Carlo Mollino. This exhibition devoted to the important Italian designer and architect Carlo Mollino (1905 - 1973) presents a visual biography of his work and life including archive material, plus a rare series of his private Polaroids of nude female models.
Sebastian+Barquet London, 19 Bruton Place, London W1J 6LZ. Tel. +44 (0)20 7495 8988. (Open Mon - Sat) 4 May - 27 June.

Kettle's Yard at Tate Britain. Marking the national launch of its £5 million development appeal, highlights from the permanent collection of 20th century art at Kettle's Yard will be on display in Gallery 23 with specially commissioned new work. Jim Ede, the founder of Kettle's Yard in Cambridge was the first modern art curator at the Tate Gallery, 1921 -36.
Tate Britain, Millbank, London SW1P 4RG. Tel. +44 (0)20 7887 8888. (Open daily) 9 May - 14 June.

David Nash: Black Dome. Blackwell, the great Arts and Crafts house in north west England, enjoys spectacular lakeland and mountain views, not least from the long green grassy lawn below its terrace: an obvious place for a work of art. The distinguished British sculptor David Nash (b. 1945) is the first to be invited to respond to this unique setting for which he has created a "black island" entitled Black Dome, made as is his custom from rough-cut and charred wood members.
Blackwell, Bowness-on-Windermere, Cumbria LA23 3JR. Tel. +44 (0)15394 46139. (Open daily) 11 May - October.

The Definitive Thelwell. Selling exhibition of more than 150 drawings and watercolours by Norman Thelwell - one of Britain's most popular postwar cartoonists who worked for many newspapers and periodicals including Punch. Examples of his landscape art are also included.
Chris Beetles, 8 & 10 Ryder Street, St James's, London SW1Y 6QB. Tel +44 (0)20 7839 7551. (Open Mon - Sat) 13 May - 6 June.

Diarmuid Kelley. Exhibition of post modern still lifes and portraits by a young artist of independent mind who, for example, admires the "elegant paintings" of Sir Anthony Van Dyck.
Offer Waterman & Co, 11 Langton Street, London SW10 OJL. Tel. +44 (0)20 7351 0068. (Open Mon - Fri) 15 May - 2 June.

Luis Melendez: Master of the Spanish Still Life. One of the greatest painters of still life, work by the Spanish artist Luis Melendez (1715 - 1780) is relatively rare and this exhibition brings together no less than 31 examples.
National Gallery of Art, Fourth Street at Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20565. Tel. +1 202 737 4215. (Open daily) 17 May - 23 August.

Francis Bacon: A Centenary Retrospective. Major international loan exhibition of paintings, drawings and archival items by Francis Bacon (1909 - 92) one of the most important artists of the 20th century, highlighting key career subjects and themes.
Sponsored by Bank of America.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10028. Tel. +1 212 535 7710. (Open Tues - Sun; late Fri & Sat) 20 May - 16 August.

Diane Arbus. Exhibition of 60 works by the celebrated American photographer Diane Arbus (1923 - 1971) whose uniquely direct approach in capturing her chosen images remains startling and is without peer.
Timothy Taylor Gallery, 15 Carlos Place, London W1K 2EX. Tel. +44 (0)20 7409 3344. (Open Mon - Sat) 20 May - 27 June.

*French Porcelain for English Palaces: Sevres from the Royal Collection. Given the luxury and glamour forever associated with the courts of Louis XV and his mistress Madame de Pompadour and their successors Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette, the wares produced by the Royal porcelain factory at Sevres were unsurpassed in Europe in the last half of the 18th century.

No person was more passionately interested in Sevres porcelain than the uniquely stylish George IV, whose prodigal purchases created for Britain's Royal Collection the world's finest array. From this a careful selection has been made to show the extent and range of this often technically amazing porcelain. Thus, we can examine and admire the unrivalled quality of the painted decoration, its complementary gilding and not least the variety of forms the potters created. The objects range from an astonishing assemblage comprising a vase filled with flowers to a tiny and delightful broth basin with a duck-egg blue ground.

The many services are themselves of great interest: that given by Louis XVI to the Duke and Duchess of Manchester in 1783 is regularly used at State Banquets today; another commissioned by the King in the same year was so costly that it was never completed: individual plates costing more than four times those made for the Manchester service for example. A charming gourmet's desert service given by King Louis-Philippe in 1834 to the composer Rossini after the inaugural performance of the Barber of Seville was purchased by Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother in 1949.

One case of special interest is filled with 'original fakes' acquired knowingly or not by George IV - the porcelain is genuine Sevres, the painting and decoration later. By contrast, Queen Marie-Antoinette herself was the purchaser in 1779 of a set of three splendid vases, a garniture, with elegant gilt bronze mounts, the porcelain decorated with chinoiserie scenes. Separated at the time of the French Revolution they were satisfactorily re-united two and half centuries later when in 2004 the central vase was acquired by Her Majesty The Queen.

This absolutely splendid exhibition has been organized by Joanna Gwilt, one of the curators of The Royal Collection, and the author of the fine catalogue. An admirable associated exhibition explains how the porcelain was produced; it highlights the work and personalities of individual painters and decorators - whose marks are illustrated (though not indexed) in the catalogue and clearly inscribed on each piece of porcelain.
The Queen's Gallery, Buckingham Palace, London SW1. Tickets and information Tel. +44 (0)20 7766 7301. (Open daily) 23 May - 11 October.

Joaquin Sorolla 1863 - 1923. This major international loan exhibition of more than 100 paintings is devoted Spain's last great master working in the tradition of his forebears - to be seen in the Prado's permanent collection. Also on show will be Sorolla's Visions of Spain, 14 large mural panels painted between 1910 - 20 for the Hispanic Society of America in New York, where they have hung ever since.
Sponsored by Bankaja
Museo Nacional del Prado, Paseo del Prado, 28014, Madrid, Spain. Tel. +34 91 330 28 00 (Open Tues - Sun). 22 June - 26 September.

Michael Tyzack 1933 - 2007. In the 1960s and early 70s, Michael Tyzack was in the forefront of British abstract artists until his decision in 1971 to settle in the United States. This solo exhibition is the first in Britain for 38 years comprising a selection of some 20 works from the whole of his career, forming a precursor of a larger exibition to come.
Portland Gallery, 8 Bennet Street, St James's, London SW1A 1RP. Tel. +44 (0)20 7493 1888. (Open Mon - Fri) 27 May - 12 June.

Gardens and Cosmos: The Royal Paintings of Jodphur. Rare loan exhibition of 55 paintings from the collection of the Maharaja of Jodhpur - none of which have ever been seen in Europe before. From the 17th to the 19th centuries Jodhpur artists developed a distinctive northern Indian style of work which this exhibition will highlight.
British Museum, Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3DG. Tel. +44 (0)20 7323 8000. (Open daily) 28 May - 23 August.

Creation II. Forming an "insight into the mind of the modern artist- jeweller" this exhibition is devoted to an "elite group" of contemporary makers "whose work is admired and collected both at home and abroad." Examples of their jewellery will be accompanied by short documentary films commissioned by the Goldsmiths' Company from students at Goldsmith's College, showing how the ideas of each of the designers develop into finished pieces.
Goldsmiths' Hall, Foster Lane, London EC2V 6BN. Tel. +44 (0)20 7606
7010. (Open Mon - Sat) 29 May - 11 July.

Free Range 2009. Huge show of work by more than 3000 graduate artists: two weeks of design, two of photography, two of fine art, one of interiors, and finally a mixed media week. Meet the artists and designers, buy their work as you will.
The Old Truman Brewery, Brick Lane, London E1. 29 May - 20 July.

Stanley William Hayter: From Surrealism to Abstraction. Exhibition of important works by Stanley William Hayter (1901 - 1988) who over his long life had a profound influence on printmaking in Europe and North America. Work by some of the artists including Max Ernst, Joan Miro and Jackson Pollock who worked at his Aetelier 17 will also be on show.
National Gallery of Art, Fourth Street at Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20565. Tel. +1 202 737 4215. (Open daily) 31 May - 30 August.

Art in Public Places: PADT. Established in 1983, the Public Art Development Trust (PADT) was one of the first of its kind, its archive being acquired by the Henry Moore Institute in 2005. From these riches this exhibition traces the evolving, including experimental and temporary, projects generated by the Trust in the UK, realised and unrealised.
Henry Moore Institute, 74 The Headrow, Leeds LS1 3AH. Tel. +44 (0)113 246 7467. (Open daily; late Wed) 31 May - 30 August.