JUST OPENED

Opened in January

On the Move: Visualising Action. Acutely intelligent, aesthetically challenging, scientifically questioning and an altogether original-minded man, Jonathan Miller is the curator of what promises to be a challenging and likely exciting exhibition devoted to the “representation and analysis of movement in the visual arts and sciences.” The works he has chosen include one of John Wootton's 18th century horse-racing scenes, others by the Italian Futurists Giacomo Balla and Umberto Boccioni, photographs by Eadweard Muybridge and Etienne-Jules Marey, and more modern practitioners such as Harold Egerton and Jonathan Shaw – plus optical toys such as the praxinoscope and examples of movement from comic books.
Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art, 39A Canonbury Square, London N1 2AN. Tel. +44 (0)20 7704 9522. (Open Wed - Sun; late Thurs) 13 January – 18 April.

Zhang Enli. First solo exhibition in London of work by important contemporary Chinese artist who lives and works in Shanghai.
Hauser & Wirth London, 196A Piccadilly, London W1J 9DY. Tel. +44 (0)207 287 2300. 15 January – 27 February.

The Drawings of Bronzino. First ever exhibition devoted to the Florentine Mannerist artist Agnolo Bronzino (1503 – 1572) who was the court painter to Duke Cosimo I de' Medici and a considerable poet.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10028. Tel. +1 212 535 7710. (Open Tues - Sun; late Fri & Sat) 20 January - 18 April.

*The Real Van Gogh: The Artist and his Letters. By turns moving and illuminating, though never over-whelming, this remarkable exhibition contains more than 35 original hand-written letters by Vincent Van Gogh (1853 – 1890) many with integral sketches. In several different ways the contents of these letters relate to larger drawings (some 30 in all) and some 65 major paintings hung nearby, compelling us to look at them all closely and in detail. The best of the large drawings suggest genuinely honest labour as do the paintings, the latter in particular reveal supremely skilled paintwork and often extraordinary juxtapositions of colour. Clearly, Van Gogh was much more complex than his posthumous reputation suggests and not least, a highly original thinker about the making and purposes of art. What ever you do, don't miss this amazing exhibition.
Sponsored by The Bank of New York Mellon.
Royal Academy of Arts, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London WIV 0DS. Tel. +44 (0)20 7300 8000. (Open daily; late Fri) www.royalacademy.org.uk 23 January – 18 April.

Dexter Dalwood. Survey exhibition of major paintings and collages made over the past 12 years by contemporary British artist.
Tate St. Ives, Porthmeor Beach, St Ives, Cornwall TR26 1TG. Tel. +44 (0)1736 796226. (Open daily) www.tate.org.uk 23 January – 3 May.

From the Gothic Tradition to the Early Renaissance. Selling exhibition of some 20 old master works by early Italian artists offering aspiring collectors a rare opportunity to forgo the often vapid seductions of contemporary art and to consider instead gold-ground and panel paintings from the 14^th to the 16^th centuries. Their subjects are devotional, their artists not well-known today or even unknown for certain, but their many intrinsic qualities confirm their enduring attractions as well as the reasons for their survival.
Moretti Fine Art, 24 East 80th Street, New York, NY 10075. Tel. +1 212 249 4987. (open Mon - Fri) 19 January – 12 February.

Scottish Colourists. Back in 1968 the partners of the London merchant bank Robert Fleming and Co. were persuaded by one of their number, David Donald, to let him buy some pictures for the walls; so began what is now recognized as the most important private collection of Scottish art - from 1770 to the present. Ten years ago the whole collection was sold to The Fleming-Wyfold Foundation endowed by the Fleming Family. This exhibition marks that anniversary by bringing together for the first time all the works by the Scottish colourists: Samuel John Peploe, Francis Campbell Boileau Cadell, George Leslie Hunter and John Duncan Fergusson, acquired by Fleming's before their prices reached today's stratospheric heights.
The Fleming Collection, 13 Berkeley Street, London W1. Tel. +44 (0)20 7409 5730. (Open Tues - Sat) 19 January – 1 April.

Where Three Dreams Cross: 150 Years of Photography from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. This, “the first major survey of historic and contemporary photography from the subcontinent” promises much and is divided into five themes: The Streets, Intimate Relationships, Architecture, Points of Transition, and the Portrait.
Whitechapel Gallery, 77 - 82 Whitechapel High Street, London E1 7QX. Tel. +44 (0)20 7522 7888. (Open Tues - Sun; late Thurs) whitechapelgallery.org 21 January – 11 April.

George Grosz. Korrekt und Aranchisch (Correct and Anarchic). From the art collection and archives of the Akademie, an exhibition of portfolio works, journals, collages, photographs and written documents relating to George Grosz with, at its heart, two hundred of his sketchbooks.
Akademie der Künste (Academy of Arts), Pariser Platz 4, 10117 Berlin-Mitte, Germany. Tel. +49 30 200 57-1000. (Open Tues – Sun) 24 January – 5 April.

Chris Ofili. Exhibition of paintings, pencil drawings and watercolours from the mid 1990s to the present by British-born artist who now lives and works in Trinidad. He won the Turner Prize in 1998 and represented Great Britain at the 2003 Venice Biennale.
Supported by Louis Vuitton and Guaranty Trust Bank.
Tate Britain, Millbank, London SW1P 4RG. Tel. +44 (0)20 7887 8888. (Open daily) www.tate.org.uk 27 January – 16 May.

Afro-Modern: Journeys Through the Black Atlantic. First ever exhibition aiming for an in depth examination of “the impact of different black cultures from around the Atlantic on art from the early twentieth century to the present day.”.
Tate Liverpool, Albert Dock, Liverpool L3 4BB. Tel. +44 (0)151 702 7400. (Open Tues – Sun) www.tate.org.uk 29 January – 25 April.

From Impressionism to Modernism: The Chester Dale Collection. This special exhibition of some 75 French and American paintings celebrates the extraordinary range and riches of the collection bequeathed to the National Gallery of Art in 1962 by New York businessman Chester Dale. Also included are two portrait of Dale by Salvador Dali and Diego Rivera, and two of his wife Maud by Fernand Leger and Saul Bellows.
Made possible by United Technologies Corporation.
National Gallery of Art, Fourth Street at Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20565. Tel. +1 202 737 4215. (Open daily) www.nga.gov 31 January 2010 - 31 July 2011.

*especially recommended

Please check opening times and days before travelling any distance.