Curated by Victor Stoichita

Who knows what darkness lurks within the heart of art from the Renaissance through the present day? “The Shadow” knows. This exhibition—curated by Romanian-born German art historian Victor Stoichita (who penned an intriguing book on the topic a decade ago)—brings together some 140 works in two venues and explores shifting representations of shadows. The Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza will offer a survey of paintings ranging from Jan van Eyck and Rembrandt to the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, some of which have been culled from the museum’s collection (with its own shadowy history). The second part of the show, housed in the nearby Fundación Caja Madrid, will include a variety of media and focus on twentieth-century artists, such as Man Ray, André Kertész, Max Ernst, and Andy Warhol. The exhibition promises to illuminate art’s darkest corners.

— Nico Israel