A striking bronze figure in lapis lazuli blue strides across Trafalgar Square's Fourth Plinth, vibrant paintings and installations fill galleries across the country, and a disused Spanish roundabout has been transformed into a public pool. Here is this week's art dispatch.
Exhibition of the week
Tschabalala Self's monumental sculpture commands the Fourth Plinth in the heart of London with confident energy and visual delight. The work was unveiled on 10 September 2026 and depicts a figure in a blue dress and heels, cast in bronze with a distinctive lapis lazuli patina. This is the 16th artwork to occupy the Fourth Plinth since the programme began in 1998, and the sculpture will remain in place for two years. The work radiates optimism and spreads warmth through the capital's most iconic public space.
Also showing
Beryl Cook and Friends, until 25 October. This mile-long outdoor installation opened on 10 September 2026 at Bicester Village as a celebration of the painter's centenary. The project, presented by Studio Voltaire in collaboration with the retail site, features life-size cutout characters and large-scale murals drawn from Cook's paintings, bringing her exuberant vision to a new audience. Some may detect echoes between Cook's joyful energy and the spirited confidence of Self's Fourth Plinth figure.
Peter Howson, until 10 October. Raw, visceral paintings depicting Christ's Passion with unflinching intensity and psychological depth.
Liz Larner, until 17 January. Sculptures that explore mythology, transformation and humanity's relationship with a fragile natural world.
Monika Sosnowska, until 22 November. Abstract sculptures and installations that grapple with the weight of Polish historical experience and collective memory.
Image of the week
The 2026 European Prize for Urban Public Space focuses on architectural projects that reclaim infrastructure originally built for motor vehicles. Among the five finalists is Round About Baths, an imaginative urban intervention in which Swiss architect Leopold Banchini has converted a disused roundabout in Logroño, northern Spain, into a public swimming pool and climate shelter. The project repurposes a defunct traffic roundabout and fountain, transforming it into a community amenity that serves both recreational and environmental purposes. The scheme exemplifies how cities can reimagine neglected spaces as gathering places that benefit residents and respond to contemporary climate challenges.
Masterpiece of the week
Saint Paul and a Donatrix by followers of Gerard David, 1515
In the late medieval and Renaissance periods, commissioning an altarpiece for a chapel in one's local church represented one of the most significant ways a wealthy person could deploy their resources. And if you were funding the work, why not ensure your own image appeared in the composition, securing a place in the prayers of all who passed before it? This panel forms one wing of a folding multi-panel wooden painting. The woman depicted remains unnamed in historical records, but she was one member of a prosperous couple who almost certainly lived in Bruges. We encounter her kneeling in devotion, with Saint Paul himself positioned directly behind her. For those who first saw this painting, she may have been a familiar figure encountered regularly in the street or at the market, yet here she inhabits a sacred, otherworldly dimension that exists just beyond the threshold of ordinary perception. Paul extends a reassuring hand to her back—a tangible connection between the donatrix, or donor, and the realm of the divine.
Donor portraits emerge from a cultural world fundamentally distant from contemporary sensibilities, yet profoundly human in its aspirations. This woman's assured depiction as someone who communes with the saints in heaven carries an element of self-regard and perhaps naivety, yet it represents a poignant effort to bridge the gap between daily life and transcendent experience. The painting captures a moment of spiritual intimacy that speaks across five centuries.
What happens next
The Beryl Cook and Friends installation continues at Bicester Village through 25 October 2026. Tschabalala Self's sculpture will occupy the Fourth Plinth for two years, after which Andra Ursuța's 2028 commission is scheduled to follow. Round About Baths remains in contention for the 2026 European Prize for Urban Public Space, with the winner to be announced in the coming months.
