Unmissable autumn exhibitions

This season welcomes shows celebrating the prodigious talents of Matisse in Paris, Artemisia in London, Fernando Botero in Madrid and Frida Kahlo in Milan

1 Fernando Botero | CENTROCENTRO, MADRID

Botero: 60 Years of Painting at the CentroCentro looks at Fernando Botero’s career through 67 large-scale works. This is the largest retrospective of the Colombian figurative artist organised in Spain to date, and an opportunity for visitors to explore the influences that nurtured his style, from masters such as Velázquez, Goya, Dürer to Mexican muralists, the Italian Quattrocento and Dutch still-life artists. Until 7 February 2021.

Botero: 60 Years of Painting at CentroCentro / Image by Lukasz Michalak
2 Henry Matisse | CENTRE POMPIDOU, PARIS

Having been forced to reschedule the largest Matisse exhibition since the 1970 retrospective at the Grand Palais, the Centre Pompidou has finally opened what will be one of the season’s great art events. To mark the 150th anniversary of the painter’s birth, Matisse, Comme un Roman contains 230 works and 70 documents that highlight the relationship between his pictorial creations and literature. Until 22 February 2021.

Henri Matisse, La Tristesse du roi, 1952 - Center Pompidou / Image of Succession H. Matisse and Centre Pompidou, Mnam-Cci / Philippe Migeat / Dist. Rmn-Gp
3 Frida Kahlo | FABBRICA DEL VAPORE, MILAN

La Fabbrica del Vapore in Milan is hosting Frida Kahlo: Il Caos Dentro, an exciting multimedia event that takes a sensory journey through the life of the Mexican painter. Focusing on more than her artistic career, the show analyses her environment and her character through recreations of her works and spaces and the iconography of her origins. There’s also an entire section dedicated to her relationship with Diego Rivera. Until 28 March.

Frida Kahlo exhibition at Fabbrica del Vapore, Milan / Image courtesy of Mostra Frida Kahlo, Mostrafridakahlo.it
4 Artemisia Gentileschi | THE NATIONAL GALLERY, LONDON

With her expressive power and the perspective of a woman in a world dominated by men, few in the 17th century painted with the courage of Artemisia Gentileschi. While she defied convention in her own times, today she is the star of her first large exhibition – at the National Gallery in the UK – which follows in her footsteps through Rome, Florence, Venice, Naples and London and includes two versions of one of her most iconic paintings, Judith Beheading Holofernes. Until 24 January 2021.

Artemisia Gentileschi, Self-portrait as Saint Catherine of Alexandria, about 1615-1617 / Image courtesy of The National Gallery, London