See all the best art this Autumn

Louis Bourgeois: A Woman Without Secrets. The exhibition is a first showing of Bourgeois’s late work and reveals her use of a wide variety of materials and scales to explore the mystery and beauty of human emotions. There are deep personal references to her own life that widen to raise universal questions about life and art, particularly ideas of womanhood. Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, 75 Belford Road, Edinburgh. 26 October- 18 May 2014. www.nationalgalleries.org

Louise Bourgeois: I Give Everything Away. This exhibition collates Bourgeois’s Insomnia Drawings (1994-95) and two sequences of much larger works on paper, When Did This Happen? (2007) and I Give Everything Away (2010). All together they reveal the close link between drawing and writing that is such a key part of her unique creative energy. The Fruitmarket Gallery, 45 Market Street, Edinburgh. 26 October- 23 February 2014. www.fruitmarket.co.uk

Martin Finnin: Renegade Amongst the Dusty Nouns. An exhibition by Irish artist, Finnin, displaying oil paintings with compositions of colourful, abstracted shapes. John Martin Gallery, 38 Albemarle St, London, W1S. 30 October- 23 November. www.jmlondon.com

* Subscribe to Country Lifethis Christmas and receive a bottle of single malt whisky

Recommended videos for you

An American in London: Whistler and the Thames. Showcasing Whistler’s scenes of London the exhibition will include paintings, etchings and drawings produced during the artist’s various residences in the capital between 1859 and 1903, a transitional period in the expatriate artist’s creative development. Dulwich Picture Gallery, Gallery Road, Dulwich, London SE1. 16 October- 12 January 2014. www.dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk

Beyond El Dorado: Power and Gold in Ancient Colombia.
This stunning exhibition, displays over 300 fascinating objects excavated from Lake Guatavita, near modern Bogotá in the early 20th century including ceramics and stone necklaces. British Museum, Great Russell Street, London WC1. 17 October- 23 March 2014. www.britishmuseum.org

Candy: Felix Gonzalez-Torres and Damien Hirst. This is the first time that paintings from Hirst’s Visual Candy series have been presented together exclusively, and a candy spill work by Felix Gonzalez-Torres will serve as a counterpoint to the paintings. Blain Southern, 4 Hanover Square, London W1S. 16 October- 30 November 2013. www.blainsouthern.com

In and Out of Fashion: Viviane Sassen. The only UK showing of hugely acclaimed Dutch photographer Viviane Sassen. It brings together around 50 photographic prints and vitrine displays, brimming with notes, plans and magazines, selected by the artist, as well as a specially designed installation, in which 200 images are projected onto a mirror in the centre of the exhibition. Scottish National Portrait Gallery, 1 Queen Street, Edinburgh. 19 October- 2 February 2014. www.nationalgalleries.org

Across The Ravaged Land: Nick Brandt. The third and final instalment of Brandt’s evocative photographic trilogy, which chart the changes and challenges effecting the natural landscapes and native wildlife of East Africa. Altas Gallery, 28 Cork Street, London W1S. 21 October- 9 November 2013. www.atlasgallery.com

Bringing the outside in: the Society of Wildlife Artists. The Annual Exhibition of the Society of Wildlife Artists is a showcase for the very best of art inspired by the natural world. A superb mix of painting and drawing, sculpture and printmaking. Mall Galleries, The Mall, London SW1. 31 October – 10 November. www.mallgalleries.org.uk/

Gifted: From the Royal Academy to The Queen. This portfolio of over 100 works, which includes some of the most high-profile Academicians, was presented to Her Majesty The Queen by the Royal Academy of Arts to celebrate her Diamond Jubilee. The Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace, London SW1, 1 November- 16 March 2014, www.royalcollection.org.uk

Castiglione: Lost Genius. The UK’s first major exhibition about the Italian artist Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione, the most innovative draughtsman of the 17th century with a violent and turbulent life story. Through 90 drawings and prints the exhibition positions Castiglione as one the great creative figures of the Baroque. The Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace, London SW1, 1 November- 16 March 2014, www.royalcollection.org.uk (see review in Country Life Nov 13 2013)

At Home in Angelsea Cottage: an exhibition of works by Robina Jack, Nancy Taplin & Guy Taplin. A unique exhibition from a remarkably talented family of artists displaying sculpture, ceramics and mixed media paintings, the output of a year’s worth of creativity in the Taplin’s family home in Essex. Messum’s, 8 Cork Street, London W1S, 30 October- 16 November 2013, 0207 437 5545

Masterpieces of Chinese Painting 700-1900. The most ambitious survey of one of the world’s greatest artistic traditions, showing more than 70 works including some of the earliest surviving Chinese paintings. The exhibition examines the evolving aesthetic characteristic of Chinese paintings and the constant interplay between tradition and innovation. V&A, Cromwell Road, London SW7, 26 October- 19 January 2014, www.vam.ac.uk

Turner in Brighton. The exhibition celebrates the recent acquisition of Turner’s watercolour Brighthelmstone, Sussex, and investigates how Turner perceived Brighton at the height of its development in the 1820s. Brighton Museum & Art Gallery, Royal Pavilion Gardens, Brighton, 2 November- 2 March 2014, www.brighton-hove-rpml.org.uk

Honoré Daumier. Described by Baudelaire as the artist with the capacity to capture ‘the heroism of modern life’. This exhibition will showcase every facet of Daumier’s output following a chronological span of the artist’s lifetime, which saw extensive political and social change in France. In the Sackler Wing of Galleries, Royal Academy of Arts, Burlington House, London W1 26 October – 26 January 2014, www.royalacademy.org.uk

Alan Sorrell: A Life Reconstructed. The first major survey of the work of the British artist and illustrator Alan Sorrell presenting an impressive collection of nearly 50 works spanning a diverse career as a muralist, war artist, reconstruction draughtsman of historical sites and illustrator of landscapes. Sir John Soane’s Museum, 13 Lincoln’s Field, London WC2. 25 October- 25 January 2014. www.soane.org (see review in Country Life Oct 23 2013)

Pop Art Design.  Fifty years after Pop Art exploded on to the art scene, this exhibition brings together 200 works, by over 70 artists and designers to paint a new picture of Pop Art- one that finally recognises the central role played by design. Barbican Art Gallery, Silk Street, London EC2. 22 October- 9 February 2014. www.barbican.org.uk

Still Photgraphs by Robert Goldstein. New York Photographer Robert Goldstein’s exhibition draws together the raw and the refined, travelling from a transitory moment with Gilbert and George to showgirls and elephants at the circus. Whitfield Fine Art Gallery, 23 Dering Street, London W1. 24 October- 15 November 2013. 07774 167 666

Egon Schiele: The Radical Nude. Brings together an outstanding group of the artist’s nudes to chart his ground-breaking approach: revealing Schiele’s technical virtuosity, highly original vision and unflinching depictions of the naked figure. The Courtauld Gallery, Somerset House, Strand, London WC2
23 October- 18 January 2014 www.courtauld.ac.uk

Sofia Petropoulou. Abstract colourful oil paintings. Petropoulou’s work constitutes a noteworthy chapter in contemporary Greek painting. Cadogan Contemporary, 87 Old Brompton Road, London SW7. 25 October- 9 November www.cadogancontemporary.com

The Male Nude: Eighteenth-century drawings from the Paris Academy.
The male human figure was regarded by the Paris Academy as the very foundation of painting and sculpture. This exhibition, unprecedented in Britain, displays the Academy’s collection of nearly forty French drawings of male nude figures, in an enormous variety of poses. The Wallace Collection, Hertford House, Manchester Square, London W1. 24 October- 19 January 2014 www.wallacecollection.org

Paul Rafferty. Naturalist, light-infused, oil paintings of London scenes.
24 October- 8 November 2013. Portland Gallery, 8 Bennet Street, London SW1
www.portlandgallery.com

Norman Cornish: A Slice of Life. Paintings, drawings, watercolours and pastels of mining life. University Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne 18 October- 31 January 2014 www.universitygallery.co.uk

Dandans: a Collective of Japanese Emerging Artists.
Oil painting, Japanese paintings and sculpture. Browse & Darby, Cork Street, London W1, 17 October- 7 November 2013 www.browseanddarby.co.uk

Antiquity Unleashed: Aby Warburg, Dürer and Mantegna. This exhibition recreates Warburg’s seminal display of drawings and engravings by Dürer and Mantegna in his 5th October 1905 lecture at Hamburg’s concert hall entitled ‘Dürer and Italian Antiquity’. The exhibition considers Warburg’s influential contribution to the study of Albrecht Dürer. The Courtauld Gallery, Somerset House, London WC2, 17 October- 12 January 2014 www.courtauld.ac.uk

The Young Dürer: Drawing the Figure. Featuring outstandingly early works by the great German Renaissance artist and includes rare drawings and prints by his contemporaries. The exhibition examines how he reinvented established artistic traditions of figurative painting through study of his own body. The Courtauld Gallery, Somerset House, London WC2, 17 October- 12 January 2014 www.courtauld.ac.uk

Qalam: The Art of Beautiful Writing.
The exhibition brings the vibrant and distinctive art form, Calligraphy, to the heart of Birmingham, showcasing historic manuscripts, decorated objects and contemporary art. Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, Chamberlain Sq, Birmingham 2 November- 26 January 2014 www.bmag.org.uk

Birmingham Printmakers: ‘Thirty Years of Printmaking 1983-2013′.
Documenting the history of printmaking in Birmingham and the printmaker’s workshop, the exhibition will include artists from Birmingham Museums’ collection such as John Howard and Jean Vaudeau. The exhibition will also include new work by current members of Birmingham Printmakers. Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, Chamberlain Sq, Birmingham. 19 October- 19 January 2013 www.bmag.org.uk

Three Modern British Artists: Roger Hilton, John Wells & John McLean. A unique opportunity to view and buy never seen before work from the estates of John Wells and Roger Hilton, alongside work of living artist John McLean, a British abstract painter. Wilson Stephens and Jones, 71 Westbourne Park Road, London W2. 11 October- 9 November 2013. 0207 221 5256

Marlow Moss. A Tate touring display which surveys the work of the intriguing and eccentric British Constructivist, Moss (1889-1958), a true radical in both her work and persona. The exhibition features rarely seen paintings, reliefs and sculptures of an unjustly neglected British artist. The Jerwood Gallery, Hastings, East Sussex. 12 October 2013- 23 April 2014. www.jerwoodgallery.org

Basil Beattie: Promises, Promises. Primarily focusing on Beattie’s new paintings complemented by a series of drawings and mixed media works, few of which have been on public display before, this exhibition explores the limits and possibilities of abstract pictorial space. In addition there is a one-room display of painting and lithographs by Philip Guston to mark the centenary of his birth. The Jerwood Gallery, Hastings, East Sussex. 12 October – 8 January 2014 www.jerwoodgallery.org

Sean Scully: Triptychs. One of the most admired painters in the abstract tradition painting monumental works in oil revealing the medium’s capacity for expressive power. This is the first exhibition to explore the artist’s engagement with the triptych format from the last 40 years. Pallant House Gallery, 9 North Pallant, Chichester, West Sussex
2 November- 26 January 2014
www.pallant.org.uk

The Nicholsons and their Circle: The Mill House Collection.
Very influential family within the Modern British art scene during early 20th century. An exhibition of paintings and drawings featuring William Nicholson, Ben and Winifred Nicholson, and friends including Lucian Freud and John Craxton.
Pallant House Gallery, 9 North Pallant, Chichester, West Sussex
12 October 2013-1 February 2014. (see review in Country Life 1 Jan 2014)
www.pallant.org.uk

Art and Life. Ben Nicholson, Winfred Nicholson, Christopher Wood, Alfred Wallis and Willian Staite Murray 1920-1931. A major international exhibition of work from two of the UK’s most important 20th century painters and their collaboration with their friends. 18th October- 12th January 2014 at Leeds Art Gallery. www.leeds.gov.uk (see review in Country Life 1 Jan 2014)

Rountree Tryon Galleries presents ‘Maritime Exhibition’.
Maritime paintings and works of art from 18th century to the present day. From 14th October – 9th November. 7 Bury Street, St James’s, London, SW1Y. Contact number: +44 (0)20 7839 8083

Victoria Crow: A Celebration 40 Years of Painting. Described as one of the most original and thought-provoking painters working today, Victoria Crowe is based in both Scotland and Venice. This collection of works draws together monumental canvases, exquisite pencil studies, intricate watercolours, silkscreens and the artists own sketchbooks. 19th October to 9th November at the Bohun Gallery, 15 Reading Rd, Henley-on- Thames. www.bohungallery.co.uk

Paul Klee. The EY Exhibition- Making Visible. Witty, inventive, magical, his exquisite paintings resist easy classification. He is mentioned in the same breath as Matisse, Picasso and his Bauhaus contemporary Kandinsky. He cuts a radical figure in European modernism. His influence on abstraction can be seen in the works of Rothko, Miró and beyond. And yet, for an artist of such stature, there is still so much to discover about him. Exhibition 16th October- 9th March. www.tate.org.uk
The Vanity of Small Differences – Grayson Perry’s monumental suite of 6 tapestries created last year for the BAFTA award-winning Channel 4 series All in the Best Possible Taste, his exploration of British taste. As part of a national and international tour, they will be on show at: Manchester Art Gallery from 24 Oct to 21 Jan 2014. www.southbankcentre.co.uk.

* Follow Country Life magazine on Twitter