OTHER SUMMER HIGHLIGHTS

Matisse, Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Madrid
UNTIL 20 SEPTEMBER
www.museothyssen.org
In 1917 Matisse moved from Paris to Nice where he forged his unique style, of which this show is a celebration. It was a naturalistic, muted period that produced paintings “unjustly disparaged by avante-garde critics,”according to the museum’s artistic director.

Highlights of this 70-work strong show include the intimate and intense Seated Woman, Back Turned Toward the Open Window and Pianist and Checker players. Matisse remains an obsession with art collectors – his Cuckoos on a Blue and Pink Carpet sold for ¤32m at auction in Paris in February Find out why.

Cy Twombly, MUMOK in Vienna
UNTIL 10 OCTOBER
www.mumok.at
Austria is going to be in the news for all the wrong reasons this summer, when Sacha Baron Cohen’s film Bruno (about a very gay television presenter)comes out. Don’t believe the stereotypes that are sure to flow, though. Vienna is a lovely, civilised place and has a load of good art galleries.

Sensations of the Moment is a retrospective of American artist Cy Twombly’s work, starting out with his early Abstract Expressionist paintings and moving right through the 80-year-old’s career.

As well as canvases, Twombly’s first ever exhibition in Austria will also include his sculpture, drawings and photographs.

The MUMOK is the leading modern art exhibition in Vienna, and a must-see for art-lovers.

Kandinsky at the Centre Pompidou, Paris
UNTIL 10 AUGUST
www.centrepompidou.fr
Paris’s most famous post-modern building is this summer hosting a major retrospective of Kandinsky’s works with paintings borrowed from all the major collections.

Kandinsky is often seen as the godfather of abstraction, but this exhibition aims to broaden the understanding of the Russian-born painter’s work. It will do that by sheer weight of evidence, as the hundreds of pictures on the Pompidou’s walls will include works from all the disparate periods of his life, including the German Expressionist Blue Rider period, and his time at the Bauhaus workshop in Weimar, where he taught “analytical drawing”. There is also the chance to see early works that were recently discovered in Russia.

Dali Museum, Berlin
PERMANENT EXHIBITION
www.dalimuseum.de
It’s the 20th anniversary of Spanish surrealist master Salvador Dali’s death – and the fall of the Berlin Wall, too. To celebrate, in February a new museum opened in Potsdamer Platz which is dedicated to Dali, with over 400 of the artist’s works.

This is one of only a few permanent Dali exhibitions in the world and has access to 3,000 works belonging to private collectors.

Changing exhibitions showcase different angles of the artist’s work and will continue to enthral fans.

The exhibit is as thorough as any in the world: there are pieces that have never been shown, illustrated books, graphic works, sculptures and film sequences all make it outstanding. Not so well known is Dali’s literary output, which includes essays on art theory, some of which is also exhibited here.