent work by Larry Achiampong and David Blandy, Phoebe Boswell, Kimathi Donkor, Evan Ifekoya, Cedar Lewisohn, Harold Offeh and Ima-Abasi Okon.
