A mind-bending Spaniard, an imagistic Puerto Rican and a lush Latvian – the week in art

This week's art roundup from The Guardian features a major exhibition on Spanish painter Francisco de Zurbarán at the National Gallery in London, described as a mind-bending and revelatory show with loans from the Prado and other top museums, positioning him alongside Goya and Picasso. Other highlights include Gilbert & George's tribute to their late homeless friend at their London centre, outdoor sculptures by Lynn Chadwick at Houghton Hall, thickly built-up paintings by Angel Otero at Hauser & Wirth Somerset, and abstract works by Latvian sculptor Daiga Grantina at Warwick Arts Centre. The article also covers a new Banksy statue in central London depicting a man marching with a flag, and a Masterpiece of the Week feature on Guido Reni's 'Saint Mary Magdalene'.

Georg Baselitz (1938-2026)

Georg Baselitz, born Hans-Georg Kern in 1938, has died at age 88. The German painter and sculptor, who changed his name in 1961, built a career on aesthetic dissent. Expelled from art school in East Berlin, he first gained notoriety with a 1963 exhibition at Galerie Werner and Katz in Berlin, where two works were seized for obscenity. His signature gesture—inverting his images, beginning with "Der Wald auf dem Kopf" in 1969—became his most recognizable trademark, shifting focus from subject to the act of painting itself. Baselitz also produced significant sculptures, often carved with a chainsaw and axe, and his work was the subject of major retrospectives at the Centre Pompidou (2021-2022) and the Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris (2011-2012).

Inside Burger Collection: Tadanori Yokoo: A Visionary Renegade

The article profiles Tadanori Yokoo, the 89-year-old Japanese artist and graphic designer, who remains active despite a recent bout of Covid-19. It details his early life in Nishiwaki, his failed attempts to enter art school and the postal service, and his eventual career in commercial printing, which shaped his innovative approach to graphic design and painting. The piece highlights his ongoing exhibition at Tokyo's Setagaya Art Museum and his enduring influence in Japan's cultural world, including the Yokoo Tadanori Museum of Contemporary Art in Kobe.

The invisible worlds of Hilma af Klint, pioneer of abstraction, finally revealed at the Grand Palais

Les mondes invisibles d’Hilma af Klint, pionnière de l’abstraction, enfin révélés au Grand Palais

The article reveals the long-overlooked story of Hilma af Klint (1862–1944), the Swedish artist who created abstract paintings years before Kandinsky, Mondrian, and Malevich, yet kept her work secret until 20 years after her death. Her monumental output—1,600 abstract paintings and 124 notebooks—was first publicly shown in 1986 at the Los Angeles exhibition 'The Spiritual in Art, Abstract Painting, 1890–1985'. A 2019 retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum in New York drew 600,000 visitors, a museum record. Now, the Grand Palais in Paris presents the first-ever French exhibition of her work, focusing on her 'Paintings for the Temple' cycle (1906–1915), a series of 193 works that synthesize her spiritual quest.

New exhibit shows how Hermès designer inspires Waco art

A new exhibition titled "From Hermès to Home" at the Waco Welcome Center showcases the work of internationally acclaimed artist Kermit Oliver alongside local artists Cade Kegerreis and Vincent Thomas, who were mentored by Oliver. Oliver is the only American artist to have designed scarves for Hermès, and the show features his iconic scarf designs alongside paintings and self-portraits by all three artists, marking the first time their work has been exhibited together. The exhibition coincides with a limited-edition re-release of Oliver's scarf design "Faune et Flore du Texas" and the upcoming publication of a book about him by Texas A&M University Press.

Sadeqain Art Exhibition opens in Canada, celebrating Pakistan’s artistic legacy

A three-day Sadeqain Art Exhibition has opened in Mississauga, Canada, inaugurated by Pakistan’s High Commissioner Muhammad Saleem Khan. Organized by the Sadeqain Foundation with local and media partners, the exhibition showcases the work of renowned Pakistani artist Syed Sadeqain Ahmed Naqvi (1930–1987), featuring Islamic calligraphy, paintings, drawings, wall carvings, and Urdu poetry. The event aims to introduce his artistic legacy to a wider international audience and is expected to attract art experts, students, and cultural enthusiasts.