Top 10 art exhibitions outside of London this summer
Pack your bags, grab your camera and head for the open road: these are the best exhibitions across the UK that may just tempt you on a mini-break.
The Lord of the Rings fans rejoice! This summer, The Bodleian Library hosts an extraordinary exhibition exploring JRR Tolkien’s life and work. Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth brings together a vast assembly of artifacts from the UK and US, many of which have not been exhibited since the 1950s.
This once-in-a-lifetime exhibition hopes to ‘take visitors beyond what they may already know about the work of Tolkien'. Contextualising original manuscripts with personal letters, photographs, and even his art materials, this exhibition casts a new light onto the inspirations behind one of the most complex fictional worlds ever created.
Just a short train ride from London, a trip to the dreaming Spires of Oxford is the perfect summer day out.
How far from London: It's just over an hour to Oxford from London Paddington.
What to read on the train: Our House, Louise Candlish
Taking us behind closed doors and into the unseen architecture of a home and a marriage, Our House is this year’s answer to the likes of Gone Girl and Girl on a Train. The thriller begins with a couple moving into a terraced house. But this house is where Fi Lawson lives with her husband and children – and she didn’t put it up for sale. From this unnerving disbelief the story simmers into a dark, twisty study of secrets and betrayal.
