Exhibition of the week
Raphael: The Drawings
You can’t get much better than this. Raphael (1483-1520) has been recognised since his own lifetime as one of the world’s greatest artists, and no fashion or passing cultural mood is ever going to change that.
• Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 1 June-3 September.
Also showing
Hynek Martinec
Fantastical reworkings of Renaissance and baroque paintings by this Czech neo-surrealist.
• Parafin, London, until 15 July.
A Perfect Chemistry
The pioneering Scottish photography team of David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson get a much-deserved large-scale exhibition.
• Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh, 27 May-1 October.
Andrea Luka Zimmerman
Socially engaged films that are poised between art and documentary, including a one of Istanbul street dogs with a voiceover by the late John Berger.
• Spike Island, Bristol, until 18 June.
Judy Chicago
A mural to mark the 50th anniversary of the Beatles’ Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band by the celebrated artist who created The Dinner Party.
• Grain Silo, Great Howard Street, Liverpool (organised by Tate Liverpool), 1-16 June.
Masterpiece of the week
Portrait of Pope Julius II by Raphael (1511)
If you think Raphael is cold, classical and dull, go and see this moving and magical portrait. It is a miracle of sensitivity and insight that makes an old, powerful man look feminine, vulnerable and extremely mortal. This painting invented a new genre of papal portraiture. It was imitated and interpreted by Titian, Velázquez and, in the 20th century, Francis Bacon. It is simply one of the greatest portraits ever painted.
• National Gallery, London.
Image of the week
The Nose (1949), by Alberto Giacometti
Tate Modern’s full-scale survey of Alberto Giacometti won five stars in our review. The exhibition shows how the horrors of the second world war transformed the Swiss sculptor from a surrealist to an acute observer of the human condition.
• Giacometti, Tate Modern, London, until 10 September
What we learned this week
We saw how Hokusai got under the skin of a ghost story
… as the British Museum rode the wave
The 2019 Turner prize will be hosted in Margate
Jeremy Deller made his mark on Britain’s general election campaign
Leonardo da Vinci’s mum was an orphan
Australia celebrates the defiant work of Indigenous artists
Sir Peter Blake’s Sgt Pepper cover (and the Beatles album within) is 50
… and Judy Chicago is one of the artists celebrating that birthday in Liverpool
Photographer Vanley Burke captured the rise of black consciousness in Birmingham
In a small corner of London stands the passport photo booth to the stars
Marvin E Newman photographed America’s class divide
… and we caught a glimpse of Earth’s wealthiest people
Rodin was a great sculptor, but makes a dull film
Tate is lining up exhibitions for next year featuring Bacon, Picasso … and Virginia Woolf
Get involved
Guardian members can book now for an exclusive private view: True Faith, a group show exploring the impact of Joy Division and New Order on the art world, part of Manchester international festival.
Don’t forget
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