Something for everyone

To get the year off to a good start is the eye-catchingly titled William Orpen — Politics, Sex & Death at the Imperial War Museum (27 January–2 May). Is this an exhibition or a manifesto? (From its title, difficult to tell.) Sir William Orpen (1878–1931) was a dazzling painter, rich and successful, Sargent’s heir as portrayer of the haut monde. Yet he has the unfortunate reputation of being brilliant but superficial, and as a consequence there has never been an exhibition of his work in a national gallery in this country. The IWM is all set to change that with a show of 80 oils and 40 drawings, focusing not merely on his activities as an Official War Artist (1917–19), but also on his nudes, conversation pieces and portraits. Will Flash Harry turn out to be Neglected Genius? Watch this space…

The Royal Academy offers a full and varied quota of worthwhile shows. First off is Turks: A Journey of a Thousand Years, 600–1600 (22 January–12 April), a blockbuster of the kind we have come to expect from the RA. With more than 350 exhibits featuring textiles, manuscripts, woodwork, metalwork and ceramics, there will be more than a taster of the Ottoman Empire on offer here. Expect the martial as well as the aesthetic in this magnificent array of objects, many not previously exhibited outside Turkey. By contrast, something gentler follows, Matisse, His Art and His Textiles (5 March–30 May), though more than a trace of the exotic lingers. This show presents the artist’s own collection of fabrics, begun at an early age, and including Persian carpets, African wall-hangings and Moroccan embroideries. Interspersed with a selection of his paintings and drawings, it illustrates how textiles influenced the development of his art. Fascinating.

The autumn show at the Academy is Munch: By Himself (17 September–11 December), a deep, dark exploration of the Norwegian soul (and something of a counterpart to the Tate’s exhibition of paintings and photographs by the Swedish playwright August Strindberg 17 February–15 May).