Autumn exhibitions in London

The capital has a huge range of exhibitions you can feast on this autumn. From William Blake at the Tate to Rembrandt at Dulwich Picture Gallery, there’s a stunning array of art on show across London.

William Blake at Tate Britain

Tate Britain, 11 September 2019 – 2 February 2020

The largest show of Blake’s work for almost 20 years with over 300 original works, including his watercolours, paintings and prints.

Inside the exhibition will be an immersive recreation of the small domestic room in which Blake showed his art in 1809. You will be able to experience for yourself the impact these works had when they were shown for the first time. In another room, Blake’s dream of showing his works at enormous scale will be made reality using digital technology.

Additional highlights include some of Blake’s best-known works including Newton 1795-c.1805 and Ghost of a Flea c.1819-20. This intricate painting was inspired by a séance-induced vision and is shown alongside a rarely seen preliminary sketch. The exhibition closes with The Ancient of Days 1827, an illustration for an edition of Europe: A Prophecy, completed only days before the artist’s death.

Further details and ticket information:

https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/william-blake-artist

Antony Gormley

Royal Academy, 21 September – 3 December 2019

Antony Gormley takes over the Main Galleries with a series of works that test the scale and light of the RA’s architecture.

The exhibition will explore Gormley’s wide-ranging use of organic, industrial and elemental materials over the years, including iron, steel, hand-beaten lead, seawater and clay.

Highlights include Clearing VII, an immersive ‘drawing in space’ made from kilometres of coiled, flexible metal which visitors find their own path through, and Lost Horizon I, 24 life-size cast iron figures set at different orientations on the walls, floor and ceiling – challenging our perception of which way is up.

Further details and ticket information:

https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibition/antony-gormley

Rembrandt’s Light

Dulwich Picture Gallery,4 October 2019 – 2 February 2020

This exhibition combines 35 works from Rembrandt’s prime years​ ​1639-1658, which best define the artist’s mastery of light and visual storytelling. There will be paintings, etchings, drawings and more on show.

Arranged thematically, Rembrandt’s Light will take you on a journey from high drama and theatricality, to the contemplative and spiritual, showcasing his use of light. The exhibition focusses on the period when he lived in his ideal house at Breestraat in the heart of Amsterdam (today the Museum Het Rembrandthuis).

Highlights include Philemon and Baucis, shown in the UK for the first time, the contemplative Christ and St Mary Magdalen at the Tomb and three of Rembrandt’s most famous paintings of women: A Woman Bathing in a Stream, A Woman in Bed and the Gallery’s Girl at a Window all hanging together.

Further details and ticket information:

https://dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/2019/october/rembrandts-light/

Gauguin Portraits

National Gallery, 7 October 2019 – 26 January 2020

The first-ever exhibition devoted to the portraits of Paul Gauguin.

Featuring about fifty works, the exhibition includes paintings, works on paper, and three-dimensional objects in a variety of media, from public and private collections worldwide.

By adding carefully selected attributes or placing the sitter into a suggestive context Gauguin was able to make portraits that expressed meaning beyond their personalities. A group of self portraits, for example, reveals how Gauguin created a range of personifications including his self-image as ‘Christ in the Garden of Olives’, 1889 (Norton Gallery of Art, West Palm Beach).

Further details and ticket information:

https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/exhibitions/the-credit-suisse-exhibition-gauguin-portraits

Pre-Raphaelite Sisters

National Portrait Gallery, 17 October 2019 – 26 January 2020

The first-ever exhibition to focus on the untold story of the women of Pre-Raphaelite art. 160 years after the first pictures were exhibited by the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in 1849, Pre-Raphaelite Sisters, explores the overlooked contribution of twelve women to the Pre-Raphaelite movement, including Evelyn de Morgan,Effie Millais (nee Gray), Elizabeth Siddal and Joanna Wells (nee Boyce), an artist whose work has been largely omitted from the history of the movement.

Through paintings, photographs, manuscripts and personal items, Pre-Raphaelite Sisters explores the significant roles they played as artists, models, muses and helpmeets who supported and sustained the artistic output of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.

Further details and ticket information:

https://www.npg.org.uk/whatson/exhibitions/2019/pre-raphaelite-sisters/

For tips on how to maximise your enjoyment at an art gallery, read our post here. And if you want to enjoy discounts to major exhibitions, check out the National Art Pass here.