Charles I: King and Collector
Royal Academy of Arts, 27th January to 15th April
In a triumphant start to its 250th anniversary year, the Royal Academy is displaying one of the most impressive art collections of all time. In 1623 Prince Charles travelled incognito to Madrid to win the Spanish Infanta. He returned, instead, with paintings by Titian and Veronese and a voracious passion for art. By the time of his execution in 1649, Charles I had amassed over 1,500 works, including masterpieces by Mantegna, Rubens and Van Dyck (see his Charles I at the Hunt, below). Within months of his death the collection was dispersed throughout Europe. Here, 150 works are reunited.
Andreas Gursky
Hayward Gallery, 25th Jan to 22nd April
After a two-year renovation, the Hayward opens for its 50th birthday with the UK’s first retrospective of acclaimed German photographer, Andreas Gursky. Since the late 1980s, Gursky has captured our era in spectacular large-scale quasi-abstract images—whether his subject is blocks of flats, a factory floor, or a field of tulips. In 2011 his Rhein II fetched a record £2.7m.
William Blake in Sussex: Visions of Albion
Petworth House, 13th Jan to 25th March
During his stay between 1800 and 1803 at a cottage in Felpham, Sussex, which he described as “the sweetest spot on earth,” Blake wrote “Jerusalem.” This green and pleasant land would continue to inspire him. His patrons included George Wyndham, the 3rd Earl of Egremont and his estranged Countess. Paintings they acquired are joined by over 50 loans from the British Museum, Tate and the V&A.
Royal Academy of Arts, 27th January to 15th April
In a triumphant start to its 250th anniversary year, the Royal Academy is displaying one of the most impressive art collections of all time. In 1623 Prince Charles travelled incognito to Madrid to win the Spanish Infanta. He returned, instead, with paintings by Titian and Veronese and a voracious passion for art. By the time of his execution in 1649, Charles I had amassed over 1,500 works, including masterpieces by Mantegna, Rubens and Van Dyck (see his Charles I at the Hunt, below). Within months of his death the collection was dispersed throughout Europe. Here, 150 works are reunited.
Andreas Gursky
Hayward Gallery, 25th Jan to 22nd April
After a two-year renovation, the Hayward opens for its 50th birthday with the UK’s first retrospective of acclaimed German photographer, Andreas Gursky. Since the late 1980s, Gursky has captured our era in spectacular large-scale quasi-abstract images—whether his subject is blocks of flats, a factory floor, or a field of tulips. In 2011 his Rhein II fetched a record £2.7m.
William Blake in Sussex: Visions of Albion
Petworth House, 13th Jan to 25th March
During his stay between 1800 and 1803 at a cottage in Felpham, Sussex, which he described as “the sweetest spot on earth,” Blake wrote “Jerusalem.” This green and pleasant land would continue to inspire him. His patrons included George Wyndham, the 3rd Earl of Egremont and his estranged Countess. Paintings they acquired are joined by over 50 loans from the British Museum, Tate and the V&A.
