Kerry James Marshall: The Histories at the Royal Academy of Arts in London is the largest ever European retrospective of the work of the US artist and has been greeted with universal critical acclaim. Ben Luke takes a tour of the exhibition with Mark Godfrey, its curator, and visits a related exhibition of Marshall’s graphic novel project, Rythm Mastr, at The Tabernacle in Notting Hill, London, with the co-curator of that show, Nikita Sena Quarshie.
A view down St Martin’s Street, with St Vincent House on the right. In the distance is the back of the Sainsbury Wing
The Art Newspaper
Last week, the National Gallery in London announced that it will build a major new extension, at a cost around £400m, of which £375m has already been raised. Project Domani, as it is called, is billed by the gallery as the largest transformation since it was founded, 200 years ago. The gallery will also expand its collecting boundary beyond 1900 in a major shift in the division of UK national collections. The Art Newspaper’s digital editor, Alexander Morrison, talks to the director of the National Gallery, Gabriele Finaldi.
Pablo Picasso’s The Three Dancers (1925) is the centrepiece of Tate Modern’s new show
Tate Photography © Succession Picasso/DACS, London 2025
And this episode’s Work of the Week is The Three Dancers by Pablo Picasso, one of the greatest of all the many thousands of works by the Spanish artist. The painting was made in 1925 and Tate Modern is celebrating its centenary with an exhibition, Theatre Picasso, in which The Three Dancers is the centrepiece. Ben talks to Natalia Sidlina, co-curator of the exhibition, and to Enrique Fuenteblanca who, with the artist Wu Tsang, has designed the radical staging of the exhibition.
- Kerry James Marshall: The Histories, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 20 September-18 January 2026; Kunsthaus Zürich, 27 February-16 August 2026; Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris, 18 September 2026-24 January 2027
- Rythm Mastr: The Chronicles, The Tabernacle, London, until 14 December
- Theatre Picasso, Tate Modern, London, until 12 April 2026
- Student subscription offer: stay connected to the art world from your first lecture to your final dissertation with a three-year student subscription to The Art Newspaper for just £99/$112/€105. Gift, quarterly and annual subscriptions are also available
