As Autumn approaches, a new season of exhibitions are planned for London’s museums and galleries. Artlyst has put together a month by month selection to guide you through the best of the shows on offer. There is a separate section at the end for Art Fairs. The list will continue to be updated as soon as any new information is received.
September
Mixing It Up: Painting Today
Hayward Gallery
9 Sep – 12 Dec,
An exhibition of 31 artists whose works entrance, transfix and challenge us, Mixing It Up celebrates paintings that bring together diverse images and ideas.
Tasha Amini, Hurvin Anderson, Alvaro Barrington, Lydia Blakeley, Gabriella Boyd, Lisa Brice, Gareth Cadwallader, Caroline Coon, Somaya Critchlow, Peter Doig, Jadé Fadojutimi, Denzil Forrester, Louise Giovanelli, Andrew Pierre Hart, Lubaina Himid, Kudzanai-Violet Hwami, Merlin James, Rachel Jones, Allison Katz, Matthew Krishanu, Graham Little, Oscar Murillo, Mohammed Sami, Samara Scott, Daniel Sinsel, Caragh Thuring, Sophie von Hellermann, Jonathan Wateridge, Rose Wylie, Issy Wood and Vivien Zhang.
Visit Here
Gerhard Richter: Drawings, 1999 – 2021
Hayward Gallery Heni Project Space
9 Sep – 12 Dec
Free
Including several new series of experimental drawings, this exhibition – Richter’s first presentation in a major London gallery in a decade – brings together more than 60 works on paper made between 1999 and 2021.
Visit Here
Richard Estes
Newport Street Gallery
10 September – tbc
Free
The celebrated American photorealist artist’s work will include 45 paintings.
While Estes is best known for his paintings of New York, the London show will also feature paintings made following trips to Europe, Asia, Africa and Antarctica.
https://www.newportstreetgallery.com/
Frieze Sculpture
The Regent’s Park
14 September – 31 October
Free
Curated for the ninth year by Clare Lilley (Director of Programme at Yorkshire Sculpture Park), the 2021 edition features Rasheed Araeen, Daniel Arsham, Anthony Caro, Gisela Colón, José Pedro Croft, Carlos Cruz-Diez, Stoyan Dechev, Ibrahim El-Salahi, Divya Mehra, Annie Morris, Isamu Noguchi, Jorge Otero-Pailos, Solange Pessoa, Vanessa da Silva, Tatiana Wolska, Rose Wylie and Yunizar. In addition, Serpentine will present Counterspace, marking the first time a public institution has participated in Frieze Sculpture.
Helen Frankenthaler
Dulwich Picture Gallery
15 September 2021 – 18 April 2022
£16.50
The first major UK exhibition of woodcuts by leading Abstract Expressionist, Helen Frankenthaler.
https://www.dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk/
Summer Exhibition 2021
Royal Academy of Arts
22 September 2021 – 2 January 2022
£20-22
Held every year without fail, the Summer Exhibition is a celebration of contemporary art and architecture. Anyone can enter their work – leading artists, household names, new and emerging talent – and it provides a platform for the artistic community to showcase what they’re doing.
https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/
Frans Hals: The Male Portrait
The Wallace Collection
22 September – 30 January 2022
£14
In autumn 2021, The Wallace Collection will celebrate Frans Hals’s (1582/3-1666) most famous and beloved painting, The Laughing Cavalier, painted in 1624. Since it entered the Wallace Collection in 1865 as the only work by Hals, this iconic image has never been seen together with other works by the artist, and will form the centrepiece of the exhibition.
In the first ever show to focus solely on Hals’s portraits of men posing on their own, The Laughing Cavalier will be showcased alongside other great male portraits by Hals in order to explore his highly innovative approach to male portraiture in particular, from the beginning of his career in the 1610s until the end of his life in 1666.
https://www.wallacecollection.org/
Theaster Gates: A Clay Sermon
Whitechapel Gallery
29 September – 9 January 2022
Free
The exhibition at Whitechapel Gallery will begin with a survey of the Theaster Gates’s clay works – from examples of his early ceramic production to ‘Afro-Mingei’ sculptures and large vessels – alongside examples by those who have shaped Gates’s approach to clay. The exhibition also includes potters who exchanged traditions from different cultural contexts, such as Bernard Leach and Shoji Hamada
https://www.whitechapelgallery.org/
Noguchi
Barbican Art Gallery
30 September – 9 January 2022
£18
An exhibition celebrating Japanese American sculptor Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988), one of the most experimental and pioneering artists of the 20th century.
https://www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/art-design
October
Pablo Bronstein: Hell in its Heyday
Sir John Soane’s Museum
06 Oct 2021 to 02 Jan 2022
Free – advance booking required
In a new body of work created especially for Sir John Soane’s Museum, contemporary artist Pablo Bronstein presents his unique, seductive and deeply ironic vision of hell.
Poussin and the Dance
National Gallery
9 October – 2 January 2022
£12
Poussin’s paintings of dance are unique. He brings to life the Classical world of gods and mortals with wild and riotous movement but, the chaos on the canvas does not reflect the meticulous and inventive process that allowed him to capture bodies in motion.
In this exhibition, Poussin’s paintings and drawings of dance will be shown alongside the antique sculpture he studied, inviting you to trace the evolution of his ideas from marble to paper to paint.
https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/
Zaha Hadid Architects, Glasgow Riverside Museum of Transport, Glasgow, U
Light Lines: The Architectural Photographs of Hélène Binet
Royal Academy of Arts
23 October 2021 — 23 January 2022
£17
Over the past 30 years, Hélène Binet has travelled the world to photograph historic and contemporary buildings, as well as projects in the making. Considered “the architect’s photographer” by many, Binet has worked closely with Zaha Hadid RA, Daniel Libeskind Hon RA and Peter Zumthor Hon RA among others, who have turned to her to interpret their work.
https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/
Cloud Study, 11 September 1821, 1821.
Late Constable
Royal Academy of Arts
30 October 2021 — 13 February 2022
John Constable is one of Britain’s best-known artists: a graduate of the RA Schools and a regular exhibitor at the Summer Exhibition, his ascent to fame is closely tied with the history of the RA. Yet, until now, the RA has never staged a major retrospective of his work.
This exhibition – which spans from 1825 until the artist’s unexpected death in 1837 – explores Constable’s late style through his paintings and oil sketches as well as watercolours, drawings and prints.
https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/
November
Hogarth and Europe
Tate Britain
3 November 2021 – 20 March 2022
see website for ticket info
For the first time, this exhibition will bring together Hogarth’s greatest works with those of his peers across the continent – including Francesco Guardi in Venice, Chardin in Paris and Cornelis Troost in Amsterdam – to suggest the cross currents, parallels and sympathies that crossed borders.
Lubaina Himid
Tate Modern
25 Nov 2021 – 3 Jul 2022
This large-scale exhibition will Turner prize-winning artist Lubaina Himid’s influential career. Taking inspiration from her interest in theatre, the exhibition will unfold in a sequence of scenes designed to place visitors centre-stage and backstage.
Dürer’s Journeys: Travels of a Renaissance Artist
National Gallery
20 November – 27 February 2022
£20
The first major UK exhibition of German Renaissance artist Albrecht Dürer in nearly 20 years.
Through paintings, drawings, prints, and letters, this exhibition follows Dürer’s travels across Europe, bringing to life the artist himself, and the people and places he visited.
https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/
Fabergé in London: Romance to Revolution
V&A
20 November 2021 – 8 May 2022
see website for ticket info
This exhibition will explore master goldsmith, Carl Fabergé – whose internationally recognised firm symbolised Russian craftsmanship, luxury and elegance – and the Anglo-Russian relationship which saw the opening of a London branch in 1903.
December
Life Between Islands: Caribbean-British Art 50s – Now
Tate Britain
1 Dec 2021 – 3 Apr 2022
see website for ticket info
This exhibition will explore work by artists from the Caribbean who made their home in Britain, alongside other British artists who have also made work addressing Caribbean themes and heritage. It celebrates how people from the Caribbean have forged new communities and identities in post-war Britain – and in doing so have transformed British culture and society.
Kehinde Wiley
at the National Gallery
10 December 2021 – 18 April 2022
Free
Kehinde Wiley is an American artist best known for his portraits that render people of colour in the traditional settings of Old Master paintings. Most famously, in 2017, he was commissioned to paint Barack Obama, becoming the first Black artist to paint an official portrait of a president of the United States.
In this exhibition, Wiley will shift his focus from one European tradition – Grand Manner portraiture – to another – landscape painting.
Like his work before, this new work will look back at Old Masters as a way to create new connections and raise fresh questions.
https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/
Still On
David Hockney: The Arrival of Spring, Normandy, 2020
Royal Academy of Arts
11 August – 26 September
Michael Armitage: Paradise Edict
Royal Academy of Arts
22 May – 19 September 2021
Sophie Taeuber Arp
Tate Modern
until 17 October 2021
Paula Rego
Tate Britain
Until 24 October 2021
Turner’s Modern World
Tate Britain
until 12 September 2021
The EY Exhibition: The Making of Rodin
Tate Modern
Until 21 November 2021
Alice: Curiouser & Curiouser
V&A
until 16 January 2022
Art Fairs
Photo London 8 – 12 September
Somerset House
see website for ticket info
With over 100 exhibitors from 14 countries, Photo London showcases the best of photography, from iconic works to emerging talent. Running alongside the Fair, the Public Programme offers special exhibitions, photography workshops, awards, portfolio reviews led by the British Journal of Photography and guided tours.
Frieze London & Frieze Masters
13-17 October 2021
The Regent’s Park
see website for ticket info
Discover art from emerging stars to iconic names and thousands of years of art history at Frieze London and Frieze Masters. Featuring major galleries from around the world, new curated sections, special artist commissions, talks and more.
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