A sumptuous rehang, jumbo jellyfish and naive manly paintings – the week in art

5 days ago 20

Exhibition of the week

The Wonder of Art
New ways of seeing European creation from Jan van Eyck to Cézanne and Picasso successful a sumptuous rehang of 1 of the world’s richest and deepest creation museums. And each for free. Read the five-star review.
National Gallery, London, from 10 May

Also showing

Chantal Joffe: The Prince
Paintings of men and masculinity by this deliberately naive-looking, but successful world psychoanalytical, artist.
Newlyn Art Gallery and the Exchange, Cornwall, from 15 May to 1 November

Rene Matić
New photographs by 1 of the nominees for this year’s Turner prize. Read the review.
Arcadia Missa, London, until 3 June

Barbara Nicholls
Abstract watercolours that look similar elephantine jellyfish risen from the deep.
Patrick Heide Contemporary Art, London, until 21 June

Martin Creed
Everything Is Going to Be Alright – truthful Creed keeps telling america successful neon, this clip connected the facade of a caller arts centre.
Camden Arts Projects, London, until 29 June

Image of the week

Dublin’s bronze statue of fictional fishmonger Molly Malone.

After years of supposedly bringing bully luck to whoever touched the breasts of Dublin’s Molly Malone statue, they are present off-limits arsenic the metropolis assembly is notifying would-be gropers to permission her cleavage alone. Read the afloat story.

What we learned

Robbie Williams’s creation is ‘incredibly bad’

Desmond Morris’s archetypal movie was an eye-opening surrealist emotion romp

Artist Huma Bhabha is squaring up to Giacometti with wellies, skulls and teeth

Japan’s emotion hotels are wild

A uncommon LS Lowry coating bought for £10 successful 1926 sold for £800,000

An “extreme” mould is threatening immoderate of Denmark’s astir important paintings

A Berlin creation fable has enactment connected a non-stop show creation portion for 25 years

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Artist Su Yu-Xin makes her overgarment from pearls, crystals and volcanic dust

Masterpiece of the week

The Virgin and Child, perchance by Antonello da Messina, c 1460-69

You tin spot a modern satellite look from the mediate ages successful this painting. It’s afloat of ripely gothic spiritual imagery, including the small angels with their stiff angular wings holding an ostentatiously bejewelled crown implicit Mary’s head. Yet look astatine her face. Her features are depicted with stunning precision arsenic she looks down with gentle affection and humble reverence astatine her beatified child. No 1 could represent a look this accurately earlier the 15th century, and the accomplishment and method were archetypal perfected successful Flanders by Jan van Eyck.

Yet this whitethorn not beryllium a bluish enactment astatine all. It’s tentatively attributed by the National Gallery to Antonello da Messina, 1 of the archetypal Italian artists to assimilate Van Eyck’s discoveries. It was adjacent said helium journeyed from Naples to Bruges, befriended Van Eyck and stole his secrets. That is conscionable a legend. Yet if this is by him, it shows his profound indebtedness to the bluish master.
National Gallery, London

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