Edward Burra, Grayson Perry and Peter Blake – the week in art

Jonathan Jones's top shows to see this week Edward Burra British art in the early 20th century is nowadays incredibly overhyped, with Moore and Hepworth lauded as if they were Picasso and Matisse, but one artist of that era whose bizarre images always stick in my mind is this seedy surrealistic observer of tough times and strange people. • At Pallant House Gallery , Chichester, from 22 October to 19 February 2012. Power of Making This quirky selection of contemporary craft objects and design innovations makes the interesting argument that digital concept and handmade finish are creating new forms for the 21st century. Anyway I think that's the point. You may be inspired to knit an iPhone cosy. • At V&A , London, until 2 January. Grayson Perry As a curator, Perry is a very good artist. His persona, eloquence, wit, and curiosity make him adept at a unique kind of public art. I just wish he would give up the pots. • At the British Museum , London, until 19 February 2012. Raqib Shaw Sparky and sensual paintings, although nothing too profound. At White Cube, Mason's Yard , London, until 12 November. Peter Blake: An Alphabet Britain's veteran pop artist has always painted words, from badges on Elvis fans in his early works to illustrated books more recently. Here his appetite for language is celebrated in the city that gave birth to Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. • At Walker Art Gallery , Liverpool, until 4 December. Up close: five artworks in detail Carel Fabritius – Self-Portrait (Young Man in a Fur Cap) , 1654 This Dutch 17th-century painter was one of the most gifted of his time, and might be as renowned as Rembrandt and Vermeer were it not for his death in a massive gunpowder explosion that destroyed a large area of Delft. The National Gallery not only has this powerful self-portrait but also a painting of the city's smoking ruins in which he met his tragically early end. • At the National Gallery , London. Salvador Dalí – Autumnal Cannibalism , 1936 The world eats itself. Soft flesh gorges on its own pus. Forks stab like swords and the dead earth looks on at this monster humanity in Dalí's desolate nightmare vision of the 1930s – a time that keeps being mentioned in today's business pages. Leaders, look at this picture from that age and get your act together. • At Tate Liverpool . Alexander Calder – Untitled Mobile , 1937-9 The adventurous abstract art of Calder is like a Miró painting in three dimensions, floating in the air. At a time when Picasso and Dali portrayed the gathering darkness of Europe his bright art was an act of free-spirited defiance. • At Leeds Art Gallery , Leeds. Peter Paul Rubens – The Rainbow Landscape , c1636 This is simply one of the most beautiful and uplifting landscapes ever painted. With his capacious canvases, Rubens gave nature a bigger field to play in than most artists had dared to imagine in earlier landscape art. In turn he looks forward to Constable's big Royal Academy pictures. • At the Wallace Collection , London. Donatello – The Ascension , 1428-30 Here is one of the greatest artists in history at the peak of his powers. The realistic sense of space in Donatello's white relief makes his figures all the more human, but he does not present the neat harmony that according to cliche is supposed to typify Renaisssance art. Instead he gives his heroic forms an intensity and anxiety that makes me think of Goya. • At the V&A , London. What we learned this week Who Adrian Searle is backing to win the Turner prize It's likely Leonardo da Vinci was gay, but his most powerful portraits were of women A bit of background to George Condo's Hayward exhibition – courtesy of the artist himself A portrait of Nell Gwyn not seen publicly in 50 years will front the First Actresses show at the NPG Van Gogh probably did commit suicide – but does it really matter? Image of the week Your Art Weekly Have you seen any of these shows? What have you enjoyed this week? Give your review in the comments below or tweet us your verdict using #artweekly and we'll publish the best ones. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook