Spring has finally sprung, and as the capital’s parks and gardens start to burst into life, its art scene is also a hive of activity. Some brilliant shows have opened in the last few weeks – there’s Beatriz González at the Barbican, Catherine Opie at the Portrait Gallery and Hurvin Anderson at Tate Britain, to name a few – but it’s about to get even busier for the city’s major galleries and museums.
Alongside the arrival of three massive new venues – V&A East (opening on April 18), the Museum of Youth Culture (opening on May 15) and the Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration (also due to open in May) – Londoners can expect loads of brilliant exhibitions on everything from Gilded Age portraitists and monumental sculpture to Baroque masters and avant garde couture.
Grab your diary and get planning with our guide to the truly unmissable shows coming up over the next few months.
10 London art exhibitions we’re most excited about in spring 2026
Until relatively recently, few art historians believed that paintings bearing 17th century artist Michaelina Wautier’s signature could possibly have been made by a woman, instead attributing them to her brother or other male artists. And yet she did it all; flowers and still lifes, portraits and large-scale history paintings, mastering subjects typically reserved for her male peers. Twenty-five pieces feature in this landmark exhibition, the first in the UK to be devoted to this rediscovered master.
Royal Academy. Mar 27-Jun 21. £15.
Known for her surreal and avant garde haute couture creations – often with striking silhouettes, gilded accents, and unusual appliqués – the groundbreaking 20th century fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli is the subject of a first UK exhibition at the V&A. With over 400 objects, including 100 ensembles and artworks by the likes of Salvador Dalí, Picasso and Man Ray, it really makes the case for clothing as an art form, and is a must-view for any fashion fanatic.
The V&A. Mar 28-Nov 8. £28.
British-Caribbean artist Veronica Ryan became the oldest artist to win the Turner Prize back in 2022. Four years later Whitechapel Gallery is staging one of the biggest presentations of her work to date. Through more than 100 works, Multiple Conversations will span Ryan’s multifaceted practice which includes work with sculpture, textiles and on paper, including both recent creations and rediscovered works from the 1980s.
Whitechapel Gallery. Apr 1-Jun 14. £15.
Swanky new museum V&A East opens in April, and its inaugural temporary exhibition is a landmark exploration of how Black British music has shaped culture at home and further afield, featuring a whole bunch of cool artefacts from Joan Armatrading’s childhood guitar and looks worn by Little Simz, newly acquired photography by Dennis Morris and Jennie Baptiste and a ‘sound experience’ from Sennheiser.
V&A East. Apr 18-Jun 18. £22.50.
One of the leading painters of 17th century Spain gets his first ever National Gallery exhibition this May. Celebrated for their naturalism and emotional depth, Zurbarán’s paintings include stunning life-size depictions of saints, soaring altarpieces and contemplative still lifes. If you’re looking for a bit of solemn reflection, this exhibition could be the place for it.
National Gallery. May 2-Aug 23.
Henry Moore’s bulbous and undulating creations were designed to be seen outside and surrounded by nature, so it’s great news that they’re being displayed in one of London’s most spectacular natural settings this May, when Kew Gardens hosts the largest ever exhibition dedicated to the modernist sculptor. More than 90 works will feature, including carvings and drawings alongside several of his iconic reclining figures and massive abstract bronzes.
Kew Gardens. May 9-Jan 31 2027. Included with Gardens entry.
The first major European exhibition of Gilded Age painter James McNeil Whistler’s work for 30 years arrives at Tate Britain this spring. The retrospective brings together world-famous paintings such as ‘Whistler’s Mother’ (Mr Bean fans will recognise this one, IYKYK) alongside rarely, or never seen, works, and includes exquisite portraits, drawings, prints, and designs, from works created as a teenager in St Petersburg to enigmatic late self-portraits.
Tate Britain. May 21-Sep 27. £24.
Coinciding with the centenary of her birth, the Portrait Gallery’s next big opening will turn the spotlight on one of the twentieth century’s biggest icons. Marilyn Monroe: A Portrait will explore the legacy of one of Hollywood’s most alluring figures through works by some of the twentieth century’s greatest artists and photographers, including Andy Warhol, Cecil Beaton, Marlene Dumas, Milton Greene and Eve Arnold.
National Portrait Gallery. Jun 4-Sep 6. £25.
A key figure of the Kinetic and Op Art movements of the 1960s, pioneering Argentinian artist Julio Le Parc has been making illuminated, kinetic and participatory works for seven decades, and is still making art at the ripe old age of 97. This major retrospective celebrates his visionary seven-decade career, spanning from from his arrival in Paris in the late 1950s to his resurgence in the 2010s. You’ll be seeing these colourful, immersive works all over Instagram.
Tate Modern. Jun 11-May 3 2027. £15.
Nearly 30 years after his first major UK exhibition took place at the Hayward, at the Hayward Gallery, internationally acclaimed sculptor Anish Kapoor returns with his largest UK show to date. Prepare to have your senses thrown into chaos by monumental mirror sculptures and a foreboding masses of wax drooping from the ceiling, as well as recent works made with futuristic light-absorbing nanotechnology.
The Hayward Gallery. Jun 16-Oct 18. £22.
Did you see that for the first time ever, Tate is creating a garden for the Chelsea Flower Show?
Plus: international tourists could soon have to pay to visit London’s greatest museums.
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