Top 10 art exhibitions in London
Our critics' pick of the must-see exhibitions this season
1
'Palindrome' 1974 © The estate of Richard Hamilton
Richard Hamilton at Tate Modern
- Rated as: 4/5
Smarter than Francis Bacon and more daring than Henry Moore, Richard Hamilton was the most important British artist of the twentieth century.
2
'Flucht (Flight)' 1931, Hannah Höch © Collection of IFA, Stuttgart
Hannah Höch
- Rated as: 4/5
An early champion of feminist art and a celebrated member of the Berlin Dada movement, Hannah Höch’s collages commented on the social change and economic upheaval of Weimar Germany and Europe during the First and Second World Wars. Her contemporaries including George Grosz and Kurt Schwitters admired Höch’s unique satirical language that combined fashion images with symbols of industry. Over 100 works made between 1910-1970 display the depth and radical practice of this truly great collagist. See our preview of the exhibition here.
- Whitechapel Gallery 77-82 Whitechapel High St, E1 7QX
- Fri Mar 7 - Sun Mar 23
3
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
- Fri Mar 7 - Sun Apr 27
4
Sensing Spaces: Architecture Reimagined
- Rated as: 4/5
Architecture shows, with all their blueprints and models, are rarely the most exciting of prospects. But this show promises something different, inviting major contemporary architectural firms from across the globe to create installations to showcase their work. Grafton Architects, Diébédo Francis Kéré, Kengo Kuma, Li Xiaodong, Pezo von Ellrichshausen, Eduardo Souto de Mouro and Alvara Siza are the participants. Check out our guide to Sensing Spaces here
- Royal Academy of Arts Piccadilly, W1J OBD
- Fri Mar 7 - Sun Apr 6
5
'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.
6
Paul Klee: Making Visible
- Rated as: 5/5
- Critics choice
No other artist of the twentieth century made marks, lines and doodles sing with quite the same melody as Paul Klee. As a result, you’ll spend ages peering at and poring over the witty, joyful masterpieces in this career-spanning retrospective of the Swiss-German artist, watching Klee’s ideas spring to life on canvas and on tiny sheets of paper that become flickering constellations.
- Tate Modern Bankside, SE1 9TG
- Fri Mar 7 - Sun Mar 9
7
Harry Callahan
- Rated as: 4/5
If you want to see the beauty of a boarded-up building or the austere grace of a windowframe, Harry Callahan’s your man. A master of multiple exposure (many of the photographs here are layered with ghost images), Callahan was also capable of disconcerting concentration on objects that most people wouldn’t bother to call subjects – a lamppost, a flagpole, a Florentine alleyway.
- Tate Modern Bankside, SE1 9TG
- Fri Mar 7 - Sat May 31
8
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
- Fri Mar 7 - Sun Apr 27
9
'Fishermen at Sea' (1796) © Tate
Turner and the Sea
How did JMW Turner, a working-class London lad, become Britain’s greatest painter of the sea? National Maritime Museum curator Christine Riding explains He painted apocalyptic storms, history-defining battles and death-defying whale hunts, but Joseph Mallord William Turner wasn’t from nautical stock; he was the son of a Covent Garden wigmaker.
10
BP Walk through British Art
- Rated as: 5/5
- Free
How to do justice to 500 years of British art in just 500 words? Listing each of the years in order might sound like a lame start, but this complete refresh and rehang of ‘the old Tate’ takes just such a no-nonsense, historical approach as its backbone, running chronologically around a twisting spine or anti-clockwise looping circuit of galleries, from 1540 to the present day. And what a rip-roaring journey it is, taking in Holbein, Hogarth, Constable, Epstein, Bacon, Hockney and Hirst in order, as well as all manner of discoveries in between.
- Tate Britain Millbank, SW1P 4RG
- Fri Mar 7 - Wed May 14
Top art features
Top 10 art exhibitions in the city
Our critics' pick of the must-see art exhibitions in town this season
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London art calendar
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Popular art exhibitions
- United Visual Artists: Momentum
- Dale Chihuly: Beyond the Object
- Alex MacLean: Aerial Perspectives
- Richard Hamilton
- Darren Almond: To Leave a Light Impression
- Only in England: Photographs by Tony Ray-Jones and Martin Parr
- Sensing Spaces: Architecture Reimagined
- Harry Callahan
- Paul Klee: Making Visible
- Benedict Drew: Heads May Roll
