Autumn has arrived, and London is preparing for a new season of art exhibitions. First up is the highly anticipated arrival of the Bayeux Tapestry for those lucky enough to have already secured tickets. Additional tickets will be released later in the year for slots starting in January 2027. If you’re already yearning for Summer, the Royal Academy is the destination for the Painting the Riviera exhibition. If this ignites your appetite for French painting, be sure to visit the National Gallery for the Renoir and Love exhibit. More nostalgia is on the cards at Tate, where it’s time to re-examine the 90s. See all the Artlyst recommendations below.
Bayeux Tapestry (detail)
Bayeux Tapestry –
British Museum
10 September 2026 – 11 July 2027
For the first time since it was made nearly 1,000 years ago, the Bayeux Tapestry is returning to England.
Following a historic agreement with France, the 70-metre-long tapestry, depicting events leading up to the Battle of Hastings and the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, will be loaned to the British Museum from September 2026 to July 2027.
This monumental embroidery tells the dramatic story of a moment that changed England forever. No year in the country’s history is more famous than 1066. It was the last time England was successfully invaded, and it is the year from which the modern monarchy dates itself. And there is no other object that is as instantly recognisable, as studied in schools and as copied by artists as the Bayeux Tapestry.
One of the wonders of the medieval world, the Tapestry offers a vision of life in 11th-century England both before and after the Conquest, from castles, warfare and ships to clothing, food and furniture.
Tickets from 10 September – 31 December 2026 have sold out.
Bookings for January to July 2027 will open later in the year.
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Amar Kanwar, Such a Morning, 2017. (Film still). Digital video, 4K, colour, sound, 85 min. Courtesy of the artist and Marian Goodman Gallery.
Amar Kanwar
Serpentine North Gallery
23 September 2026 – 31 January 2027
Over three decades, New Delhi-based artist and filmmaker Amar Kanwar has developed a distinctive body of lyrical films and multi-video installations that move between documentary, travelogue and visual essay. This major solo exhibition unfolds as a site-specific installation, bringing together new and existing films to transform Serpentine North into a meditative visual and sonic environment.
Free
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Juergen Teller, Young Pink Kate, London 1998 © Juergen Teller,
The 90s
Tate Britain
1 October 2026 – 14 February 2027
Curated by fashion industry game changer Edward Enninful OBE, whose lived experience of the decade informs the exhibition The 90s: Art and Fashion examines a defining period in which a groundswell of creativity changed the face of British culture.
As Britain began to emerge from recession, a new dawn of optimism, freedom, and rebellion was ushered in, epitomised by a new generation of diverse creative talent. Seen through Edward Enninful’s eyes, this sense of opportunity resulted in art, design, fashion and photography fusing into one potent cultural force, signalling an audacious renewal of British spirit. The exhibition explores how long-held hierarchies were dismantled, with high art and pop culture feeding into one another, and reflects both the energy and the challenges of the decade, looking at the enduring influence of key figures who emerged during this time.
The 90s: Art and Fashion brings together photography, fashion, art and design, including iconic images by photographers including Juergen Teller, David Sims and Corinne Day. These are shown alongside the work of artists like Steve McQueen, Damien Hirst, Sarah Lucas, and Yinka Shonibare, as well as fashion film and music culture, including collections by decade defining designers Vivienne Westwood, Alexander McQueen, and John Galliano.
£22
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Es Devlin photographed by Daniel Devlin / @susakpress
Es Devlin: Other Worlds
Design Museum
2 October 2026 – 4 April 2027
Enter the imaginative world of British artist and designer Es Devlin in the first retrospective in Europe celebrating her 30-year creative practice across sculpture, stage design, music, language and light.
£21
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Sun, Moon and Five Peaks’ six-panel folding screen
Korea
British Museum
1 October 2026 – 31 January 2027
Discover 2,000 years of Korean creativity – through works spanning from around 300 BC to the present day.
Featuring outstanding examples of sculpture, painting and decorative arts over two millennia – up to the present day – the exhibition presents the most comprehensive chronological survey of Korean visual and material culture seen in Europe for over 40 years.
£14
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Raoul Dufy – Golfe Juan (detail), 1927, Oil on canvas. McNay Art Museum, San Antonio
Painting the French RivieraÂ
Royal Academy of Arts
2 October 2026 – 31 January 2027
The radiance of the French Riviera left an indelible mark on artists. It roused the imaginations not only of the 19th- and 20th-century’s greatest painters – among them Picasso, Matisse, Cézanne, Renoir and Klein – but also giants of literature, cinema and fashion, whose works helped define the carefree glamour and eternal romance of the Côte d’Azur.
From the 1870s, the azure seas and sapphire skies of the French Riviera beckoned artists, writers, intellectuals and aristocrats seeking an escape from their drab, crowded industrial cities. What they discovered was the landscape of their dreams – one that propelled the Impressionists, Post-Impressionists and Modernists to new creative heights.
This exhibition looks at how the French Riviera supported the rise of modern art – and later became a travel destination and film location that epitomised midcentury sophistication.
The story will come alive through more than 160 works, including paintings, sculpture, travel posters and film, from the 1870s to the 1960s.
£24-26
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Detail from Pierre-Auguste Renoir, ‘The Umbrellas’, about 1881-6
Renoir and Love
The National Gallery
3 October 2026 – 31 January 2027
Discover Renoir’s gift for showing love, friendship, and everyday emotion in this Impressionist exhibition. See couples waltzing in the summer air and lovers stealing a glance, families sharing a quiet moment and friends raising a glass, all through the eyes of an artist unmatched in capturing the complexities of how people connect.
Experience Renoir at his peak in the 1860s to 1880s, experimenting with style and theme to become an innovator of Impressionism.
Walk with him through Montmartre in his iconic painting ‘Bal au Moulin de la Galette’ (1876) from the Musée d’Orsay, Paris, on display in the UK for the first time. Explore the sun-dappled gardens and swirling dance halls of Paris through 40 paintings, brought together from collections across the world.
Linked through friendship and love, enjoy the tenderness and joy of some of Renoir’s most modern, uplifting and admired paintings.
£20-25
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Salman Toor, Bar Boy 2019
Salmon Toor: Someone Like You
The Courtauld Gallery
2 October 2026 – 10 January 2027
The first solo exhibition in Europe of the celebrated New York-based painter Salman Toor. The exhibition focuses on Salman Toor’s exploration of human interactions and the desire and struggle to experience a sense of belonging, both culturally and emotionally. The exhibition will bring together 19 of the artist’s most iconic, thought-provoking and at times humorous paintings, never-before-seen in Britain, that represent people in shared moments of friendship and love, as well as experiencing solitude and alienation.
£18
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Ian McKellen, Love London 2023 ©Tim Walker
Tim Walker’s Fairyland: Love and Legends –
National Portrait Gallery
8 October 2026 – 31 January 2027
Tim Walker’s Fairyland is an exploration of queer identity, community, and love through the lens of one of Britain’s foremost photographers.
Walker rose to prominence in the 1990s with his unique style of whimsical photography inspired by fairytales and adventures. He has photographed famous faces including Chappell Roan, Lady Gaga, Hunter Schafer, Miriam Margolyes and Frank Ocean, with his work featured in international magazines including Vogue, Vanity Fair, W, LOVE, Another Man and i-D.
In preparation for this exhibition, he has spent the past five years photographing dozens of activists, performers, artists, and writers in his inimitable style. These new pictures are the result of Walker’s quest to connect with queer trailblazers in Britain and beyond.
This exhibition will take visitors on a journey into Walker’s inner world – a vivid tapestry woven from his many inspirations and influences. Exuberant portraits and fantastical landscapes combine to create an unforgettable celebration. Walker’s creativity runs free, and his Fairyland is a place where everyone has the freedom to be themselves.
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Luo Bonian, Drawing Water from a Well 1932, Tate purchased with funds provided by the Photography Acquisitions Committee 2026
Light and Magic: The Birth of Art Photography
Tate Modern
14 October 2026 – 21 February 2027
Light and Magic is the first major exhibition to explore pictorialism as a global movement. Discover how artists became pioneers of the darkroom, transforming our understanding of photography and image making.
Bringing together over 200 rare prints by over 80 artists from Seoul to Sydney, New York to Cape Town and Brazil to Singapore, this truly international exhibition takes a fresh and inclusive look at the history of photography.
Featuring never-before seen works from around the world alongside pieces from Tate’s Collection, Light and Magic highlights the vast and varied artistic possibilities of photography as a medium.
£20
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