LONDON

The world of artist-author Hergé
and his intrepid reporter, Tintin,
comes to life in Tintin: Hergé’s
Masterpiece at Somerset House
(from 12 Nov; p. 53). Admire early
newspaper strips as well as the
graphic work of the later books.
Alexander Calder: Performing
Sculpture at Tate Modern (from
11 Nov; p. 53; below) features works
by the American artist, a pioneer
of kinetic sculpture which gave
movement to static objects. You
can get up close to some of his most
significant motorised mobiles.
A Hello Kitty toaster, a selection
of mobile phones designed by
Naoto Fukasawa and kimonos
from the 1920s and 1930s are
among recent acquisitions that
will be shown in the Victoria
and Albert Museum’s refurbished
Toshiba Gallery of Japanese
Art (from 4 Nov; p. 48).
Be transported across time with a
new web app from the Horniman
Museum & Gardens (p. 47) that
celebrates the quintessentially
British beverage, tea. Tea Trail
London explores the heritage of tea
in London through three trails.
teatrail.london.
t its peak, the British
Empire was the largest
the world had ever seen,
with so many territories
that it was described
as ‘the empire on which the
sun never sets’. When it began
to spread during the
16th century, artists
responded to it
in different ways.
While some
used their work
to reinforce
the empire,
others chose
to resist it.
Artist and
Empire at Tate
Britain (from
25 Nov; p. 53) brings
together more than
150 paintings, drawings,
photographs, sculptures, maps
and artefacts from across the
British Isles, North America,
the Caribbean, the Pacific, Asia
and Africa. Together, these
extraordinary works tell the
story of how the British Empire
influenced art for 400 years.
Among the displays are
paintings by Anthony Van
Dyck, Johann Zoffany and
Elizabeth Thompson, also
known as Lady Butler, who
was one of the few female
painters to achieve
recognition for
history paintings.
See the Big
Apple like never
before in John
Montresor’s
1766 Plan of
the City of New
York, and get up
close to carefully
staged paintings of
international events that
were designed to manipulate
audiences in Britain and abroad.
This thought-provoking
exhibition confronts the
problematic legacy of the
British Empire in many
unexpected ways.
– Sam Rogg
ARTIST AND EMPIRE IMAGES COURTESY OF TATE BRITAIN; ALEXANDER CALDER COURTESY OF TATE MODERN
46 | LONDON PLANNER