Beyond Caravaggio at the National Gallery, London
Oct. 12, 2016 — Jan. 15, 2017
Not to be confused with the Met's concurrent Beyond Caravaggio show (you'd think they'd coordinate), the National Gallery has organized a sweeping exhibition on Caravaggio's influence over the generations of painters that followed him. (His impact was so great, there's even a name for it: Caravaggism.) Followers include the likes of Orazio Gentileschi, Georges de la Tour, and Bartolomeo Manfredi; their works will be hung alongside original Caravaggios, though one wonders if the comparisons will flatter the originals or fall flat.
Icons of Modern Art: The Shchukin Collection at the Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris
Oct. 22, 2016 – Feb. 20, 2017
Few people have heard of Sergei Shchukin, a Russian industrialist active at the turn of the 20th century, but everyone has heard of the artists he collected: Matisse, Picasso, Cezanne, Monet, Braque, and the list goes on. After the Russian revolution, Shchukin fled to Paris and left his collection behind. After a century of ups and downs, it was eventually absorbed into Russian state museums, including the Hermitage in St. Petersburg. Now, after 100 years in Russia, one of the most important modernist collections on the planet is traveling to Paris, where visitors can view the art in Frank Gehry's glittering new museum.
Brassaï Graffiti at the Centre Pompidou, Paris
Nov. 9, 2016 – Apr. 24, 2017
Brassaï, a Hungarian artist best known for his surrealist photography, was something of a superstar in his lifetime but has receded in recent years, behind such peers as Andre Breton and Max Ernst. A huge exhibition of Brassai's photography should change that. The show comprises more than 500 pictures of Paris graffiti: Drawings, carvings, and scribblings on city walls are documented and turned, through Brassaï's eye, into otherworldly, archaic signs and symbols.