Exhibition of the week
Valie Export
The incendiary feminist art of an Austrian revolutionary who named herself in defiance of patriarchy and nationalism.
Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, London, from 28 November.
Also showing
Forgotten Masters
Gorgeous and enlightening images of nature by outstanding Indian artists commissioned by the East India Company.
Wallace Collection, London, 4 December to 19 April.
Sir Stamford Raffles
The British Museum looks at the thorny question of empire and ethnographic collecting through the Javanese art enthusiasms of Raffles, who founded Singapore.
British Museum, London, until 12 January.
Science Photographer of the Year
This new award recognises excellence in one of this century’s most sublime fields of visual discovery from astrophotography to the super-microscopic.
Science Museum, London, until 5 January.
Turner prize
Pop along to Margate’s seafront in the bracing late-autumn weather to place a bet on this year’s winner – do you fancy Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Helen Cammock, Oscar Murillo or Tai Shani?
Turner Contemporary, Margate, until 12 January.
Image of the week
The Spider-Man of Bolton
Growing up Asian in Bolton, Hetain Patel “wanted to be white”. Now the superhero fantasies into which he escaped racism have won him the Jarman prize for video art. Read our full story.
What we learned
Our architecture critic tested the foundations of UK parties’ election housing promises
Anselm Kiefer cracked string theory
Was Tutankhamun the original tomb raider?
The Great Animal Orchestra is an audiovisual spectacle
Judy Chicago is mounting her own extinction rebellion
US artist Rashid Johnson will not be hijacked by President Trump
Yves St Laurent’s Van Gogh jacket is a snip at €382,000
Letizia Battaglia shot the Mafia and lived
Turkish architecture has gone kaleidoscopic
Margaret Mitchell’s poignant family photographs are on show
Shooting Without Bullets supports young black US artists
Queen Elizabeth I has been restored to youth
French New Wave posters broke the rules
A Roman statue sparked a row about the illicit antiques trade
St Paul’s will make a show of William Blake
The Historic photographer of the year award was announced
Fearless Girl sparked a copyright dispute
David Lynch lit up Chris Saunders’ world
Van Eyck is moving from London to Ghent
The art of ceilings is looking up
Masterpiece of the week
The Virgin and Child Enthrobed With Angels and Saints, circa 1475, by Michael Pacher
The spiky white peaks and knobbly protrusions of the gothic arches that enclose this painting almost look like mountains – not surprising , for this is a masterpiece from Alpine Europe. Michael Pacher worked in the Tyrol, and left paintings in today’s Austria and the far north of Italy. He was one of the first Germanic artists to adopt the grace and harmony of the Italian Renaissance, as you can see in the sweetness of Mary’s face and the almost sculptural dignity of the figures. Yet he merges that “modern” style with a medieval delight in fantastic architectural profusion and gold bling that makes this lovely painting a meeting of cultures on one Europe’s inner borderlines.
National Gallery, London.
Don’t forget
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