Early medieval legends report that one of the three kings who paid homage to the Christ Child in Bethlehem was from Africa. Written accounts sometimes describe Balthazar, the youngest magus, as having a dark complexion. Nevertheless, it would take nearly 1,000 years for European artists to begin representing him as a Black man. Balthazar: A Black African King in Medieval and Renaissance Art, an exhibition at the Getty Center Museum on view from November 19, 2019 to February 16, 2020, examines how representations in European art of Balthazar as a Black African coincided with the increased interaction between Europe and Africa, particularly with the systematic enslavement of African peoples in the fifteenth century. “This exhibition examines the illuminated manuscripts and paintings in the Getty’s collection that tell the story of Balthazar, placing this artistic-religious narrative in the context of the long history of materia

An exhibition exploring the life and passions of George IV reunites for the first time items that were commissioned and worn by the King at his famously flamboyant coronation at Westminster Abbey, London, in 1821. Marking the 200th anniversary in 2020 of the Monarch’s ascent to the throne, George IV: Art & Spectacle is on view at The Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace. The coronation was the most spectacular moment of George’s life and came at a cost of more than £240,000. The King himself oversaw the design of his coronation robes, including the crimson velvet surcoat and a stole made from cloth of silver, gold thread and silk, embroidered with the national flowers of the United Kingdom. Sir Thomas Lawrence’s coronation portrait shows the King in his ceremonial clothing with the Imperial State Crown, traditionally remade for the

In celebration of its 90th anniversary, the Heard Museum is hosting an original exhibition: David Hockney’s Yosemite and Masters of California Basketry beginning. Yosemite Valley is the shared inspiration and connection point between the work of one of the greatest living artists and the Miwok and Mono Lake Paiute women who created some of the most spectacular examples of California basketry from the early to mid-20th century.

“The Heard Museum is honored to present the work of David Hockney in Phoenix, together with the outstanding work made by Indigenous artists of the Yosemite Valley,” said David M. Roche, Heard Museum Dickey Family Director and CEO. “David Hockney’s Yosemite and Masters of California Basketry realizes our vision of bringing a piece of Yosemite to Phoenix through the work of exceptional artists- who, despite working a century apart, drew their inspiration from one of the nation’s most iconic landmarks.”

A golden ring once given as a present by the famed Irish writer Oscar Wilde has been recovered by a Dutch “art detective” nearly 20 years after it was stolen from Britain’s Oxford University. The friendship ring, a joint gift from Wilde to a fellow student in 1876, was taken during a burglary in 2002 at Magdalen College, where the legendary dandy studied. At the time it was valued at £35,000 (40,650 euros, $45,000). The trinket’s whereabouts remained a mystery for years and there were fears that the ring — shaped like a belt and buckle and made from 18-carat gold — had even been melted down. But Arthur Brand, a Dutchman dubbed the “Indiana Jones of the Art World” for recovering a series of high-profile stolen artworks, used his underworld connections to finally find it.