Artlyst has put together a guide to exhibitions to visit in London during April and the Easter holiday period. Some are newly opened, some are in mid-swing, some are about to close and one is a brand new museum – V&A East Museum. This is your last opportunity to see Theatre Picasso at Tate Modern and Turner & Constable at Tate Britain, which both close on 12 April.
Exhibitions Opening
Veronica Ryan, Whitechapel Gallery
Veronica Ryan: Multiple Conversations 1 April – 14 June 2026 Whitechapel Gallery
Veronica Ryan: Multiple Conversations is a major exhibition dedicated to the award-winning British artist Veronica Ryan (b.1956, Plymouth, Montserrat). Encompassing more than 100 works, the exhibition draws on every aspect of her practice, revealing her multifaceted work across sculpture, textiles and works on paper. Significantly, it includes recently rediscovered works from the 1980s – large-scale sculptures made from plaster and beaten lead, as well as vivid drawings – which reveal enduring artistic interests across her career.
£16.50 / £18.15 (with 10% donation*)
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Queen Elizabeth II wearing a crinoline-skirted blue gown and matching bolero jacket for her sister Princess Margaret’s wedding in 1960. © Cecil Beaton / Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life in Style, The King’s Gallery, 10 April – 18 October 2026
Discover the remarkable style of Britain’s longest-reigning monarch through clothing worn in all ten decades of her life – from birth to adulthood, from princess to queen, and from off-duty style to dressing for the global stage for momentous occasions in Britain’s history.
Featuring approximately 200 items, many on display for the first time, this is the largest and most comprehensive exhibition of the late Queen’s fashion ever mounted.
Alongside clothing, jewellery, hats, shoes and accessories, explore never-before-seen design sketches, fabric samples and handwritten correspondence that reveal the behind-the-scenes process of dressing the most famous woman in the world and shed new light on the late Queen’s close involvement in the creation of her wardrobe.
Highlights include her bridesmaid dress, wedding dress, Coronation dress and the ensemble worn for the wedding of Princess Margaret.
£22
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V&A East Museum © Niall Hodson
Opening of V&A East 18 April First exhibition: The Music is Black: A British Story
V&A East Museum opens in April 2026 on East Bank in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Co-created with young people, creatives, and those living, working and studying in east London, V&A East Museum includes galleries exhibitions, creative commissions and events spotlighting the people, ideas and creativity shaping global culture right now. V&A East Museum’s first landmark exhibition, The Music is Black: A British Storyreveals how Black British music has shaped British culture – and its global impact – to tell a long-overdue story of Black excellence, struggle, resilience, and joy. Celebrating 125 years of Black music in Britain from Jazz to Reggae, 2 Tone, Drum & Bass, Trip Hop, UK Garage, Grime and beyond, it unveils hidden stories behind early 20th Century pioneers, international music makers and today’s groundbreaking artists from Sampha to Little Simz, Jorja Smith, Ezra Collective and more. To coincide, V&A East will launch a major partnership with BBC Music and collaborate on The Music is Black Festival with East Bank partners on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
The museum is free to visit. The exhibition has an admission fee: Weekday £22.50 / Weekend £24.50
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Exhibitions Closing Soon
Theatre Picasso, Tate Modern
Theatre Picasso, Tate Modern closes 12 April 2026
Experience Picasso’s works in a new way with an exhibition staged by contemporary artists.
Pablo Picasso was fascinated by performers and their ability to transform. He was inspired by the dancers, entertainers and bullfighters he painted. He borrowed from them to create his own public persona: Picasso, the Artist.
£15
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Read Clare Finn’s Review Here
Turner & Constable: Rivals and Originals, Tate Britain
Turner & Constable: Rivals and Originals, Tate Britain closes 12 April 2026
Tate Britain presents the first major exhibition to explore the intertwined lives and legacies of Britain’s most revered landscape artists: JMW Turner (1775–1851) and John Constable (1776–1837).
£24
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Read John K Grande’s Review Here
Caravaggio’s Cupid, Wallace Collection
Caravaggio’s Cupid – Wallace Collection Closes 12 April
Victorious Cupid, on special loan from the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin and never-before-seen in public in the UK, is the centrepiece of this exhibition. It is presented with two ancient Roman sculptures that, more than four hundred years ago, belonged to the same distinguished collection.
Free
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Rose Wylie – Pink Skater (Will I Win, Will I Win) (detail), 2015
Courtesy private collection and JARILAGER Gallery. Photograph courtesy Jari Lager. Photo: Soon-Hak Kwon. © Rose Wylie
Rose Wylie Royal Academy of Arts Main Galleries 28 February – 19 April 2026
This exhibition brings together Rose Wylie’s most iconic artworks with brand-new and previously unseen paintings, in the biggest exhibition of the artist’s work to date.
Tickets: £21-23
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Read Sue Hubbard’s Review Here
The Weight of Being,Two Temple Place
Weight of Being: Vulnerability, Resilience, and Mental Health in Art – Two Temple Place Until 19 April
Curated by Angela Thomas, this new exhibition will explore artistic expression and mental health. Through depictions of deeply personal and collective experiences, it examines the powerful ways in which artists capture vulnerability, resilience, and their search for solace.
Free
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The Long Now, Saatchi Gallery
The Long Now – Saatchi Gallery at 40 Closes 26 April
Celebrating four decades of ground-breaking contemporary art, The Long Now is an expansive group show presenting new works by iconic artists closely associated with the Gallery’s dynamic history, alongside fresh voices from a new generation.
£20
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Read Nico Kos Earle’s Feature Here
Exhibitions Not to Miss
Tracey Emin My Bed 1998 © Tracey Emin. Photo credit: Courtesy The Saatchi Gallery, London / Photograph by Prudence Cuming Associates Ltd
Tracey Emin: A Second Life – Tate Modern Until 31 August
This landmark exhibition traces 40 years of Tracey Emin’s groundbreaking practice, showcasing career-defining sensations alongside works never exhibited before. Through painting, video, textiles, neons, writing, sculpture, and installation, Emin continues to challenge boundaries, using the female body as a powerful tool to explore passion, pain, and healing.
£20
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Read Sue Hubbard’s Review Here
Nigerian Modernism – Tate Modern Until 10 May
Explore the artists who revolutionised modern art in Nigeria in the mid-20th century.
Set against the backdrop of cultural and artistic rebellion, Nigerian Modernism celebrates the achievements of Nigerian artists working before and after the decade of national independence from British colonial rule in 1960.
£20
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Read Revd Jonathan Evens’s Review Here
Lucian Freud, National Portrait Gallery
Lucian Freud – Drawing into Painting – NPG Until 4 May
Lucian Freud: Drawing into Painting will be the UK’s most comprehensive museum exhibition to focus on the artist’s works on paper, including some works seen on display for the first time.
£23-25 / £25.50-27.50 with donation
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Read John K Grande’s Review Here
Georges Seurat, Seascape at Port-au-Bessin, Normandy 1888, National Gallery of Art Washington DC
Seurat and the Sea – The Courtauld Until 17 May
The Courtauld presents the first ever exhibition dedicated to the seascapes of the French artist Georges Seurat (1859–1891). This major, focused display will be the first devoted to Seurat in the UK in almost 30 years. It will chart the evolution of his radical and distinctive style through the recurring motif of the sea.
£20 advance booking required
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Read Nico Kos Earle’s Review Here
Chiharu Shiota,Hayward Gallery
Chiharu Shiota – The Hayward Gallery until 3 May
Chiharu Shiota is best-known for her large-scale installations which engulf ordinary objects – such as shoes, keys, beds, chairs and dresses – within huge web structures made from woollen thread.
£19
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Read Nico Kos Earle’s Review Here
Beatriz González, Los papagayos (The Parrots) 1987. Collection Pérez Art Museum Miami, gift of Jorge M Pérez. ©Beatriz González photo: Oriol Tarridas
Beatriz Gonzalez – Barbican Art Gallery Until 10 May
The first UK retrospective of the groundbreaking Colombian artist, Beatriz González, whose bold work explores the power and impact of the images we encounter every day.
£19
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Pig Pen, 1993 © Catherine Opie, courtesy Regen Projects, Los Angeles; Lehmann Maupin, New York, Hong Kong, London, and Seoul; Thomas Dane Gallery
Catherine Opie – NPG until 31 May
Catherine Opie: To Be Seen showcases photographic portraits by the American artist Catherine Opie. The exhibition, curated in collaboration with the artist, will be the first major museum exhibition of her work in the UK.
Opie’s work questions representations of home, intimacy and family, politics, identity and power structures.
£19.50 / £21.50 with donation
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Read Miranda Carroll’s Review Here
David Hockney “A Year in Normandie” 2020-2021 (detail) Composite iPad painting © David Hockney
David Hockney: A Year in Normandie and Some Other Thoughts about Painting – Serpentine North until 23 August
One of the most influential artists of our time, David Hockney invites viewers to slow down and notice the extraordinary within the everyday in his first exhibition at Serpentine. Created specifically for this presentation, Hockney’s new paintings extend his lifelong fascination with the act of looking, affirming his belief that simple beauty is worth celebrating.
Free
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Read John K Grande’s Review Here
Cecily Brown, Serpentine Galleries
Cecily Brown: Picture Making – Serpentine South Until 6 September
Known for her vigorous brushwork, vivid colour and dynamic compositions, Cecily Brown presents paintings inspired by Serpentine’s unique location in Kensington Gardens, a site of personal significance to the artist.
Free
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Hurvin Anderson, Tate Britain
Hurvin Anderson – Tate Britain until 23 August
Hurvin Anderson’s first major solo show brings together more than 80 of his vibrant paintings, spanning the artist’s entire career, from his days as a student to new, never-before-seen paintings.
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Schiaparelli evening dresses, photograph, by Cecil Beaton, commissioned by French Vogue, 1936, France
Schiaperelli – V&A South Kensington Until 8 November
The UK’s first exhibition on Elsa Schiaparelli spans the 1920s to today, celebrating the innovative designer’s influence. It traces the fashion house’s groundbreaking origins and its evolution under current creative director Daniel Roseberry.
Weekday £28.00 / Weekend £30.00
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Wright of Derby: From the Shadows, The National Gallery
Wright of Derby: From The Shadows, The National Gallery Until 10 May
‘Wright of Derby: From the Shadows’ is the first major exhibition dedicated to the British artist’s ‘candlelight’ paintings.
£10
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