The best art holidays for 2019

Our experts round up the most exciting holidays in 2019 for art lovers.

1. Hermitage museum, St Petersburg

A landmark Piero della Francesco show runs until March 11 together with another on trompe l’oeil painting and following that is an unusually strong run of exhibitions. Gods, Humans, Heroes will focus on ancient art from the National Archaeological Museum of Naples (early April–June), Masterpieces from the Collections of Mikhail and Ivan Morozov (June–September) will reunite this extraordinary collection of 19th and 20th-century French art, and A Dream of Italy: The Campana Museum (July–October) recreates the collection of the Marquis Campana – the 19th century’s largest private art collection.

Exact dates to be confirmed (hermitagemuseum.org)

2. Gallerie d’Italia, Naples

There is a particular appeal to exhibitions that reunite famous collections of the past. This exhibition returns 36 spectacular paintings – including major works by Rubens, van Dyck, Caravaggio and Bruegel to their former home in the Palazzo Zevallos Stigliano in Naples where they formed the collection of the Prince of Stigliano in the 17th century.

Until April 7 (gallerieditalia.com)

3. Early Picasso in Basel

Picasso’s early Blue and Rose periods marked a moment of radical change in the history of art, and they are also among the most poignant and alluring of his paintings. Picasso Blue et Rose, which is transferring from the Musée d’Orsay in Paris to the Fondation Beyeler in Riehen, near Basel, will be one of the most comprehensive accounts yet of his work during this crucial phase.

Feb 3–May 26 (fondationbeyeler.ch)

4. Rembrandt in Amsterdam

The 350th anniversary for Rembrandt’s death is being celebrated in a big way in the Rijksmuseum. All the Rembrandts does what it says on the tin, showcasing all 22 of the museum’s paintings by the great artist of the Dutch Golden Age, plus 60 drawings and more than 300 prints. In July a restoration project will begin on The Night Watch and the public will be able to watch the entire process at the museum and online. Then from Oct 11 until Jan 19 2020 Rembrandt-Velázquez will present a comprehensive overview of their paintings.

All the Rembrandts, Feb 15–June 10 (rijksmuseum.nl)

5. Mantegna and Bellini in Berlin

There is still time to catch National Gallery’s fabulous Mantegna and Bellini exhibition in London (closes Jan 27) which compares two of the greatest artists of the Renaissance. But, if you can’t, it transfers to Berlin from March for a four-month run. The two artists were among the leading lights of the early Renaissance.

March 1–June 30 (smb.museum/en)

6. Venice Art Biennale

The Art Biennale always adds an interesting dimension to a trip to Venice. You don’t even need to go out to the Giardini to see the main show pavilions – installations often take place in central campos and in palazzi that may otherwise be closed to the public.

May 11–Nov 24; more details to be announced (labiennale.org)

7. The Prado’s 200th birthday, Madrid

You never need an excuse to visit one of the world’s greatest art museums, but this year is the bicentenary of the founding of the Prado in Madrid, and the milestone will be marked by a series of major events and celebrations. Top of the exhibition bill is Fra Angelico and the Rise of the Florentine Renaissance, which will investigate the beginnings of the Florentine Renaissance art in the 1420s and 1430s with works by Fra Angelico alongside the key Florentine artists including Masaccio, Masolino, Uccello and Donatello.

May 28–Sept 15 (Fra Angelico). 200th anniversary programme (museodelprado.es/en/bicentenary)

8. Yorkshire Sculpture Festival

New for this summer, Yorkshire Sculpture International (YSI) is a free 100-day festival major including new public commissions in Leeds and Wakefield and a programme of events and exhibitions across the four galleries that form the Yorkshire Sculpture Triangle: Henry Moore Institute, Leeds Art Gallery, The Hepworth Wakefield, and Yorkshire Sculpture Park.

June 22–Sept 29 (yorkshire-sculpture.org)

9. Pieter de Hooch in Delft

Along with Vermeer, Pieter de Hooch is the most famous Delft artist of the Dutch Golden Age. In some ways his quietly atmospheric paintings capturing life in the courtyards, kitchens and drawing rooms of the time give more of an insight into the everyday world of the 17th century than Vermeer’s work. At Delft’s Museum Prinsenhof, Pieter de Hooch in Delft: From the Shadow of Vermeer will include some 30 paintings from museums and galleries around the world to form the first major retrospective of de Hooch in Holland.

Oct 11–Feb 16 2020 (prinsenhof-delft.nl)

10. Bauhaus 100, Germany

The Bauhaus art school opened in Weimar in 1919, then moved to Dessau and then to Berlin. The clean, functional lines that underpinned its style made a lasting impact on architecture, art and design. To mark the centenary, events and exhibitions are happening all over Germany.

Dates throughout 2019 (bauhaus100.com)

11. Bruegel’s 450th in Flanders

Flanders is commemorating the work of Pieter Bruegel 450 years after his death with a series of exhibitions and events, although there won’t be a major exhibition of his paintings (go to the Musée des Beaux Arts in Brussels and the Mayer Van den Bergh museum in Antwerp for these). Among the highlights, a new walking route in Dilbeek will you past the church and watermills that Bruegel painted and in the autumn the Royal Library of Belgium Brussels is showcasing Bruegel’s prints.

Throughout 2019 (visitflanders.com)

12. Paris: a year of exhibitions

It’s hard to know where to start. The list of exhibitions in Paris this year is one of the most impressive line-ups I have ever known. The leading light is the Leonardo da Vinci show at the Louvre in October (see p25); but there are numerous highlights to take in before that, being held throughout 2019.

Red: Soviet Art at Grand Palais (grandpalais.fr; March 20–July 1); Dora Maar (Picasso’s muse) at Centre Pompidou (centrepompidou.fr; June 5–July 29; Berthe Morisot (impressionism) at Musée d’Orsay (musee-orsay.fr; June 18–Sept 22); Francis Bacon at Centre Pompidou (Sept 11–Jan 20 2020); Toulouse-Lautrec at Grand Palais (Oct 9–Jan 27 2020); El Greco at Grand Palais (Oct 27–Feb 10 2020)