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Exhibition of the week
Edinburgh art festival
Science-minded artist Katie Paterson finds a natural home in the Collective Gallery’s repurposed observatory on Calton Hill, while Del LaGrace Volcano, Eva Rothschild and more show in the many other memorable places this city can boast.
Edinburgh venues until 30 August
Also showing
Zurbarán
Last chance to experience this mystical and wondrous encounter with a Spanish genius.
National Gallery, London, until 23 August
Glenn Brown
Strange and sensual paintings that fit insidiously into Gainsborough’s rococo Bath.
Holburne, Bath, until 6 September
Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award and Exploring Identity
Portraits from the Laing’s collection give a historical perspective to this touring prize show of contemporary faces.
Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle, until 5 September
Staging the Baroque
The genius of Sir John Vanbrugh explored at the stately home that is his finest work.
Castle Howard, Yorkshire, until 31 October
Image of the week
This psychedelically radiant version of Hokusai’s iconic woodblock print The Great Wave off Kanagawa gets its bright colouring from half a million dahlias, seen here being arranged by hand on the Grand-Place in Brussels, Belgium on Thursday. When completed, the carpet of blooms will cover 1,680sqm. Then, suitably for a great wave, it will be swept away on 16 August.
What we learned
Novelist Iris Murdoch’s unknown work as a painter will be shown for the first time
A new book explores David Hockney’s relationship with swimming-pool owner and muse Betty Freeman
Edinburgh fringe has a phenomenal theatre portrait of Francis Bacon and George Dyer
Isabel Nolan’s artworks use religious symbolism to elevate her heroes, such as Tony Soprano
Painter Hermione Carline used veils of oil colour to evoke beautiful light effects
Three Banksy artworks have cost taxpayers nearly £150,000
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1970s ice lolly wrappers are full of cartoonish vintage charm
Christine Borland’s extraordinary work pushed the boundaries of art, ethics, history and medicine
Masterpiece of the week
Woman Seated in a Garden by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, 1891
Gabrielle – that was her name, and she was probably a model and dancer, one of Toulouse-Lautrec’s friends in late 19th-century Montmartre. But no other biographical facts are known about this woman whose introspective, melancholy thoughts cling to the rugged contours of her face as she rests in a garden. Toulouse-Lautrec portrays her without adornment, glamour or even any sense of posing: if she really is one of Montmartre’s professional entertainers, this is her day off. Toulouse-Lautrec is her pal and she doesn’t have to perform for him. This intimacy and honesty is typical of his portraits of female friends, and anyone who thinks he just did colourful posters is missing out, for Toulouse-Lautrec is a profound and subtle artist who sees the solitude and sadness behind the can-can.
National Gallery, London
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