If it’s art that tickles your fancy, London is one of the best places in the UK to see an art exhibition. Home to many of the biggest galleries in the country (and the world) there’s a huge amount to see in the permanent collections, let alone the exhibitions.
Different galleries are known for different specialisms, from the National Portrait Gallery which houses and exhibits different kinds of portraiture, to the Victoria and Albert museum (the V&A) which is known for its speciality in fashion and textiles. So, if you’re interested in a particular medium or type of exhibition, it can be good to keep an eye on a gallery or museum which specialises in that.
Cost is obviously something that we are all keeping an eye on at the moment. The good news for art lovers is that many London museums and galleries have huge amounts that you can usually view for free, especially elements of the permanent collections.
However, you often have to pay to see particular exhibitions with tickets costing between £10-£20, with most galleries offering concession prices for students, children and seniors. If you are a fan of a particular museum or gallery, many have the option of becoming a member which includes perks like access to a members’ café and opportunities to get tickets to popular exhibitions early, or even in private viewings.
Best art exhibitions in London at a glance:
- Celebrating Windrush: Tracing a Living Legacy, free
- Fashion (r)Evolution, free
- Daido Moriyama: A Retrospective, from £4
- Sarah Lucas: Happy Gas, from £5
- Accidentally Wes Anderson: The Exhibition, from £11
- Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirror Rooms, from £5
- RE/SISTERS A Lens on Gender and Ecology, from £3
- Monet: The Immersive Experience, from £15
- Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience, from £16
- Frameless, from £15
- Hiroshi Sugimoto, from £18
- The Credit Suisse Exhibition Frans Hals, from £20
- Frameless Lates, from £20
- Wonders of Civilisation: A crash course in archaeology, £80
- Private guided museum tour of the Tate Modern, from £92.50
- The National Gallery official guided tour and cream tea for two,
£65£58.50
Best art exhibitions in London for 2023
Best limited-time art exhibitions in London
Celebrating Windrush: Tracing a Living Legacy
This display has been created by the V&A Windrush 75 Co-production group: a collective of young people who all have Caribbean heritage. The V&A Windrush 75 Co-production group have chosen moments and locations, and added their own reflections on which areas have been significantly impacted by the Windrush Generation.
Celebrating Windrush: Tracing a Living Legacy is on now until 31st December, and it’s completely free.
Get free Celebrating Windrush: Tracing a Living Legacy tickets at V&A
The Credit Suisse Exhibition Frans Hals
This exhibition at The National Gallery is displaying from now until the 21st January next year. Frans Hals was one of the most sought-after painters of his generation, and looking at his artworks in this exhibition, it’s not hard to see why 17th-century Dutch audiences were impressed, and why the popularity of his portraits earned him the Haarlem’s famous son status.
The exhibition is the first major retrospective of Hals in more than thirty years, and around 50 of Hals’ finest works, including his most famous picture The Laughing Cavalier (1624), will be exhibited.
Buy The Credit Suisse Exhibition Frans Hals tickets from £20 at The National Gallery
For more exciting things to do in London, take a look at the best London experience gifts and top London walking tours.
Accidentally Wes Anderson: The Exhibition
Now, Accidentally Wes Anderson has been brought to life in South Kensington, giving you the opportunity to explore and learn more about picturesque settings from each of the seven continents, all within a very aesthetically pleasing exhibition space of course. Who knows, you might even spot a few familiar locations.
Buy Accidentally Wes Anderson: The Exhibition tickets from £11 at Fever
Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirror Rooms
It’s very likely that you’ve seen this exhibition all over your social media platforms — and why wouldn’t you? It looks incredible!
Born in 1929 in Matsumoto, Japan, Yayoi Kusama came to worldwide attention in 1960s New York for their range of creative practices, which encompass anything from installation and sculpture to painting and fashion design.
The Infinity Mirror Rooms is one of Kusama’s largest installations to date, and it’s shown alongside Chandelier of Grief, a room which creates an illusion of infinite rotating crystal chandeliers. This exhibition is showing from now until 28th April 2024.
Buy Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirror Rooms tickets from £5 at Tate
Visiting a gallery would be a great date activity, and for more best London date ideas, take a look at our guide.
Sarah Lucas: Happy Gas
Artist Sarah Lucas is celebrated for her provocative use of materials and imagery, and this particular exhibition is no different. Happy Gas uses ordinary objects and subverts them to challenge our understanding of sex, class, and gender.
Happy Gas is showing from now until 14th January 2024 at the Tate Britain. Be sure to look at the content guidance before attending this exhibition, too, as it contains some potentially upsetting scenes.
Buy Sarah Lucas: Happy Gas tickets from £5 at Tate
Do you fancy yourself as a bit of a creative? Then take a look at the best UK pottery experiences and best photography courses.
Best art gallery tours in London
Private guided museum tour of the Tate Modern
The Tate Modern is one of the world’s biggest museums of modern and contemporary art. While this is part of what makes it so exciting, it can also be a bit daunting, especially if you’re a first time visitor.
That’s where a private tour can be an amazing way to see the gallery. These tours are for up to eight people and last anywhere between one and a half and two hours. You’ll have a professional tour guide all to yourselves as you get to know the history of this unique exhibition space and gain insights on some of the artwork.
These tours can be in English, Spanish or French. Semi-private tour prices start from £92.50 at Fever, whereas private tours start from £460.50.
Buy tickets for a private guided museum tour of the Tate Modern from £92.50 at Fever
The National Gallery official guided tour and cream tea for two
The National Gallery is one of London’s most iconic buildings, situated in Trafalgar Square. The home of the masterpieces, on this hour-long tour you’ll be guided between some of the more famous European works in the gallery by an expert tour guide.
And after all that art you’ll probably need a snack, so you’ll head to Ochre for afternoon tea including savoury sandwiches, scones with jam and clotted cream and seasonal pastries.
Buy tickets for The National Gallery official guided tour and cream tea for two for £65 £58.50 at Virgin Experience Days
Wonders of Civilisation: A crash course in archaeology at the British Museum
Be guided by a qualified archaeologist as you make your way around the British Museum and see how our relationship with design and stonework has evolved over time. You’ll get to hear the history behind some of the world’s most famous artefacts, and learn more about the science behind archaeology.
Buy tickets for Wonders of Civilisation: A crash course in archaeology at the British Museum for two for £80 at Virgin Experience Days
Best immersive art exhibitions in London
Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience
He’s one of the most influential artists in the modern world, and now you have the chance to see Vincent Van Gogh’s artwork in a 260 degree digital exhibition. Immerse yourself in the Dutch post-impressionist painter’s artwork, such as The Starry Night and Café Terrace At Night, with huge digital installations, then travel through eight of Van Gogh’s works and their inspirations with a one-of-a-kind VR experience complete with a headset.
Buy tickets for Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience from £16 at Fever
If VR experiences are your bag, be sure to take a look at the best London VR experiences.
Frameless
Frameless is the hottest new digital art experience located in central London. Like all immersive events, Frameless gives the visitor the experience of actually being inside the artwork, and with classical and contemporary music playing throughout the galleries, you’ll feel fully immersed in the work.
Step inside the pieces from famous artists such as Cezanne, Kandinsky, Monet, Dalí, Van Gogh, Rembrandt, and Klimt, plus many more.
Standard tickets for Frameless will set you back £15, and there’s also the option to buy a Premium Package and Flexi tickets, as well as Accessible and Chilled ones.
Buy Frameless tickets from £15 at Ticketmaster
Monet: The Immersive Experience
Like the Van Gogh immersive experience, this exhibition invites you to step into the world of French painter Claude Monet, one of the greatest artists of the 19th century. At Monet: The Immersive Experience, you’ll explore the artist’s life and career, and hear anecdotes about both of them, then you’ll step into his Impressionist paintings.
Buy Monet: The Immersive Experience tickets from £15 at Fever
Best small art exhibitions in London
Daido Moriyama: A Retrospective
This writer loves The Photographer’s Gallery — it’s easy to get to (it’s located right by Oxford Circus station), and it always has fantastic exhibitions on, and this next exhibition is no different.
Born in 1938, Daido Moriyama uses dense and grainy images to change how we look at the world. This exhibition spans Moriyama’s whole career, starting with his early photographs for Japanese magazines and how he engages with photorealism, then it moves to his self-reflexive period in the 1980s and the 1990s.
Daido Moriyama: A Retrospective is running from now until the 11th February next year.
Buy Daido Moriyama: A Retrospective tickets from £4 at The Photographer’s Gallery
RE/SISTERS A Lens on Gender and Ecology
As well as theatre, cinema, and the beautiful conservatory, the Barbican in East London also has an art gallery. RE/SISTERS A Lens on Gender and Ecology is a group exhibition, put together by 50 international women and gender non-conforming artists, which explores the relationship between gender and ecology. The exhibition highlights the systemic links between the oppression of women and the degradation of the planet.
Buy RE/SISTERS A Lens on Gender and Ecology tickets from £3 at Barbican
If you like to consume art through film, be sure to take a look at our guides to the best luxury cinema experiences and how to get cheap cinema tickets.
If it’s through music, we have the best candlelight concerts and how to get cheap concert tickets guides for you.
Hiroshi Sugimoto
Head on down to Hayward Gallery for this photography exhibition. Hiroshi Sugimoto employs a large-format wooden camera and mixes his own darkroom chemicals, and the results are phenomenal. Sugimoto explores ideas and practices from 19th century photography while capturing subjects like dioramas, wax figures and architecture.
On the Hayward Gallery website, there’s a five-star The Telegraph review which says: “It’s hard to look away from this staggeringly inventive show.”
Buy Hiroshi Sugimoto tickets from £18 at Southbank Centre
Best gallery lates in London
Frameless Lates
This October, Frameless Lates showcased the work of Pakistani-American artist, author, and women’s rights activist, Maliha Abidi. Our Digital Writer Joanna was lucky enough to be invited to Frameless Lates, and here’s what she thought of it: “There’s nothing cooler than art after dark, especially when it’s at Frameless. The gallery showcases art in such a unique way, and it’s amazing how you can interact with art from so long ago.
“Hearing some tunes from Soho Radio really added to the unique atmosphere of the night, and they were perfect to listen to while grabbing a drink at the end. I especially loved seeing the work of the featured artist, Maliha Abidi, come to life and learn more about her artwork.”
Check out our Going Out section to stay on top of what’s going on in London and beyond, such as the best London theatre shows and Manchester theatre shows.
