Art weekly: Kate Middleton's first portrait and the View from the Shard

Having trouble viewing this email? Kate Middleton's first portrait and the View from the Shard – the week in art The Duchess of Cambridge gets her first official portrait and Renzo Piano's colossus opens its doors, plus the face of Easter Island and the future of toys – all in your art dispatch Jonathan Jones guardian.co.uk, Friday 11 January 2013 07.29 EST Jump to comments (…) Still Life of Vases on a Table (1931) by Giorgio Morandi. Photograph: Galleria d'Arte Maggiore GAM, Bologna Exhibition of the week: Giorgio Morandi Long before the rise of minimalism this hypnotic painter excluded action, mess, and the noise of the world from his art. Morandi's still lifes and landscapes concentrate on simple visual facts, which he examines in silent, contemplative calm. His art has many echoes today, from the sculpture of Rachel Whiteread to the ceramics of Edmund de Waal . Here his drawings offer a close insight into the working methods of one of the 20th century's true masters. • Estorick Collection, London N1, from 16 January until 7 April Other exhibitions this week Nadav Kander Powerful contemporary nudes by prize-winning photographer. • Flowers Gallery, London W1S, from 11 January until 9 February Gerald Byrne This Irish artist's explorations of modern history and memory should make for a fascinating show. • Whitechapel Gallery, London E1, from 17 January until 8 March Aid and Abet Artists take over this gallery famous for its beautifully presented collection of modernist sculpture. • Kettles Yard, Cambridge CB3, from 12 January until 24 February Dawn Mellor Quirky portraits of Southend-born star Helen Mirren. • Focal Point Gallery , Southend-on-Sea SS2, from 14 January until 30 March Masterpiece of the week Photograph: Trustees of the British Museum Hoa Hakananai'a, made on Easter Island around 1000 AD This sculpture is such an unmissable sight in the main public thoroughfare of the British Museum it's easy to take for granted. Very few such colossal carvings have ever left Easter Island itself. This one was brought to Britain by a Royal Navy ship in 1868. The power of the figure lies in its being both a person and a stone. European sculpture has often sought to overcome its materials – to shape stone smoothly and absolutely into a human figure as in the works of Canova . But this carving does not deny what it is made of. On the contrary, the artist seems to have found the face in the geological grain. This is a rock with a face. • British Museum, London WC1B Image of the week The colourful tile staircase in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, decorated by Chilean artist Jorge Selaron. Photograph: Felipe Dana/AP What we learned this week What The View from the Shard is actually like And what the first Kate Middleton portrait is like That the artist who spent 20 years creating his Rio mosaic staircase has been found dead – lying on his masterpiece Much more about Oskar Fischinger, the animation pioneer who annoyed the Nazis and Walt Disney What the future of toys looks like: your children's drawings come to life with the help of 3D printers What the five best tube station designs are, as the London Underground reaches 150 And finally ... Share your art with us now Follow us on Twitter Check out our Tumblr You are receiving this email because you are a Art Weekly subscriber. Click here if you do not wish to receive Art Weekly emails from the Guardian News and Media. Click here to find out about other Email Services from the Guardian. Guardian News & Media Limited - a member of Guardian Media Group PLC. Registered Office: Kings Place, 90 York Way, London, N1 9GU. Registered in England No. 908396

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