The four Pastrana Tapestries are on view together for the first time in the United States at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, through January 8, 2012. Because of their outstanding quality and historical significance, the Spanish government listed them as cultural patrimony to be safeguarded during the Spanish Civil War.

As part of its Invited Work programme, the Prado (Madrid, Spain) presents Acrobat on a Ball, one of the most important works from Picasso's Rose Period. It will be on display at the Prado for three months and represents the first occasion in forty years on which the painting has left the Pushkin Museum as well as its first presentation in Spain.

De Kooning: A Retrospective is the first major MoMA's exhibition (New York, USA) devoted to the full scope of the career of Willem de Kooning. The exhibition, which brings together more than 200 workds, presents opportunity to study the artist’s development over nearly seven decades.

The Royal Academy of Arts presents an exhibition focusing on Edgar Degas's preoccupation with movement as an artist of the dance. Degas and the Ballet: Picturing Movement traces the development of the artist's ballet imagery throughout his career.

The Hermitage Amsterdam (the Netherlands) presents, until 16 March 2012, a stunning selection from the Flemish art collection of the Hermitage in St. Petersburg. With 75 paintings and about 20 drawings, this  survey includes numerous masterpieces by the three giants of the Antwerp School - Peter Paul Rubens, Anthony van Dyck, and Jacob Jordaens- accompanied by the work of well-known contemporaries.