Best London exhibitions: Art, design and fashion must-sees coming soon

Art lovers in London are spoilt for choice, but with so much on offer it's worth keeping an eye on the calendar so as not to miss anything.

If you like to get your arty plans in order, or want to get excited now about a whole year of art to come, then it’s time to grab your diaries.

From Paul Cézanne to Angelica Kauffman, these are the big exhibitions you can look forward to in London soon.

Cecil Beaton’s Bright Young Things

Soak up the glamour at this stylish show: the National Portrait Gallery will display Cecil Beaton’s portraits of the ‘Bright Young Things’ of the 1920s and 1930s. It will chart the photographer's journey from suburban schoolboy to socialite star - and give an insight into upper class British social life from the time.

National Portrait Gallery, March 12 - June 7; npg.org.uk

Titian: Love, Desire, Death

Six Titian masterpieces reunite for the first time in 300 years at the National Gallery. This exhibition focuses on these mythological paintings created by Titian in the 1550s and 1560s for Philip II of Spain, when the Venetian master artist was at the height of his powers.

National Gallery, March 16-June 14; nationalgallery.org.uk

Andy Warhol

The word "iconic" gets bandied around a lot these days, but it’s a fitting description for Andy Warhol. His immediately recognisably prints defined a generation and changed the course of modern art. A major retrospective at Tate Modern will no doubt be one of the biggest events in the art calendar next year, with all his biggest works - from Marilyn Monroe screen prints to Campbell’s Soup Cans - going on display.

Tate Modern, March 16 - September 6; tate.org.uk

Artemisia

Not enough people know Artemisia Gentlieschi’s name, but that’s all set to change. The National Gallery will hold the first major exhibition of her work ever to be seen in the UK, a move that will single-handedly double the amount of work by women on show there. Working in the 17th century, when women becoming artists was not the norm, Gentileschi bucked the trend and established herself as a major artist whose work still endures today.

National Gallery, April 4 - July 26, nationalgallery.org.uk

Unfinished Business: The Fight For Women’s Rights

Brush up on your herstory at the British Library, in an exhibition charting the ups and downs of women’s rights in the UK. Exploring everything from the suffragettes to No More Page 3, it will look at the successes of feminist activism – and the strides we still need to make for true equality.

British Library, April 24 - August 23; bl.uk

Bags!

The contents of someone’s handbag are often considered one of the most intimate ways to get to know them. This exhibition at the V&A will explore the way that bags have evolved, taking in some of the most significant designers - from Louis Vuitton to Birkin bags - to see how they became the item everyone needs to carry.

V&A Museum, April 25 - January 3 2021; vam.ac.uk

Renaissance Watercolours: From Durer to Van Dyck

This is set to be a pretty one: for the first time, watercolour paintings by celebrated Renaissance artists will be shown together. These lovely works show how artists captured the natural world; they are rarely displayed together, so don’t miss your chance.

V&A Museum, May 16 - September 20; vam.ac.uk

Lynette Yiadom-Boakye

When she took over as Tate’s director in 2017, Maria Balshaw made it part of her mission to correct the gender imbalance within the gallery’s collection and exhibition programme. In 2020, there will be major exhibitions of five women artists, including London-based painter Lynette Yiadom-Boakye. It will be the first major survey exhibition for the artist, who was shortlisted for the Turner Prize in 2013.

Tate Britain, May 19 - August 31; tate.org.uk

Alice in Wonderland

Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland remains one of our most loved books - and also one of our strangest. It continues to fascinate creatives around the world, who have used it as a jumping-off point for ballets, films and fashion. This exhibition will explore the story from its origin 157 years ago to the many reinventions it has inspired since.

V&A Museum, June 27 - January 10, 2021; vam.ac.uk

Prada: Front and Back

The first ever major exhibition dedicated to Prada is coming to the Design Museum this autumn. The show will pay tribute to the fashion house, exploring the idea of "front and back," or in other words, both the surface of fashion as well as the creative and industrial structures behind it.

September 2020, Design Museum; designmuseum.org

Becoming Britain: Photography 1945-79

Social change, political upheaval and massive global events; no, this new photography exhibition isn’t talking about now, but the period between the end of the Second World War and the election of Margaret Thatcher in 1979. It brings together the work of major documentary photographers, who captured moments that shaped the country we live in today, from the arrival of the Windrush generation to the Winter of Discontent.

Tate Britain, June 30 - September 27; tate.org.uk

Cézanne: The Rock and Quarry Paintings

It’s safe to say that Paul Cézanne loved a French landscape - particularly if it had rocks in it. This upcoming exhibition at the RA is based upon Cézanne’s passion for geology, bringing together works where rocks are the central motif. It’s set to showcase a wide range of his pieces, from his robust oil paintings to more abstract watercolours - including ones created in the Forest of Fontainebleau and the abandoned Bibémus Quarry in Provence.

Royal Academy, June 12 - October 18, royalacademy.org.uk

Magdalena Abakanowicz

Contemporary Polish artist Magdalena Abakanowicz is best known for her 3D textile sculptures - which she named her Abakans. This upcoming show at the Tate Modern will collate her most significant Abakans, which have rarely been exhibited together before. They’re set to take up the 64-metre long gallery space of the Blavatnik Building. But if that wasn’t enough, the other large-scale works from the Polish artist will be on show, including her War Games series - sculptures making use of felled tree trunks.

Tate Modern, June 17 - September 13, tate.org.uk

Angelica Kauffman

The Royal Academy is paying tribute to its co-founder, Angelica Kauffman, with an exhibition dedicated to the work she produced at the height of her career. Being a female artist in the late 18th and early 19th century wasn’t easy, but Kauffman established herself as an acclaimed historical painter and portraitist and was even commissioned by Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia. This show will trace the life of the Swiss artist, from child prodigy to international sensation.

Royal Academy, June 28 - September 20 2020, royalacademy.org.uk

Jean Dubuffet

The Barbican is set to host a show on life and work of French painter and sculptor Jean Dubuffet - the first in the UK for more than 50 years. Spanning more than four decades, the show will feature rarely seen pieces from international museums and private collections. It will also shed light on Dubuffet's "Art Brut" style – a term he coined, which translates as "raw art".

Barbican, September 30 - January 17 2021, barbican.org.uk

Turner’s Modern World

J.M.W. Turner is one of the most famous names in British art history and a new exhibition at Tate Britain will explore how industrialisation impacted his work. This landmark show will bring together some of the artist’s best-known pieces, to highlight Turner’s fascination for new industry and technology - but also to demonstrate how he led the way in offering artistic interpretations of these modern subjects. As to be expected, major works such as The Fighting Temeraire 1839 and Rain, Steam and Speed 1844 will be making an appearance.

Tate Britain, October 28 - March 7 2021, tate.org.uk

Tracey Emin/Edvard Munch

In 2019, we saw two separate exhibitions dedicated to Tracey Emin and Edvard Munch in the capital. This year, works from both artists are back for a bumper show at the Royal Academy. The exhibition will shed light on how both artists use angst and the complexity of the human psyche in their art. It’s also set to explore Emin’s long-standing fascination with Munch and how he’s influenced her as a creative.

Royal Academy, November 15 - February 28 2021, royalacademy.org.uk