The best online art exhibitions to enjoy this spring

Stephen Friedman Gallery

Stephen Friedman Gallery has joined forces with The London House of Modernity to present an exhibition (until Friday 2 April) of international contemporary art and classic mid-century Nordic design (pictured). Viewers are invited to transport themselves virtually to the Grade II listed Georgian mansion, where eight art- and design-filled rooms wait to be explored.

Also showing on the gallery's website is Luiz Zerbini: Fire. The exhibition explores the Brazilian artist's interest in the relationship between nature and humanity in and around Rio de Janeiro through paintings juxtaposing organic and geometric forms.

The Raphael Cartoons, V&A

Lent to the V&A by Her Majesty The Queen from the Royal Collection, the Raphael Cartoons are considered among the greatest treasures of the Renaissance. The seven surviving full-scale designs, which depict scenes from the lives of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, were painted by Raphael in the 1500s and were copied onto tapestries for the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel. While its galleries remain closed, the V&A has mounted images of the Cartoons online together with an abundance of supporting digital content – the first time the public has been able to explore the works in such great detail.

The focus on the Cartoons comes as part of the museum’s Raphael Project, marking the 500th anniversary of Raphael’s death in 2020. It precedes the reopening of the V&A’s Raphael Court later this year, once lockdown lifts.

Tracey Emin/ Edvard Munch, Royal Academy

'I’ve been in love with this man since I was 18,' Tracey Emin said of Edvard Munch, the Norwegian artist best known for his angst-ridden masterpiece The Scream (1893). The work of these two artists is certainly connected by an interest in the darker regions of the human psyche and Emin's fascination with Munch's work makes perfect sense, when you consider the grief and trauma suffered by both.

Last November, the Royal Academy launched an exhibition bringing these two students of emotion together (read our review here), but it closed almost immediately to comply with lockdown restrictions. The gallery is offering to take at-home audiences on a virtual tour of the exhibition for the remainder of its run.

Collect: International Art Fair for Contemporary Craft & Design

Looking for a little (or big) something to take home after browsing? Head to the Craft Council website where the 17th edition of the Collect: International Art Fair for Contemporary Craft and Design offers the chance to shop the works of over 400 artists from 35 different nations, spanning a range of different disciplines. The fair is also a chance to access virtual events and talks from leading figures across art, fashion, interiors and culture.

Victoria Miro

Showing on the Victoria Miro online portal this spring is The Sky was Blue the Sea was Blue the Boy was Blue (Wednesday 24 February - Wednesday 31 March), a digital-first exhibition bringing together works by 19 artists, all in celebration of the colour blue.

David Zwirner

One of three viewing rooms currently available to explore on the David Zwirner website is Vancouver-based photographer and video artist Stan Douglas's Penn Station’s Half Century (2021). Using a hybrid of CG and staged photography, the series examines the life of the New York City's original Pennsylvania Station – from its inauguration in 1910 to its eventual demolition in 1963 to make way for events venue Madison Square Garden.

In a neighbouring viewing room, the works of the late Belgian painter Raoul De Keyser (pictured) are presented in dialogue with those of 15 contemporary artists.

Also on show is a selection of works by German photographer Thomas Ruff in which the artist examines the use of photographs in political propaganda.

Simon Lee Gallery

Simon Lee Gallery was early to the party and has online viewing rooms dating back to April 2020. The newest addition is a pop-up exhibition presented in partnership with Galerie Micheline Szwajcer. Look forward to David Claerbout's works recontextualising characters from Disney's 1967 adaptation of The Jungle Book; Jos de Gruyter and Harald Thys’ loosely drawn caricatures of famous works, including their 2015 piece Paris in the Rain (pictured); and sculptures by Ann Veronica Janssens.

Marian Goodman

Marian Goodman’s online viewing room has several exhibitions for you to explore. Tavares Strachan’s work We Are in This Together was made five years ago, but this year the phrase has taken on special significance. Strachan illuminated the sentiment in neon as part of a monumental public artwork, the photos of which are stunning. Also available in Marion Goodman’s viewing rooms are the photographs of Robert Smithson, An-My Lê and Rineke Dijkstra.

White Cube

Over in White Cube's viewing rooms, you can ponder the ‘complex and humorous’ scenes depicted in the works of British artist Emma Cousin. The virtual solo exhibition Introductions (until Tuesday 9 March) features Cousin's colourful paintings of life-sized figures ‘poking and pulling’ at each other, as she explores the limits of the body and the tension between pain and pleasure, addressing concepts of power, sexuality, interdependence and hierarchy.

Also being made available to view online are the porcelain sculptures of Rachel Kneebone (Friday 5 February - Sunday 14 March), which depict bodies in transition and transformation.

Artemisia, National Gallery

The first lockdown happened just days before the much anticipated Artemisia exhibition was due to open at the National Gallery. It finally opened to rave reviews in October, but was forced to close again for lockdown 2.0. If you haven’t seen it, don’t despair! Members of the National Gallery can take a virtual, curator-led tour of this superlative show, which is dripping with both painterly and biographical drama. Read our review here.