Democratic Floodgates Open for Maryland House Seat

A dark horse and a duplicitous Boris Johnson – the week in art See the most provocative fourth plinth statue yet, and learn how the London mayor plans to fund the garden bridge with public money. Plus traces of Monica in Bill Clinton’s official portrait, and the best of banned 1950s smut – all in yourweekly dispatch Jonathan Jones theguardian.com, Friday 6 March 2015 07.57 EST Jump to comments (…) A detail from Joshua Reynolds’s Mrs Abington as Miss Prue in Love for Love by William Congreve, 1771. Photograph: Richard Caspole/Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection Exhibition of the week Joshua ReynoldsThe 18th-century portrait purveyor and founding president of the Royal Academy was a daring and experimental painter, claims this intriguing show at one of Britain’s most beautiful galleries. • Wallace Collection, London W1U from 12 March until 7 June. Other exhibitions this week Possibilities of the ObjectA survey of modern and contemporary art from Brazil featuring Lygia Clark and many more. • Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh EH1 from 6 March until 25 May. Wellington: Triumphs, Politics and PassionsThe life and times of the victor of Waterloo – whose portraitists included Goya, no less. • National Portrait Gallery, London WCH2 from 12 March until 7 June. Nick WaplingtonPhotographs of the designer Alexander McQueen at work. • Tate Britain, London SW1 from 10 March until 17 May. Callum InnesThe latest works from the Scottish abstract painter. • Frith Street Gallery, London W1F from 13 March until 24 April. Masterpiece of the week  Thomas Gainsborough’s Mrs Siddons (1785). Courtesy of The National Gallery. Thomas Gainsborough – Mrs Siddons (1785)The great actor Sarah Siddons has tremendous authority in this captivating portrait. Gainsborough seems to be in love with her, and his painting is an act of homage. • National Gallery, London WC2N. Image of the week Horseplay … Hans Haacke’s Gift Horse after its unveiling on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square, London. Photograph: Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images What we learned this week That the new fourth plinth statue in Trafalgar Square is a dark horse – and that he’s keeping tabs on FTSE Why Boris Johnson made light of this provocative anti-capitalist artwork Revealed: that London’s mayor has been duplicitous in his handling of London’s garden bridge (which could cost the public £3.5m) Candy floss dreams: how beautiful spring looks in infrared That Google’s new headquarters is an upgradable greenhouse How the brightest light in the universe, the Petawatt laser, was photographed B-movie style The story of the X-rated artists who turned Times Square into smut central And what the best of their banned illustrations from the 50s look like, from Raw Dames to Swish Bottom From Spanky the cockatiel to Linda the pug, enter the weird, wonderful world of missing pet posters That a new official Bill Clinton portrait includes the shadow of Monica Lewinsky And why Clinton deserves way more respect Whether or not the videos of Isis destroying antiquities are staged, Isis are a major threat to art How Damien Hirst set art back by 100 years All about the forgotten masterpieces of African modernism What a cat’s tongue, and a boll weevil’s head, look like in extreme closeup The best-kept secrets in the ‘burbs of New York And finally ... Follow us on Twitter Share your art about the future now Sign up for the Guardian Today Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. Sign up for the daily email