The best art in March

The Affordable Art Fair Battersea: The Affordable Art Fair returns to Battersea Park from 7- 10 March 2013. Prices range from £40 to £4,000 and the show brings a fresh and friendly approach to contemporary art, with more than 100 galleries under a single roof. http://affordableartfair.com/battersea/

Barocci: Brilliance and Grace. A celebrated 16th century Italian artist, this exhibition displays a selection of Federico Barocci’s altar pieces, devotional paintings, portraits, preparatory drawings and oil sketches. At the National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London from 27th Feb to 19th May
 
Xu Bing: Landscpe Landscript. Xu Bing is one of China’s most renowned and critically acclaimed artists, and this is the first exhibition dedicated to his landscapes. At the Ashmolean Museum, Beaumont Street, Oxford from 28 Feb to 19 May. www.ashmolean.org

Edith Tudor-Hart: In the Shadow of Tyranny – celebrating the almost-forgotten work of the Austrian born photographer ho helped transform British photography in the 1930s. At the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Queen Street, Edinburgh from 2 Mar to 26 May. www.nationalgalleries.org

Wildlife and Sporting Art – 17 highly regarded names in sporting art showing their latest work at the Jerram Gallery, Half Moon Street, Sherborne, Dorset from 2-20 March. www.jerramgallery.com

A Garden within a Flower – solo show of glass artwork by Adam Aaronson inspired by 17th century Dutch flower paintings. Alongside these, new and exciting large-scale pieces from Aaronson’s seminal ‘Landscape’ series are exhibited. At ZeST Contemporary Glass Gallery, Roxby Place, London SW6 until 30 Mar. 020 7610 3344

Recommended videos for you

Understories/Overstories – new paintings and drawings by Celia de Serra and Tim Craven at the Art Stable, Child Okeford, Nr Blandford, Dorset from 2 Mar to 28 May. www.theartstable.co.uk

Steve Russell: Katonda Wenge – an exhibition of photos and bronze photines that charts six years of exploring East Africa, its life, landscape and people. At Pangolin London, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 until 9 Mar. www.pangolinlondon.com

James Dodds – solo exhibition of exuberant new work, including a selection of new large paintings of boats from the Northern Isles and the East and South coast. At Messums, 8 Cork Street, London W1 until 16 March. www.messums.com

Janine Partington and Katrin Moye – enamels, ceramics, paintings and drawings at Castle Gallery, Inverness from 2-23 March. 01463 729512

At The Foot O’ Yon Excellin’ Brae -Helen Macalister’s elegant, reductive works which explore a specific distilled cultural/political history. Paintings, drawings, prints and glass reflect her poetic use of language in which Gaelic and Scots are part of her subject matter. At Art First, 21 Eastcastle Street, London W1 until 6 Apr. www.artfirst.co.uk

Landmarks: Paul Jones – 3 groups of new paintings that illustrate the ideas and vision the artist has built up over the last 15 years, seeking to explore and reinvent the complexities of coastline, geology and landscape. At Sladers Yard, West Bay, Bridport, Dorset until 21 April. www.sladersyard.co.uk

From the Shadows; the prints of Sydney Lee RA – long overdue reappraisal of the work of one of Britain’s most underrated painter-printmakers. At The Royal Academy of Arts, Tennant Gallery and Council Room, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1 until 26 May. www.royalacademy.org.uk

Masquerade, a group exhibition bringing together a selection of innovative and award-winning international contemporary photographers who push the boundaries of portraiture through a variety of techniques. At the new gallery based in a grade II listed Victorian house within recently restored formal gardens – High House Gallery, Clanfield, Oxfordshire – until 17 March. www.highhousegallery.com

Emily Patrick – recent works including beautiful flower paintings at Gallery 27, Cork Street, London W1 until 15 March. www.emilypatrick.com

Franciszka Themerson – a European artist (1907-1988) tracing her art from her ‘rebirth’ as a painter in London in the mid 1940s until shortly before her death. The Polish artist lived with her husband Stefan, a novelist and poet who also made experimental films and photograms, in Paris and then London. In 1948 they founded what became arguably the most important post-war avant-garde imprint in London, Gaberbocchus Press. Sixteen of her remarkable paintings are on show at 12 Star Gallery, Europe House, Smith Square, London SW1 until 8 March. www.

Yinka Shonibare: Fabric-ation. The UK’s most extensive exhibition to date by the British-Nigerian artist, featuring over 30 works, including sculpture, film, photography and painting, including flying machines, aliens, toy paintings, food fairies, spacemen and ballerinas. At the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Near Wakefield, West Yorks from 2 Mar to 1 Sep. www.ysp.co.uk

The Anglo-Saxons in the North – highlighting the Bowes Museum’s Anglo-Saxon archaeology collections in celebration of the Lindisfarne Gospels’ return to the region. At The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, Durham from 2 Mar to 31 Dec. www.thebowesmuseum.org.uk

Tim Walker: Dreamscapes – the leading fashion photographer (see Vogue etc) is widely acclaimed for his surreal and extravagant settings. The images for this exhibition, which marries fashion with the romanticism of an English country house, were taken in the grounds of Eglingham Hall, Northumberland, whose faded grandeur appeals to Walker. The photos are illuminated with the use of light boxes, marking a new departure for him. At The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, Durham from 2 Mar to 31 Dec.www.thebowesmuseum.org.uk.

* Subscribe to Country Life and save

CLOSING SOON

Simon Carter: The Shapes of Light. Over fifty canvases and works on paper make up The Shapes of Light, an exhibition of new and recent work by Simon Carter. Inspired by the coastline of his native Essex, Carter’s work represents a fresh and innovative chapter in the tradition of East Anglian figurative painting, with which Messum’s has become practically synonymous. At Messum’s, 8 Cork Street, London W1S from 6 Feb – 2 March 2013. www.messums.com

Houston’s Italy – paintings reflecting the variety of landscape in Italy, from the architectural splendour of cities such as Rome and Florence to the historical sites of Sicily and holiday spots such as the breathtaking Amalfi Coast. At Portland Gallery, 8 Bennet Street, London SW1 until 1 Mar. www.portland gallery.com

Beneath the Surface. Three female Abstract artists will delving beneath the surface to reveal, through imagery, emotions and visual metaphors, the structures of the world they inhabit. Featuring Rhonda Whitehead, Sneh Mehta, and Alison Bickmore. At Highgate Contemporary Art, 26 Highgate High Street, London N6 from 6 Feb – 3 March 2013. www.highgateart.com

Richard Cartwright: Where the Lovers Used to Meet. Richard Cartwright left Goldsmith’s College School of Art, dissatisfied ‘with the Twentieth Century obsession with art as a mere self-expression’ and set out alone aspiring to an art that is spiritual, transcendent and mysterious. Believing that a picture requires a melody of colour, light and form, each piece in this exhibition is characterised by an intense feeling of colour and atmosphere radiating from the careful layering of the medium. At the John Martin Gallery, 38 Albemarle Street, London W1S from 8 Feb – 2 March 2013. www.jmlondon.com

Warli Paintings – paintings created by members of the Warli Tribe, from the Thane District about 90 miles south of Mumbai, India. They are an indigenous tribe or Adivasis who are guided by their own traditions and beliefs and their art is inspired by their daily life, which includes hunting, fishing and gathering. Rhythm and two colours – red ochre and white – are the main components of their art. At Grosvenor Gallery, 21 Ryder Street, London SW1 until 1 Mar. www.grosveorgallery.com

Peter Blake: A Celebration. The ‘Godfather of British Pop Art’, Peter Blake, will be rounding up a year of celebrations for his eightieth birthday with a show at the Bohun Gallery. Blake will be exhibiting a variety of images, including Vintage Blake: Peter Blake’s 80th Family, Friends and Icons, which was recently unveiled to great acclaim in the national media. The composition was created especially for the celebrations around Blake’s birthday, and features a crowd collage highlighting figures from the artist’s career and personal life, including David Hockney, Eric Clapton, David Bowie, Ian Drury, Damien Hirst and many more. At the Bohun Gallery, 15 Reading Road, Henley-on-Thames from 5 Feb – 2 March 2013. bohungallery.co.uk

Ross Ryan: In Transit. Ryan’s first exhibition with the Scottish Gallery focuses on his travels to the Galapagos Islands and Germany. Accompanied by diary entries, In Transit offers an insight into an artist who thrives on chance, fleeting moments and often an element of danger. At the Scottish Gallery, 16 Dundas Street, Edinburgh from 4 Feb – 2 March 2013. www.scottish-gallery.co.uk

Risen! : Art of the Crucifixion and Eastertide
. An exhibition of works from the Methodist Church Collection of Modern Christian Art complemented by the work of contemporary artists. At Piano Nobile, 129 Portland Road, London W11 from 7 Feb to 2 March 2013. 01873 860529

Wendy Ramshaw: The Inventor
. Wendy Ramshaw is an international champion of modern jewelry, textiles, screens, gateways and sculpture. The Inventor pays tribute to Ramshaw, the return of her exhibition Room of Dreams to Edinburgh, and the Scottish Gallery’s longstanding relationship with her. There will be examples from her major exhibitions, including new work, archive material, photographs and sketch books. At the Scottish Gallery, 16 Dundas Street, Edinburgh from 4 Feb – 2 March 2013. www.scottish-gallery.co.uk

In the Blood – the making of Winston Churchill: a transatlantic tale of two families exploring Churchill’s Anglo American ancestry and how the two branches of his family – the Jeromes of New York and the Marlboroughs of Blenheim – shaped his unique character and extraordinary life. At Chartwell, Westerham, Kent until end Feb 2013. www.nationaltrust.org.uk/chartwell

Echoes of a Vanished World, A Lifetime in Pictures, by Robin Hanbury- Tenison. Hanbury-Tenison photographed extensively and collected objects from his travels during the 50s, 60s and 70s. These objects and images now make up this exhibition, capturing the homelands of indigenous peoples as they were eroded by the modern world. At Olivier Exhibition Space, National Theatre, South Bank, London SE1 14 Jan to 10 March. www.nationaltheatre.org.uk

Adam Birtwistle: Paintings. Birtwistle is known for his deeply revealing portraits; diminishing grandeur and deflating the ego of anyone who sits for him. Birtwistle says, “There are many ways of revealing the real person, I set out to make them feel uncomfortable by ordering them around. Then I confuse them. I tell them it’s all going to be very easy, then I make them sit down, then tell them not to move and hold their heads in a fixed position for a very long time. I ask them, what’s the worst thing that you’ve ever done? Quite soon they’re looking shaky, just as I want them”. At Kings Place Gallery, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 from 11 Jan to 3 March. www.kingsplacegallery.co.uk

Valentino: Master of Couture – celebrating the life and work of Valentino with over 130 exquisite haute couture designs worn by icons such as Jackie Kennedy Onassis, Grace Kelly, Sophia Loren and Gyneth Paltrow. At Somerset House, Embankment Galleries, South Wing, The Strand, London WC2 from 29 Nov to 3 Mar. www.somersethouse.org.uk

Unexpected Pleasures: The Art and Design of Contemporary Jewellery, at Design Museum, 28 Shad Thames, London SE1. Until 3 March. www.designmuseum.org  

Silvia Hatzl: A Fragile Existence – inaugural UK solo exhibition by the German artist showcasing her sculptural clothing, busts and heads, which explore the illusion of clothing as a concealment of human nakedness. Her sculptures are created from varying natural materials including linen, silk, cotton and paper. At Rosenfeld Porcini Gallery, 37 Rathbone Street, London W1 from 18 Jan to 7 Mar. www.rosenfeldporcini.com

Albert Heim: Württembergers on The Somme. Sixty two ink and watercolour paintings commissioned by Lieutenant General Theodor von Wundt recording the General’s life, mostly before the British offensive of July 1st 1916. Although a personal commission, these may have been painted with publication in mind. At Abbott and Holder Ltd, 30 Museum Street, London WC1A from 26th January and hanging throughout February 2013. www.abbottandholder-thelist.co.uk

Memory & Imagination: Dutch Italianate and Contemporary Landscapes– a selection of some of the finest 17th century Dutch Italianate landscapes, recalling the Dutch fascination with the luminosity of the Italian countryside; “the warm colours, tonal variations and classical features”. The works (executed between 1640 and 1670) will hang alongside some contemporary landscapes in oil paint, photography and video to explore the relationship of this extraordinary genre and how it has affected modern landscape art. At Mall Galleries, London SW1 from 23 Jan to 1 Mar. www.mallgalleries.org.uk

Alejandro Ospina: Megalopolis– Colombian artist Ospina’s second solo exhibition at IMT displaying his new collection of painting. The collection looks at how the Internet and modern technology has affected the ways in which we relate to images and Ospina explores the issues that surround contemporary image production. At IMT Gallery, Cambridge Heath Road, London E2 from 25 Jan to 3 Mar. www.imagemusictext.com/exhibitions

Frances Macdonald – Passing Islands
– paintings by an artist who is described as a ‘worthy heir’ to the tradition of Peploe and Cadell’s paintings of the west Highlands and islands. At The Scottish Gallery, 16 Dundas Street, Edinburgh EH3 from 4 Feb to 2 Mar. www.scottish-gallery.co.uk

Paula Rego: The Dame with the Goat’s Foot – new series of works by the Portuguese artist at Marlborough Gallery, London until Mar 1. www.marlboroughfineart.com

David Breuer-Weil: Project 4. Some 70 canvases alongside a number of sculptures, fusing the themes of place, time and cause that have dominated Breuer-Weil’s work since the mid-1990s.  A focal point of this new body of work is a heightened and politically topical interest in ideas of homeland, territory and belonging explored through an extended repertoire of familiar images such as fire and water, boxes, scrolls, books and feet, with a new and expansive consideration of cosmology’s prophetic and pseudo-scientific structures.  At The Vaults, Arch 233, Leake Street, London SE1 until 1 Mar; www.davidbreuerweil.com

Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize Exhibition 2013 – works by 72 artists chosen from over 1,000 entries by Ken Howard, Andrew Lambirth, Nina Murdoch, Antony Williams and Andrew Wilton, displayed at the Mall Galleries, The Mall, London SW1 from 18 Feb to 2 Mar. www.LynnPainterStainersPrize.org.uk

The Wapping Group of Artists: London and its River – 100 works on show at the Mall Galleries, The Mall, London SW1 from 24 Feb to 2 Mar. www.mallgalleries.org.uk

Art at Blackmore; an exhibition of paintings, sculpture, ceramics, jewellery, photography, prints and more at Blackmore Farm, Blackmore Lane, Cannington, Nr Bridgwater, Somerset until 3 March. www.gallery4art.co.uk.

* Follow Country Life magazine on Twitter