Exhibition of the week<\/p>\n
John Moores painting prize Also showing<\/p>\n Artists First: Contemporary Perspectives on Portraiture Schroder Gallery Santiago Yahuarcani<\/a>: The Beginning of Knowledge The Sun Feeds the Wind Image of the week Photograph: Fatimazohra Serri<\/p>\n This photograph by Fatimazohra Serri is titled The Swing of Life. Her aim was to illustrate the deep connection between a woman and a man, a relationship shaped by care and burden, intimacy and distance. The man swings from the flowing black dress of the woman above him. The clothing becomes the bridge between the two figures, soft yet unbreakable. It\u2019s a visual metaphor for how men, knowingly or not, often rest on the invisible emotional strength of women. Read more here<\/a>.<\/p>\n What we learned<\/p>\n A newly discovered portrait may depict \u2018fair youth\u2019 of Shakespeare\u2019s sonnets<\/a><\/p>\n A crystal doughnut and spruced-up Big Ben feature in this year\u2019s Stirling prize for architecture shortlist<\/a><\/p>\n Mona Hatoum and Giacometti have a meeting of marvellously macabre minds<\/a><\/p>\n The work of current trans artists speaks to an important moment<\/a><\/p>\n A museum in London is the UK\u2019s first dedicated space for Somali heritage<\/a><\/p>\n Johnny Vegas has returned to his first love \u2013 pottery<\/a><\/p>\n David Hockney\u2019s 90-metre Normandy frieze is arriving in London<\/a><\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n Your weekly art world round-up, sketching out all the biggest stories, scandals and exhibitions<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com<\/a> to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n Robert Colquhoun and Bobby MacBryde are the forgotten bright young things of modern British art<\/a><\/p>\n A new exhibition at Tate Modern looks at Picasso\u2019s love of the theatrical<\/a><\/p>\n Fatimazohra Serri\u2019s photography resists roles imposed on Moroccan women<\/a><\/p>\n Masterpiece of the week<\/p>\n Isabella by John Everett Millais, 1849<\/p>\n Photograph: National Museums Liverpool<\/p>\n A murder story by the 14th-century writer Giovanni Boccaccio becomes a satire on capitalism in this bristling Victorian scene. A family of rich Florentine merchants sit at table, their faces caricatures of cunning and greed. Millais was painting in the wake of Europe\u2019s 1848 revolutions and Britain\u2019s Chartist movement, at a time when novelists were probing the injustices of the new industrial society. Medieval Florence with its highly commercial economy offers Millais a mirror of his own time. In the foreground, Isabella is wooed by the young apprentice Lorenzo with love-hungry eyes. But one of her brothers kicks her dog with a long white-stockinged leg as another studies the blood-red wine in his glass. They are planning to kill this penniless youth who dares love their sister. A pot of basil against the blue sky is presumably the very one in which she will keep Lorenzo\u2019s head. Sign up to the Art Weekly newsletter<\/p>\n If you don\u2019t already receive our regular roundup of art and design news via email, please sign up here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Get in touch<\/p>\n
Davina Jackson, Katy Shepherd and Joanna Whittle are among the painters shortlisted for this prize that was once won by a young David Hockney
Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool from Saturday until 1 March 2026<\/a><\/p>\n
Today\u2019s artists, including Helen Cammock, Ma\u0142gorzata Mirga-Tas and Charmaine Watkiss, are inspired or provoked by the NPG\u2019s collection of historic British portraits.
National Portrait Gallery, London, 6 September to 3 August<\/a><\/p>\n
A new treasure trove of Renaissance curiosities and art, from silver ships to Cranach paintings.
Holburne museum, Bath, from 10 September<\/a><\/p>\n
This artist based in northern Peru depicts the history of the Uitoto people on Amazonian bark cloth.
The Whitworth, Manchester, until 4 January<\/a><\/p>\n
The story of Hastings\u2019 fishing community is explored by Jane Bruce, Sam Sharples and others.
Hastings Contemporary until 14 September<\/a><\/p>\n
Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool<\/a><\/p>\n