7 unmissable art exhibitions to see in London in Summer 2024
From Michelangelo’s late-career surge to Naomi Campbell’s runway success, there’s a crop of juicy art exhibitions in London this summer to tempt you away from the parks and into the galleries.
Wassily Kandinsky, Riding Couple, 1906-1907. Lenbachhaus Munich, Donation of Gabriele Münter, 1957
Expressionists: Kandinsky, Münter and the Blue Rider
25 April - 20 October 2024
What makes art revolutionary? Colour, sound, light – the Expressionists used it all to transform art and make it ever more modern and ever more beautiful. Back then it was still possible to combine the two. An exceptional collection of works that warrants a visit even if it is sunny outside.
Gwen John, Self-Portrait, 1902. Photo Tate (Mark Heathcote and Samuel Cole)
Now you see us: Women Artists in Britain, 1520 – 1920
16 May – 13 October 2024
Have you heard of Beale, Kauffman, Butler, Knight? If not, go build some new neural pathways by looking at the art women have been making for centuries. Art they made despite numerous professional and societal obstacles, despite knowing they wouldn’t become household names, despite having households to run. But don’t expect ‘female’ subjects or ways of painting, these women artists were just artists and that’s the point.
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, The Martyrdom of Saint Ursula, 1610, Oil on canvas , 143 x 180 cm, Intesa Sanpaolo Collection, Gallerie d’Italia - Napoli, © Archivio Patrimonio Artistico Intesa Sanpaolo / foto Luciano Pedicini, Napoli, x5173
The Last Caravaggio
National Gallery (free exhibition)
Until 21 July 2024
What do dirty feet and grimy fingernails have to do with art? Everything – as far as Caravaggio was concerned. His works are known for their gritty portrayal of violence, rather than its glorification. The artist’s troubled life informs the reading of his final works, including his very last one, which is on display for a limited time only at the National Gallery. Not to miss. Prepare to queue.
Installation view of the Summer Exhibition 2022 at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, 21 June – 21 August 2022, Photo: © Royal Academy of Arts, London / David Parry
Summer Exhibition 2024
18 June – 18 August 2024
The RA’s Summer Exhibition is the closest that the exclusive art world ever comes to democracy. From tiny to enormous, from prints to sculpture, from novices to Royal Academicians. This colourful celebration is as characteristic of the British summer as strawberries and cream. Plus many works are available to buy.
Michelangelo, The punishment of Tityus, Royal Collection Trust, © His Majesty King Charles III 2024.
Michelangelo: the Last Decades
2 May – 28 July 2024
Have you got plans for retirement? Michelangelo packed his bags and went to Rome. He was invited by the Pope, but that’s just a detail. At 59, when others thought he was getting a tad old, Michelangelo was just beginning a new period of creativity in his life. Dynamic and intellectually engaged, this old man was not going out without a bang.
Photo by Dave BenettGetty Images for the Victoria & Albert Museum
Naomi in Fashion
From 22 June 2024
Like glitz and glamour? One of the original supermodels is coming to the V&A. And she’s bringing with her the designers and photographers who defined fashion in the last four decades. This is the story of a girl from South London who built a career as a model, challenging stereotypes and changing the rigid world of international fashion.
Yoshida Chizuko, Tenryuji Garden, 1953, Private Collection, Photograph by Mareo Suemasa.
Yoshida: Three Generations of Japanese Printmaking
19 June – 3 November 2024
Looking for some inner peace? For me Japanese prints are an embodiment of inner peace in visual form. This exhibition presents six artists from one family, highlighting the way that art can preserve traditions while revealing societal changes at the same time. Each member of the family was a pioneer in one way or another – including Yoshida Chizuko, the co-founder of the Women’s Print Association (the first group of female printmakers in Japan), who also introduced Abstract Expressionism to the form.