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Our top 5 exhibitions of 2020
With an overwhelming selection of exhibitions to look forward to in 2020, we've put together a short guide on the 5 we're most excited to see.
Affordable Art Fair
Tuesday 7 January, 2020
In need of a stroke of creative inspiration? With an overwhelming selection of exhibitions to look forward to in 2020, we’ve saved you some of the hard work by putting together a short guide on the 5 we’re most excited to see…
Picasso and Paper
The Royal Academy | 25 January – 13 April 2020
As one of the best-known and most recognisable artists in history, we’ve all seen rather a lot of Picasso over the years; is it possible to reveal something new? This blockbuster exhibition intends to show a lesser-known side of Picasso’s work – all based on paper. Picasso utilised this material in more ways than we knew possible: he burnt it, tore it, and produced intricate three-dimensional sculptures.
With the promise of more than 300 artworks, sketchbooks, letters and photographs spanning Picasso’s 80-year career, we’re totally sold (and already in the inevitable queue for tickets).
Cecil Beaton’s Bright Young Things
National Portrait Gallery | 12 March – 7 June 2020
As we enter the ’20s of the 21st century, what could possibly be more apt? Experience the glamorous world of the ‘Bright Young Things’ of the ’20s and ’30s through the eyes of iconic British photographer Cecil Beaton.
Delve into this extraordinarily extravagant era, with the exhibition featuring the leading artists, writers and socialites of the day, and follow Beaton’s notable ascension from middle-class schoolboy to prolific society figure.
Artemisia
National Gallery | 4 April – 26 July 2020
2020 is set to be a huge year for women artists, with some leading galleries decisively highlighting females creatives of all eras. We can’t wait for the first major exhibition of works by Artemisia Gentileschi, who at a time when women artists weren’t widely celebrated, enjoyed a long and successful career as a painter.
Expect to see around 35 of her best-known works and self-portraits from an array of public and private international collections, and learn more about her illustrious career: from her studies in Rome, to her time in Florence, where she established herself both professionally and personally.
Alice: Curiouser and Curiouser
V&A | 27 June 2020 – 10 January 2021
Take a step through the looking glass and immerse yourself in the curious world of Alice in Wonderland this summer.
With intriguing plans for innovative and theatrical staging, this is set to be an experience to remember. Learn more about the classic story’s inception, countless iterations and journey to becoming a global phenomenon, whilst enjoying unprecedented access to hundreds of stunning illustrations, photographs and prints – we can’t wait.
England’s Creative Coast
Turner Contemporary and other locations | 1 April – 30 November 2020
For a chance to explore the great outdoors, discover 7 extraordinary new art commissions by leading contemporary artists in the landscape of Kent, Essex and Sussex.
Margate gem Turner Contemporary have coordinated this ambitious series of pieces, to span what they’ve dubbed ‘England’s Creative Coast’, stretching 1,400km of shoreline from the South Downs to the Thames Estuary. Brave the elements and take a tour of these bold, site-specific sculptures by artists including Michael Rakowitz, Katrina Palmer and Andreas Angelidakis.
Header Image: ‘Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe’ after Manet I, Mougins, 26 January – 13 March 1962. Linocut on Arches wove paper, printed by Arnéra in six passes, in dark purple, then yellow, then red, then green, then light blue, then black, fifth state, 62 x 75.2 cm. Musée National Picasso-Paris. Pablo Picasso gift in lieu, 1979. MP3488. Photo © RMN-Grand Palais (Musée National Picasso-Paris) / Marine Beck-Coppola. © Succession Picasso/DACS 2019.
Images top to bottom:
Self-portrait, 1918. Pencil and charcoal on wove paper, 64.2 x 49.4 cm. Musée National Picasso-Paris. Pablo Picasso Gift in lieu, 1979. MP794. Photo © RMN-Grand Palais (Musée National Picasso-Paris) / Mathieu Rabeau © Succession Picasso/DACS 2019.
Baba Heaton as ‘Heloise’ in ‘Great Lovers Pageant’ by Cecil Beaton, 1927, National Portrait Gallery, London.
Artemisia Gentileschi, ‘Self Portrait as a Lute Player’, about 1615-18 © Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art.
Alice in Wonderland. The Royal Ballet. Zenaida Yanowsky © ROH, Johan Persson, 2011.
Margate, courtesy of Visit Thanet and Thanet District Council.
