The Royal Academy’s Treasures from Budapest: European Masterpieces from Leonardo to Schiele opens on Saturday and I went along for a sneak preview.

The stunning exhibition is composed of work from one of the finest art collections in Central Europe, The Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest, along with loans from the Hungarian National Gallery. Many of the pieces were collected by the Esterházy family, who’s various generations developed the collected works.

The tremendous breath of work includes religious painting, mythological work, landscapes and contemporary masterpieces. Among the 200 works are paintings by Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Claude Monet, Egon Schiele, Rembrandt and Pablo Picasso, covering treasures from the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries.

Standing in front of a wall which sees Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s Bridge at Argenteuil, and Monet’s Three Fishing Boats next to Hungarian artist Mihály Munkácsy’s Dusty Road II, curator Professor David Ekserdijan said:

“The relationships between artists most of us are very familiar with, such as Monet, Renoir, [Eduoard] Manet and [Camille] Pissarro, and the Hungarian artists will prove very fascinating for everybody.”

This statement sums the exhibition up to a tee. It’s a captivating mix of work by the Old Masters, latter-day European greats, and Hungarian artists who have incorporated the styles of these artists into their own work. For example, you only need to glance at Munkácsy’s Dusty Road II to see the J.M.W. Turner influences.

Highlights of the exhibition include the striking Peter Paul Rubens’ Mucius Scaevola before Lars Porsena, Schiele’s erotic Two Women Embracing, and detailed chalk sketches by Leonardo da Vinci. Arguably the greatest work, however, is Raphael’s Esterházy Madonna, a stunning example of Renaissance painting at its finest.

Treasures from Budapest: European Masterpieces from Leonardo to Schiele opens on Saturday until 12 Dec.

This morning I made the short hop across London to attend the National Portrait Gallery’s preview of pioneering photographer Camille Silvy’s work.

Silvy was one of the early founders of 19th century photography across a number of disciplines. The French artist’s work in photo manipulation also helped to set the standard for modern-day artists.

I was immediately impressed by the depth of the exhibition, which is the first ever retrospective exhibition of the photographer’s work.

The display includes Silvy’s stunning work in rural scenes, fashion portraits and snapshots of everyday Victorian life, but also artefacts such as the dress Alice Silvy wore in one of his portraits.

Arguably the most striking example of Silvy’s work is the tranquil river landscape entitled River Scene.  In this picture, Silvy used different negatives to capture the view, one for the sky and one for the landscape.

The Studies on Light series of three photos including Sun, Twilight and Fog, are also noteworthy. In Twilight – the most alluring – a man is buying his newspaper from a young boy in a deserted street, while a blurred object lurks in the dimming light, creating a mystical aura.

Blurring, the use of multiple negatives, and the burning-in method used in River Scene are just a few examples of Silvy’s pioneering techniques.

Make sure you don’t miss Silvy’s Daybooks, already part of the National Portrait Gallery’s collection. These include fantastic examples of early fashion photography beginning in 1867 with Miss Valpy.

Camille Silvy at the National Portrait Gallery opens tomorrow until 24 October.

Fiona Banner was charged with the enviable task of creating this year’s Duveens Commission at London’s Tate Britain – and she doesn’t disappoint.

During a sneak preview yesterday, I was completely blown-away as two full-scale decommissioned fighter jets filled the space in front of me.

As you enter the Tate, you cannot escape the incredible sight of a Sea Harrier jet suspended from the ceiling. The nose is positioned inches from the floor, with the wings filling the upper spaces of the gallery. Banner has painted feathers on the wings to mimic the plane’s name, and it looks like a bird strung-up by its feet, ready to be plucked.

In the North Duveens gallery a Sepecat Jaguar plane lays almost helplessly on its back, gleaming with a mirror-like finish.

Banner said: “This work is about how you react rather than a big black and white statement. For instance, that the Jaguar is polished is incredibly important because you see yourself reflected in it. You can’t detach yourself from the object. Though in some ways it’s a radical object, it’s also always a fragmented object because it’s constantly being animated by the space and whoever’s looking at it.”

Banner admits to being “seduced” by fighter planes and she has often studied these objects in her work – from drawings to Airfix models. She also produced a sculptural piece from the tail fin of a Harrier Jump Jet ten years ago. She said she was fascinated by “how something that was such a monster could be so beautiful”.

See Fiona Banner’s Duveens Commission at the Tate Britain. Until 3 Jan.

There’s a very grand exhibition space in the entrance to Goldsmiths’ Hall in London and their latest show opened today – Hiroshi Suzuki’s Silver Waves.

Japanese silversmith Suzuki takes large silver sheets and beats them into beautiful, sculptural shapes with a hammer. The huge silver vases and bowls gleam in the cabinets. Inspired by nature, the pieces feature repeats of patterns found in the natural world; ripples, waves and curves. Suzuki creates from inspiration and intuition, rather than pre-planning.

Many of the pieces are now in private collections and have been loaned for the exhibition so it’s a unique opportunity to see so many pieces together. They chart Suzuki’s career from the Royal College of Art in 1994 to today. There is also new work which has been created for this exhibition.

Suzuki talked me through some of his earlier pieces, explaining how the shapes evolved as he tested different techniques and saw how far he could push them. His father and grandfather were craftsmen and made traditional baskets which were a similar shape, but his are a more modern version!

Some of my favourite pieces were the bowls with different patterns on the inside and outside. These were created as two separate bowls, one decorated on the outside, one on the inside and joined together at the rim.

The Goldsmiths’ Company are officially responsible for testing the quality of silver and gold, so they know something good when they see it. Hiroshi’s work is so highly regarded that the two talks arranged for this exhibition have already booked up.

The exhibition runs to 6 March and is free, so there’s no excuse not to pop in! www.thegoldsmiths.co.uk

Richard Wright has won this year’s Turner Prize. The winner was announced last night at Tate Britain.

The artist was nominated for his intricate wall paintings, which feature images and patterns from medieval paintings, graphics and typography.

For the Turner Prize 2009 exhibition he has produced a beautiful gold leaf work, which is painted directly onto the gallery wall.

The painting will be destroyed at the end of the show, so make sure you catch it while you can!

Turner Prize 2009 is at Tate Britain until 3 January.

Maharaja: The Opening Night from Victoria and Albert Museum on Vimeo.

Here’s a fab video taken from the opening night of the V&A’s Maharaja exhibition. Don’t worry if you missed the first-night party, you can still check out this fantastic show until the 17 January.

If this video whet’s your appetite, you can always book your tickets online with Visit London.

Have you seen the exhibition already? Let us know what you thought in the comments below.

If you’ve never been before, now’s an excellent time to visit the Victoria Miro gallery. A little off the beaten track, but more than worth the effort, this bright and airy space is one of the largest and most interesting commercial art galleries in London.

Designed specifically for the Victoria Miro, The Walthamstow Tapestry is maverick potter Grayson Perry’s largest work to date. Three metres high by fifteen metres long, the tapestry is shown with a number of new ceramic works – which I think are extraordinary. How anyone can pack so much information, imagery, attitude and beauty into the surface of a gentle ceramic is a total wonder.

The tapestry explores the insane, quasi-religious adoration of consumerism and is vibrant and colourful. Apparently, Grayson was inspired by antique batik fabrics from Malaysia and eastern European folk art. The work is busy with depictions of people doing ordinary things – shopping, ironing, walking the dog etc. and almost every inch of the tapestry is devoted to brands. At Victoria Miro until 7 November 2009.

Grayson Perry will be talking to Will Self about his work and influences at the British Library on 9 November. For booking details, please visit the British Library’s website.

This morning, Visit London was lucky enough to get a sneak preview of the British Museum’s latest blockbuster, Moctezuma: Aztec Ruler.

As curator Colin McEwan explained to a large assembled crowd of press (Charlotte Higgins from the Guardian was there; so was Newsnight Review’s Natalie Haynes) it’s the latest (fourth, and last) show in the British Museum’s ruler series. (You’ll remember the hype over the First Emperor from 2007 and Hadrian from last year.) With Moctezuma, the museum has moved westwards and forwards from Shah ‘Abbas, taking a look at one of the principle protagonists in the history of the Americas.

If, like us, you know little about the history of Mexico from the 1500s, we’re sure you’ll find it a fascinating exhibition. Moctezuma was a contemporary of our own Henry VIII; but you’ll find little in the early stages of this exhibition to suggest any comparison with the English king whose 500th anniversary attracted so much attention earlier this year.

Inside the British Museum’s stunning Reading Room, evoking, Colin McEwan tells us, the basin of New Mexico, are several spaces dedicated to a balanced biography of this famous leader.

Moctezuma was the 9th elected ruler of the Aztec people. The British Museum has decided against using the term Aztec, favouring instead the term Mexica, beautifully pronounced “Mesheeka” by the lovely softly Spanish-accented guy on the audio guide. Part deity, full-on warrior, commissioner of public sculpture and buildings, orator, husband, father (he had 19 kids), Moctezuma’s world steadily comes to light in the early part of the exhibition.

Many of the objects on display - intricately carved stone vessels for putting the hearts of your human sacrifices into, stone skulls to adorn a temple with – appear to be from a much older period. Inside the central room dedicated to warfare (directly below the apex of the Reading Room’s beautiful ceiling) stands a stone pyramid that looks more like something from Roman times than just last century.

The masks that dominate the Moctezuma publicity materials are also on show, in a space covering details of the many Mexica gods. Yes, you might’ve been thinking that the blue-faced, big-toothed guy on the posters was Mr Moctezuma himself: in fact, it’s the mosaic mask of the god Tezcatlipoca.

Our favourite pieces include a gorgeous deep terracotta coloured Pulque jug laced with swirling linear designs, said to evoke liquid; to us, it looks more like an extremely modernist doodle. We liked the details about Moctezuma’s diva-ish eating habits: he ate alone, behind a screen, served on new plates that were smashed once he was done. And we loved the bright turquoise double-headed serpent, especially the idea that it was probably worn as a necklace.

Then suddenly, we round another corner of the exhibition and are plunged into 16th century Europe; more specifically Spain. It’s like stepping out of the British Museum and into the Thyssen Bornemisza. And so the tragedy of Moctezuma unfolds. When he saw the Spanish strangers arriving on the Gulf Coast in 1519, he offered them presents and hosted them in his palace… Moctezuma died soon after. Whether he was killed by the Spanish, or stoned to death by his own people ashamed of his “surrender” remains unclear.

The British Museum’s new exhibition allows you to make up your own mind.

Anish Kapoor‘s long-awaited exhibition opens on Saturday at London’s Royal Academy of Arts.

This is the first time the Royal Academy’s Main Galleries have been taken over by a living artist, and Kapoor has made good use of the space.

On arrival you’ll see the impressive Tall Tree and the Eye sculpture in the Royal Academy’s courtyard, a 15-metre high tower of shiny stainless steel balls.

Head inside to see one of the show’s most talked-about exhibits: Svayambh, a massive block of red wax that travels slowly through the galleries on train tracks, depositing wax all over the white walls and doorways.

More red wax is involved in Shooting in the Corner (see below), a giant cannon which goes off every 20 minutes, shooting wax against the wall. Be prepared for a loud bang!

There are many more beautiful pieces in the show: sculptures resembling colourful stacks of pigment, smooth shaped mirrors, and mounds of clay.

There’s so much to see in the exhibition that it’s well worth the £12 ticket price.

Anish Kapoor is at the Royal Academy of Arts from 26 September to 11 December.

Watch Anish Kapoor’s Shooting into the Corner live from the Royal Academy: