12 Days: Highlights of 2016

Over the 12 days of Christmas, Apollo contributors and guests select their highlights of 2016

View the 12 Days series here

The thing I’m looking forward to most at the Royal Academy is our exhibition ‘In the Age of Giorgione’ (12 March–5 June 2016) which will be astonishing. Everyone has assumed that it’s impossible to do a Giorgione exhibition because there are so few attributed works, but this will show the circle round him, as well as a significant number of works by him. And, we have ‘Abstract Expressionism’ in the autumn (24 September 2016—2 January 2017).

The big event in the art world next year will be the opening of the new Tate Modern on 17 June. But I’m also very much looking forward to the new Design Museum designed by John Pawson which is due to open in the old Commonwealth Institute building towards the end of the year. Paul Nash is going to be on at Tate Britain (26 October 2016–5 March 2017), Delacroix at the National Gallery (17 February–22 May 2016) and Botticelli at the V&A (5 March–3 July 2016). I like and admire the work that Pallant House is doing under Simon Martin and I see they are doing an exhibition on ‘Radical Craft’, (12 March–12 June 2016) as well as John Piper and Christopher Wood, both overdue.

Death of Sardanapalus (1827), Eugène Delacroix. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Internationally, I’m planning to go to Art Basel Hong Kong (24–26 March 2016), which I missed this year, hope to see the new National Gallery in Singapore which has just opened, and will be interested to see the new Louvre Abu Dhabi in its strange flying saucer by Jean Nouvel.

Charles Saumarez Smith is Secretary and Chief Executive of the Royal Academy of Arts, London.

View the rest of the 12 Days series here

Event details

‘In the Age of Giorgione’ is at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, from 12 March–5 June 2016, and ‘Abstract Expressionism’ is open from 24 September 2016—2 January 2017.

Tate Modern‘s new building opens on 17 June.

The Design Museum will close at its current site on 30 June 2016 and will relocate to the former Commonwealth Institute building in Kensington later in 2016.

‘Paul Nash’ is at Tate Britain, London, from 26 October 2016–5 March 2017.

‘Delacroix and the Rise of Modern Art’ is at the National Gallery, London, from 17 February–22 May 2016.

‘Botticelli Reimagined’ is at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, from 5 March–3 July 2016.

‘Radical Craft: Alternative Ways of Making’ and ‘John Piper: The Fabric of Modernism’ are at Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, from 12 March–12 June 2016, and ‘Christopher Wood’ is open from 2 July–2 October 2016.

Art Basel Hong Kong runs from 24–26 March 2016.

The National Gallery in Singapore opened in late November.

The Louvre Abu Dhabi is expected to open in late 2016.