Hockney passes through Bayeux, Brideshead is revisited, Stubbs leads the field – The Week in Art | Art and design

Exhibition of the week

Stubbs: Picture of a Horse
George Stubbs’ sentimental and mesmerizing Whistlejacket is truly one of the best-loved paintings in the National Gallery. This exhibition takes a closer look at what makes his paintings of horses so memorable.
National Gallery, London, from 12 March to 31 May

also appear

David Hockney
Images from his time in Normandy, reflected in the Bayeux Tapestry and more.
Serpentine North Gallery, London, from 12 March to 23 August

Sir John Vanbrugh
A look at the stunning imagination of the architect of Brideshead, sorry, Castle Howard.
Sir John Soane’s Museum, London, until 28 June

German Stock Exchange Photography prize
What makes an image strong, and are standards changing in the age of artificial intelligence? See this year’s shortlisted artists, including Rene Matich who recently missed out on the Turner Prize.
Photographers’ Gallery, London, until 7 June

Sarah Morris: Snow leopards and skyscrapers
Abstract art that comes more from the brain than the heart, Morris marks three decades in this exhibition.
White Cube Mason Yard, London, from 11 March to 9 May

Picture of the week

American photographer Katherine Opie, best known for her drawing of a family’s baby engraved on her back, has dedicated her life to queer America, from endurance swimmers to drag artists to her tutu-wearing son. As a major retrospective opened in the UK, she told The Guardian why she “dies the day gays have to come out”. Read the full article

What we learned

Drawings of wild demimondines by 19th-century painter Félicien Ropes still shock

Gordon Parks used his camera as a “weapon” to fight for civil rights in the United States

Disabled creators channeled their frustrations into a very angry show

Our critic says Ramesses II was like the Donald Trump of ancient Egypt

The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam has unveiled a newly documented Rembrandt painting

Beyond that theft, the Louvre is facing strikes, a billion-euro renovation, and water leaks

The Adelaide Biennial showcases Australian art that addresses politics and politics

Hungarian avant-garde Dora Maurer has died at the age of 88

Masterpiece of the week

Trojan Horse Procession to Troy by Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo, around 1760

To end their epic war with Troy, Virgil says in the Aeneid, the ancient Greeks built a horse out of wood and hid some of their strongest warriors in its hollow body. They left the horse as a gift – but that night, after it had been taken to the walls, Greek warriors showed up to massacre the Trojans. The magic touch in Tiepolo’s painting is that he makes the horse look real: the Greeks made not only an accurate model of a horse, but also one that appears to be alive. How did they create the flowing tail and mane? How did they get such an expression in his face and such a strange sculptural illusion of movement? In fact, this giant horse resembles the giant horse statue that Leonardo da Vinci spent years trying to create in Milan in the 15th century. The crowd pulling him in also looks with their softly drawn bodies as if they came from a Leonardo drawing. This Leonardesque painting turns the Trojan Horse into a fantasy image of a dream come true.
National Gallery, London

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