Basel: More than the fair
Basel is one of the most delightful European art cities to visit, being relatively compact along the banks of the Rhine. While the international art world descends on the city for its annual Art Basel fair (June 13-16), its museums also host ambitious exhibitions.
The top of the bill is Matisse: Invitation to travel (September 22-January 26, 2025) at the Fondation Beyeler. With more than 70 works, it will be analyzed how the artist’s themes echo those of Baudelaire’s poem of the same name.
The Kunstmuseum’s program includes three varied offers. The first is Dan Flavin: Dedications in the light (March 2-August 18), which will again present Flavin, known for his installations made with fluorescent light bulbs, highlighting how his work relates to events of his time, such as police violence.
Made in Japan: Color Woodcuts by Hiroshige, Kunisada and Hokusai (March 16-July 21) runs almost at the same time as Flavin, highlighting the work of three of the greatest Japanese printmakers of the early 19th century. The examples on display were gathered a century ago by local chemist and collector Carl Mettler and are rarely exhibited.
Finally, Paula Rego: Power Games (September 28-February 2, 2025) is a tribute to the late Portuguese-British artist. The works will be in a series of themed rooms, focused on power struggles: within society, between the sexes, in families and within individuals.
Sergeant Claude Johnson Holy Singers (1967) will be part of the late artist’s first exhibition in 25 years at the Huntington Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery LLC, New York. © Estate of Sgt Claude Johnson
Los Angeles: California’s diverse art world sets the pace
Los Angeles continues its rise as one of the most important art meccas in the US. Many important galleries have established outposts there – Marian Goodman, David Zwirner, Lisson et al. – and 2024 promises more cultural moments.
The Huntington stalwart presents the work of 20th-century Californian artist Sargent Claude Johnson (Feb. 17-May 20), including his monumental Organ screen (1933-34). Destination Crenshaw, a public project celebrating black artists, will include 100 artworks by artists such as Melvin Edwards, Alison Saar and Kehinde Wiley.
The Getty’s PST ART event will launch in September with shows from more than 60 institutions, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Mapping the infinite (October 13-February 23, 2025), which will use art spanning the Neolithic period until now to look at how humans have tried to explain the origin of the world.
David B The rise of high evil (2002) is part of the Center Pompidou comic exhibition © Courtesy of the artist and Anne Barrault Gallery
Paris: Olympic efforts
The French artist Albert Decaris is the reigning Olympic champion of “engraving and etching”, since until 1948 medals were awarded in both artistic and sporting fields. You can discover the history of the medals at Gold, Silver and Bronze at the Monnaie de Paris (March 27-September 24) while the Musée du Louvre highlights the origins of the Olympic Games (April 25-September 16). Paris last hosted the games in 1924 – a few months before the rival surrealist manifestos were published. The Center Pompidou will mark the moment with Surrealism: the Centenary exhibition (September 4-January 6, 2025). Across the river, the Musée d’Orsay will host Paris 1874: Inventing Impressionism (March 26-July 14). Continuing the surveys of French cultural forms, the Pompidou will pay homage comic (comics) (May 29-November 4) while The birth of department stores at the Musée de Arts Decoratifs (April 10-October 13) covers modern shopping.
by Robert Delaunay Circular shapes (1930) will be included in the exhibition at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum Harmony and Dissonance: Orphism in Paris, 1910-30 Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. Photo: Christopher McKay
New York hails its role in modern art
Starting this spring, art lovers in New York can look forward to a slate of exhibitions celebrating the city’s place in modern art history, starting with the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Harlem Renaissance and Transatlantic Modernism (February 25-July 28). Concurrently, MacArthur Fellow, Pulitzer Prize winner and experimental musician Raven Chacon will present Worm’s eye view from a bird’s beak (January 25-April 14) at the Swiss Institute, mixing experimental music with other works focused on the indigenous experience in the US.
Meanwhile, the Museum of Modern Art will be presented LaToya Ruby Frazier: Monuments of Solidarity (May 12 to September 7), the artist’s first museum survey and catalog of her ongoing practice combining activism with boundary-pushing photographs and new media projects. Along with these iconic shows, the Whitney Museum of American Art opens Whitney Biennial show in March, offering a comprehensive and up-to-date review of contemporary art in the United States.
Located a short train ride down the Hudson River, Dia Beacon will present a newly commissioned work by British artist and director Steve McQueen starting in May. The video installation continues his ongoing projects on time, sound and minimalist filmmaking, complicating his meditations on race and self-perception. Dia Beacon also presents the mid-century work of American artist Keith Sonnier later in the year (from fall), showing mixed-media installations that question the role of American material culture throughout the 20th century.
Back in town, Christmas visitors will see the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum open Harmony and Dissonance: Orphism in Paris, 1910-30 (November 8-March 9, 2025), which shows some of the first approaches to integrating the material and technological changes of the early 20th century.
by Yoko Ono half a room (1967) will form part of the Tate’s retrospective on the artist, Yoko Ono: Music of the Mindfrom February 15 © Yoko Ono
London: Women are leading the UK capital
London seems to be reviving the Swinging Sixties: The Beatles and The Rolling Stones are on the charts, and Yoko Ono will soon be in an art gallery. Not just anyone, mind you: Tate Modern is organizing a major retrospective, Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind (February 15-September 1), which will show his participatory conceptual works (incl cut piece, in which gallery goers cut off pieces of his clothing), along with films and music he made with and without John Lennon. Ono’s tireless commitment to witty presentations of her ideas has cemented her position as a revered avant-garde voice.
Ono is spearheading an increase in female-oriented shows across formats and periods. Tate Britain will offer Women Artists in Britain 1520-1920 (May 16-October 13) – a complement to your current one Women in Revolt! exhibition – which will show the hidden struggles of artists throughout the centuries. It goes back to the 17th century painter Mary Beale, admired by the portraitist Peter Lely, and Laura Knight, the first female artist elected as a member of the Royal Academy.
Swiss-born neoclassicist Angelica Kauffman will receive her own survey by the Royal Academy of Art (March 1-June 30). Gaining the patronage of Joshua Reynolds and a considerable reputation as a painter of historical scenes, she became one of the founding members of the RA in 1768.
Meanwhile, Modernism will be examined at the Courtauld Gallery Vanessa Bell: A Pioneer of Modern Art (May 25-October 6), while London’s survey of women artists comes to the present day with Barbara Kruger (February 1-March 17) at the Serpentine Galleries. Finally, the National Portrait Gallery’s Portraits to dream (March 21-June 16) features a creative battle between photographers Francesca Woodman and Julia Margaret Cameron.
