From Jagger to Giorgione: the London Art Scene in 2016
We look forward to the biggest events and best exhibitions of 2016, from the Rolling Stones to the Royal Academy
Miró’s Studio, Mayoral
21 Jan 16 – 12 Feb 16
A Spanish den of Surrealism comes to London next year, as Joan Miró’s Mallorcan studio is transported to the heart of Mayfair. Reconstructed from photographs and the memory of the artist's Grandson, the space gives a fascinating, light-hearted insight into the mind and practice of one of the 20 Century's best-loved artists.
Pre-Raphaelites on Paper, Leighton House
The hard-drinking, bed-hopping, meadow-prancing Pre-Raphaelites come to Holland Park's exquisite Leighton House next year, but not as you know them. Instead of the drama of the paintings, we'll have a selection of draughtsmanship from the period. With works from the Brotherhood's most prominent members, including Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Everett Millais, Lizzie Siddal and William Morris, this will be a gorgeous little show, in one of our favourite London venues.
Delacroix and the Rise of Modern Art, National Gallery
17 Feb 2016 – 22 May 2016
The dark soul of Delacroix is summoned to the National Gallery next year, in a blockbusting exhibition dedicated to the beloved Romantic painter. The French painter was the last of the Grand Style and the first of Modernism; and this show will explore his role in transforming art forever. London hasn't seen a Delacroix exhibition for fifty years, so this show's been a long time coming.
Botticelli Reimagined, V&A
05 Mar 2016 – 03 Jul 2016
Can there be anyone who isn't enchanted by Botticelli? The 15th Century Florentine painter is recognised as one of the greatest painters ever to have lived. Next year, the V&A will investigate his influence on artists and designers over the 500 years since his lifetime. Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Edward Burne-Jones, William Morris, René Magritte, Elsa Schiaparelli, Andy Warhol and Cindy Sherman are just some of the artists to have used his imagery, and their works will be present, alongside pieces from the Big Man himself.
In the Age of Giorgione, Royal Academy
12 Mar 16 – 05 Jun 16
From Florence to Venice: the Royal Academy mount a major exhibition dedicated to first decade of the sixteenth Century. Little is known of the elusive Giorgione, but his beguiling, serene and poetic works laid the foundations for Venice's Golden Age of Painting. You'll be able to find the likes of Bellini, Titian and other Italian masters alongside Giorgione: an Italian Renaissance feast.
Rolling Stones: Exhibitionism, Saatchi Gallery
Mick, Keith, Charlie and Ronnie are some of the coolest people on the planet. They surfed the wave of the sexual revolution; a carnival of drugs, sex, black music, loose hips and looser morals.
Next year, the Saatchi gallery mount an exhibition dedicated to the Rolling Stones, Exhibitionism, which will unpack the cultural phenomenon they represent. You'll be able to relive the Stones' glory days as they happened, through fashion, video clips, set designs, instrument, personal diaries and, of course, the music.
The New Tate Modern
Opens 17 June 2016
The arresting Tate Modern is one of London's best-designed buildings. Housed in Sir Giles Gilbert-Scott's Bankside Power Station, the gallery is famous around the world for its towering chimney and Turbine Hall exhibition space (remember Ai Weiwei's sunflower seeds?)
This June sees the opening of a new building; a twisting pyramid of a thing that will add 60% more display room.
We can't wait to see it.
David Hockney: 77 Portraits, 2 Still Lifes, Royal Academy
David Hockney is a force to be reckoned with. In the last year, the Yorkshire painter has had numerous solo shows in the UK, US and Japan, been the subject of a docu-portrait film by Randall Wright and seen the release of the second volume of a biography on him. And at 77, this prolific artist shows no signs of slowing down. This new RA exhibition gives Hockney an opportunity to explore his curiosity with portraiture, displaying an array of friends, family and art world big players all in the same sized canvas, seated in the same chair against the same blue background for three days. Simply, effective, irresistible.
Georgia O'Keeffe, Tate Modern
06 Jul 16 – 30 Oct 16
Soaring landscapes, sun-bleached bones and erotic flowers in bloom have made O'Keeffe one of the most popular 20th century artists. With her bold brushstrokes and unique understanding of colour and form, O'Keeffe constructed a abstract visual language of her very own.
Next year, the Tate Modern celebrate the artist with a major exhibition, her first large scale London show in 20 years.
Abstract Expressionism, Royal Academy
24 Sep 2016 – 02 Jan 2017
Think of Abstract Expressionism and you think of Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko. But there's so much more to the American movement than these two greats, as the Royal Academy show will demonstrate. We'll travel to New York in the hard-drinking '40s and '50s, soak up the works of Barnett Newman, William de Kooning, Sam Francis, Lee Krasner and Louise Nevelson. Spontaneous, unconscious, automatic: prepare to be wowed by the audacity of this explosive movement.
The New Design Museum, Kensington
Autumn 2016
Lucky old Kensington! The London area has a new museum to add to its wealth of cultural institutions. The Design Museum packed its things and relocated from Shad Thames to leafy West London, where it will be London's leading centre for contemporary design and architecture.
Converted from the old Commonwealth Institute Building on Ken High St, the museum will benefit from John Pawson’s ultra-modern which includes two temporary exhibition spaces, a permanent collection display, learning spaces, design workshops, a library, an auditorium, a museum shop, a café and restaurant.
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Beyond Caravaggio, National Gallery
12 Oct 2016 – 15 Jan 2017
Caravaggio painted as he lived, and as he died. Drama was central to his art, whether in the climactic chiaroscuro, brooding figures or radical stylistic departures. Next year, the National Gallery will spotlight some of Caravaggio's most famous works, including the striking Baroque masterpiece, Supper at Emmaus, and the fraught Taking of Christ.
Beyond Caravaggio will also explore the impact of Caravaggio’s work on the art of his contemporaries and followers; the first UK exhibition to do so.
Robert Rauschenberg, Tate Modern
01 Dec 2016 – 02 Apr 2017
Robert Rauschenberg was a real 'artist's artist', a key figure of American 20th Century art, who was instrumental in the transition from Abstract Expressionism to later Modernist moments. His art transcends boundaries in a whirlwind of collaboration installation, performance, photography, painting and sculpture. T
his Tate Modern exhibition is the first major retrospective of his work since his death in 2008 and ends a shocking gap of 35 years since the last UK Rauschenberg show.
