Top 10 art exhibitions in London
Our critics' pick of the must-see exhibitions this season
1
Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs
- Rated as: 5/5
When illness took its toll and that giant of twentieth century French art Henri Matisse could no longer paint, he turned to to scissors and paper. The works he created in this very late period become some of his most iconic. Though he may have lost his ability to handle a paintbrush, he lost none of his brilliant vision and compositional know-how. The 120 works on display here will be amongst the best you will see in this country this year. Mad for Matisse: leading contemporary artists pay tribute to the master here. Read about all the reunited masterpieces in London this year here.
- Tate Modern Bankside, SE1 9TG
- Sun Apr 20 - Sun Sep 7
2
Anna Arca
Under The Influence: John Deakin And The Lure Of Soho
- Rated as: 5/5
- Free
Soho is a permissive ghetto to which its inhabitants consign themselves. During the 1950s and ’60s, the photographer John Deakin was intimate with the area’s legendary drinking culture revolving around the Colony Room members’ bar, and his images formed the basis of important paintings by fellow habitué Francis Bacon.
- Photographers' Gallery 16-18 Ramillies St, W1F 7LW
- Sun Apr 20 - Sun Jul 13
3
Richard Mosse: The Enclave
- Rated as: 5/5
- Free
At the back of the NCP car park in Soho there’s an unexpected art experience waiting for you. There’s no room for cars here, only contemplation as you take in the beguiling photographs and immersive film installation by Irish artist Richard Mosse.
- The Vinyl Factory Space Brewer Street Car Park, 17 Peter St, W1F 0AL
- Tue Apr 22 - Sat Apr 26
4
Richard Hamilton
- Rated as: 5/5
He’s always been more than daddy pop, of course, but until this mighty 18-room retrospective came along, you may have struggled to grasp just how much more. Now, Hamilton’s ‘Richard the first’ tag is revealed in wave after cool wave of innovation.
- Tate Modern Bankside, SE1 9TG
- Sun Apr 20 - Mon May 26
5
Vincent Van Gogh, 'The Sunflowers', 1889 © Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)
Vincent van Gogh: The Sunflowers
- Rated as: 4/5
- Free
Paintings don't come much more iconic than van Gogh's incredible 'Sunflowers', and this show brings two of them together for the first time in 65 years. In 1888, the Dutchman painted five versions of these blooms while waiting for the arrival in Arles, south of France, of his friend, the painter Paul Gauguin.
- National Gallery Trafalgar Square, WC2N 5DN
- Sun Apr 20 - Sun Apr 27
6
The Great War in Portraits
- Rated as: 4/5
- Free
Wars are remembered in numbers. Soldiers and civilians become figures and statistics. One hundred years after the Great War, it’s easy to lose sight of the reasons for conflict, to forget what started it all and how we justified sacrificing so many lives. The works in the National Portrait Gallery’s show of paintings from WWI put faces to the figures, but also let you make a connection to those tragedies – they help you grasp humanity a bit better.
- National Portrait Gallery St Martin's Place, WC2H 0HE
- Sun Apr 20 - Sun Jun 15
7
Martin Creed at Hayward Gallery, London. Photo by Linda Nylind. 26/1/2014. Linda Nylind
Martin Creed: What's the point of it?
- Rated as: 4/5
He won the Turner Prize by turning the lights one and off in the gallery, Olympic runners have sprinted through the Tate Britain for him and he’s scripted musical accompaniments for the lifts in the Royal Festival Hall. Now the cacophonous works of the British artist from his earliest pieces to large-scale installation can be experienced under one roof, oh and the outdoor terrace. What's on Martin Creed's mind? Find out here.
- Hayward Gallery Southbank Centre, SE1 8XX
- Sun Apr 20 - Mon May 5
8
© the artist/White Cube, photo: Jack Hems
Miroslaw Balka: Die Traumdeutung 75,32m AMSL
- Rated as: 4/5
The whistled theme tune from ‘The Great Escape’ haunts your steps as you walk through Miroslaw Balka’s shows at the Freud Museum in Hampstead and White Cube in St James's. It’s an oddly jolly soundtrack for the noted Polish miserablist to have chosen for his first UK show since his 2009 Turbine Hall box, but then everything here is smothered in a cloud of possible interpretations.
- Freud Museum Maresfield Gardens, NW3 5SX
- Sun Apr 20 - Sun May 25
9
Richard Deacon
- Rated as: 4/5
For objects that are fixed and immobile, Richard Deacon’s sculptures are astonishingly full of life. Everywhere you look in this retrospective of the British artist there’s some monumental wooden form curving and coursing through space, some linear shape arcing or undulating, or some solid mass bulging suggestively. It’s exhilarating stuff.
- Tate Britain Millbank, SW1P 4RG
- Sun Apr 20 - Sun Apr 27
10
'Mick Jagger', 1964 © David Bailey
David Bailey at the National Portrait Gallery
- Rated as: 4/5
With more than 350 Vogue covers under his belt and many thousands of iconic photographs to choose from, David Bailey can be forgiven for taking his time honing the selection for his new exhibition. Even after the cull, 250 images form part of the National Portrait Gallery's sparkling 'Bailey's Stardust' show - making this one of its largest photography surveys ever.
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Top 10 art exhibitions in the city
Our critics' pick of the must-see art exhibitions in town this season
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8 comments
One of the bext exhibitions of 2013 is the Madge Gill: Medium & Visionary exhibition at Orleans House Gallery. This free retrospective brings together over a hundred stunning works by the UK's leading outsider artist - many of which have never been shown to the public before. There is still time to see it - it ends on 26 January 2014.
Totally agree with the comments here. London no longer has a proper listings magazine, which is a major loss, and the website is terrible. Cluttered, utterly confusing to navigate, I am frequently defeated just trying to find out what's on in the major galleries or where a particular film is showing. It's totally unfit for purpose. Bring back the magazine with listings.
A little of me died when i first saw the gutted form of the Timeout I love on my return to London after two years in South Africa. At least I thought I could still find the listings online. I was wrong. What have you done with them? Sitting with a pencil planning what to do in this wonderful but at times bewildering city was once one of the highlights of my week. No more. Why?
I agree with Nik Wood totally. I was so upset when Time Out in its old form (IE you could buy it from newsagents) ceased to be as it was the art listings that I mainly bought it for. Not only is it almost impossible for me to get a copy of it now as I am never in central London when it is distributed, but it lacks the straightforward and comprehensive listings that were in the old incarnation of the magazine. Please can you reintroduce them.
Why don't you do a list of what's on any more? I don't want "Top 10". I don''t want "Critics' Choices". I don't want "Opening today". I just want a comprehensive list of what shows are running now so that I can make up my own mind which to go to.
London art calendar
See the London art exhibitions calendar
Popular art exhibitions
- Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs
- United Visual Artists: Momentum
- Richard Mosse: The Enclave
- Deutsche Börse Photography Prize 2014
- Under the Influence: John Deakin and the Lure of Soho
- Pangaea: New Art from Africa and Latin America
- Slim Aarons: Riviera
- Richard Hamilton
- Lucas Foglia: Frontcountry
- Rwanda in Photographs: Death Then, Life Now
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