At the Palazzo Ducale, Genova for the exhibition ‘Espressionismo Tedesco 1905 – 1913’, a survey of the ‘Die Brücke’ group. ‘Die Brücke’ was formed in 1905 in Dresden by four architecture students, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Fritz Bleyl, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff and Erich Heckel. They were later joined by Max Pechstein and Otto Mueller and, for a short time, Emil Nolde.

The exhibition was very good, though somewhat incomplete. There were hardly any examples of paintings from Moritzburg and none of Kirchner’s Berlin Street Scenes , but apart from that a fairly thorough survey.

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner ‘Artist -Marcella’ (1910)

Max Pechstein ‘The Black and Yellow Bathing Suit’ (1909)

Erich Heckel ‘Franzi Reclining’ (1910)

Max Pechstein ‘Two Dancers’ (1909)

Karl Schmidt-Rottluff ‘Thoughtful Woman’ (1912)

At Villa Manin, Passariano, near Udine, for the fascinating exhibition ‘Avanguardia Russa’. The exhibition displays works from the Costakis collection of early twentieth-century Russian avant-garde art, collected in extraordinary circumstances while George Costakis worked in Moscow for the Greek and Canadian embassies.

The exhibition shows examples from all the major movements from 1910 to 1930 in Russia, including Symbolism, Cubo-Futurism, Suprematism and Constructivism, from artists including Malevich, Popova, Rodchenko, El Lissitsky, Tatlin and others. Also on display is a superb collection of photographs by Alexander Rodchenko.

Kazimir Malevich ‘Portrait’ (1910)

Kazimir Malevich ‘Austrian went into Kadziwill’ (1914)

Ivan Kliun ‘Portrait of the Artist’s Wife’ (1910)

Liubov Popova ‘Travelling Woman’ (1915)

Alexander Rodchenko ‘Books’ (1924)

Alexander Rodchenko ‘Pioneer Trumpet Player’ (1930)

In Ljubljana, Slovenia, for the exhibition ‘Painting in Normandy’. Works by French artists in the Normandy region from the Realism of Courbet and Corot and the Impressionism of Monet to the Post-Impressionism of Bonnard and Vuillard.

 Gustave Courbet ‘The Beach at Trouville’ (c.1865)

Claude Monet ‘Étretat’ (c.1864)

Edouard Vuillard ‘The Garden at Amfreville’ (c.1905 – 07)

In Pisa for an extremely interesting exhibition, ‘Modigliani et ses amis, Parigi 1906 – 1920’. The exhibition tells the story of the avant-garde artists who worked in Paris in the first two decades of the twentieth century. Focusing on the paintings and sculptures of Amedeo Modigliani, it also shows works by people associated with the ‘School of Paris’ during that period, including Constantin Brâncusi, Raoul Dufy, Chaim Soutine, Juan Gris, Pablo Picasso, André Derain and Marc Chagall.

Amedeo Modigliani ‘Paul Guillaume, Novo Pilota’ (1915)

Amedeo Modigliani ‘Femme au ruban de velours’ (1915)

Amedeo Modigliani ‘Gaston Modot’ (1918)

Amedeo Modigliani ‘The Young Apprentice’ (1917 – 19)

André Derain ‘Portrait of Lucie Kahnweiler’ (1913)

Juan Gris ‘Nature Morte au Livre’ (1913)

At the Musée Toulouse-Lautrec in Albi, south-west France, for an excellent exhibition commemorating the 150th anniversary of his birth. Toulouse-Lautrec, who died tragically young at only 36, was extremely important in recording life in Belle Epoque Paris as well as in the development of graphic art.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec ‘Comtesse Adèle de Toulouse-Lautrec at breakfast’ (1881)

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec ‘La Goulue’ poster (1891)

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec ‘Aristide Bruant Ambassadeurs’ poster (1892)

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec ‘Au Salon de la rue des Moulins’ (1894)

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec ‘Maurice Joyant, Somme Bay’ (1900)

A sunny November day at Castello di Miramare, Trieste. The spectacular castle and its park were built for Ferdinand Maximilian (1832–1867), of the House of Habsburg, the younger brother of Franz Joseph, Emperor of Austria.

At Villa Manin, Passariano, near Udine, for a wonderful retrospective of the career of Man Ray (1890 – 1976), containing over 250 works including paintings, photographs, ‘readymades’ and films.

Man Ray worked alongside artists such as Marcel Duchamp, Francis Picabia, Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Giorgio De Chirico and Constantin Brancusi, and painted with and photographed artists and models from the avant-garde world of Dada and Surrealism.

Man Ray ‘Flying Dutchman’ (1920)

Man Ray ‘Cadeau’ (1974 replica of 1921 original)

Man Ray ‘Le Violon d’Ingres’ (1924)

Man Ray ‘Black and White’ (1926)

Man Ray ‘Meret Oppenheim’ (1933)

At Tate Modern in London for two excellent exhibitions.  First was ‘Henri Matisse: Cut- Outs’. When Matisse was prevented from painting by ill health he took to cutting out shapes from painted paper and invented a new medium. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity to see so many of these works together and it was a major triumph.

Henri Matisse ‘Icarus’ (1943 – 44)

Henri Matisse Blue Nude II (1952)

Henri Matisse ‘The Parakeet and the Mermaid’ (1952)

Henri Matisse ‘The Snail’ (1953)

The second exhibition was a wonderful retrospective of the career of Kazimir Malevich. Malevich was an extremely influential artist whose experiments led him to the invention of Suprematism, epitomised by the infamous ‘Black Square’. The exhibition started with his early Russian landscapes and paintings of peasant workers, continued through the abstract Suprematist works and ended with his return to figurative painting in his later life.

Kazimir Malevich ‘Self Portrait’ (1908 – 10)

Kazimir Malevich ‘An Englishman in Moscow’ (1914)

Kazimir Malevich ‘Supremus No 50’ (1915)

Kazimir Malevich ‘Head of a Peasant’ (1928 – 29)

Kazimir Malevich ‘Black Square’ (1929)

Kazimir Malevich ‘Woman with Rake’ (1930 – 32)

Kazimir Malevich ‘Self Portrait’ (1933)

In Ljubljana, Slovenia for a concert by one of the world’s great orchestras, the Royal Concertgebouw of Amsterdam under the baton of Mariss Jansons.  Starting with Brahms ‘Variations on a Theme by Haydn’, the first half was completed by an immaculate performance of Shostakovich’s ‘Symphony no. 1’ The second half began with a wonderful performance of Ravel’s ‘Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in G Major’ with the great French pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet. The concert finale was an amazing rendition of Ravel’s ‘Daphnis et Chloé Suite no. 2’.

Jean-Yves Thibaudet

At the Musée Granet, Aix-en-Provence to see the excellent ‘Cézanne et la Modernité’ exhibition, showing the collection formed by Henry and Rose Pearlman, with masterpieces by some of the greatest artists of the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist movements. A wonderful  group of paintings and watercolours by Paul Cézanne, as well as paintings and sculptures by artists including Paul Gauguin, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Edouard Manet, Vincent van Gogh, Jacques Lipchitz, Edgar Degas and Amedeo Modigliani.

Paul Cézanne ‘Mont Sainte-Victoire’ (c.1902)

Vincent van Gogh ‘Tarascon Stage Coach’ (1888)

Amedeo Modigliani ‘Portrait of Jean Cocteau’ (1917)