The best art exhibitions on now in London: February, March and April 2026

Coming after a strong season of winter art exhibitions, a fresh new wave of shows are set to open in London during February, March and April 2026. This post is a guide through the highlights of free exhibitions in London, as well as current art exhibitions at museums like the National Gallery, V&A and Tate. Read on to find the must-see art exhibitions as well as hidden gems.

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Spring art exhibitions in London: February, March and April 2026

Stubbs: Portrait of a Horse

The National Gallery · 12 March – 31 May 2026

This major exhibition explores George Stubbs’ lifelong fascination with horses, bringing together paintings, drawings, and anatomical studies. Stubbs’ intense observation of movement and form reveals how central animals were to British visual culture in the 18th century. The exhibition offers a fresh way of looking at a painter often reduced to sporting art alone.

Chiharu Shiota: Threads of Life

Hayward Gallery · 17 February – 3 May 2026

Chiharu Shiota is best known for her large-scale installations made from interwoven thread, often stretching across entire rooms. At the Hayward, her work explores memory, connection, and absence, turning the gallery into an immersive and contemplative space.

Tracey Emin: A Second Life

Tate Modern · 27 February – 31 August 2026

This wide-ranging retrospective traces Tracey Emin’s career from the 1990s to the present day. Bringing together painting, sculpture, textiles, neons, and installation, the exhibition looks at how her intensely personal visual language has evolved over four decades. This one is sure to be popular; book ahead.

New Contemporaries 2026

South London Gallery · 30 January – 12 April 2026

New Contemporaries is one of the most reliable ways to get a sense of where emerging British art is heading. The exhibition brings together work by recent graduates from across the UK, spanning painting, sculpture, installation, film, and performance.

Rose Wylie: The Picture Comes First

Royal Academy of Arts · 28 February – 19 April 2026

This spring exhibition at the Royal Academy focuses on Rose Wylie’s large-scale, instinctive paintings, which draw freely on art history, film, sport, and everyday life. Her work is often deliberately awkward and immediate, combining bold colour with handwritten text and unexpected references. It’s a show that rewards time spent looking slowly rather than trying to decode everything at once.

Michaelina Wautier

Royal Academy of Arts · 27 March – 21 June 2026

This long-overdue exhibition brings renewed attention to the 17th-century Flemish painter Michaelina Wautier. The Royal Academy’s presentation highlights the breadth of her work, from portraits and genre scenes to ambitious history paintings, placing her firmly among the most compelling artists of her time.

Hurvin Anderson

Tate Britain · 26 March – 23 August 2026

Hurvin Anderson’s paintings sit somewhere between landscape, abstraction, and memory. Drawing on personal experience and wider cultural references, his work often revisits specific places again and again, allowing mood and atmosphere to shift subtly over time.

David Hockney

Serpentine North Gallery · 12 March – 23 August 2026

This exhibition at the Serpentine brings together recent work by David Hockney, focusing on colour, perception, and new ways of seeing. It’s a rare chance to encounter his latest experiments in a free gallery setting.

Cecily Brown: Picture Making

Serpentine South Gallery · 27 March – 6 September 2026

This major exhibition surveys Cecily Brown’s painting practice, tracing how her energetic, densely layered works engage with art history while remaining resolutely contemporary. Moving between abstraction and figuration, her paintings reward sustained looking and sit comfortably within the Serpentine’s tradition of ambitious painterly shows.

Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art

V&A South Kensington · Opens 28 March 2026

This major exhibition explores the work of Elsa Schiaparelli and her close relationship with artists and surrealist ideas. Moving between fashion, sculpture, and design, it makes a strong case for her role in shaping 20th-century visual culture. Another one that will be extremely popular, so book ahead.

Nigerian Modernism

Tate Modern · 8 October 2025 – 10 May 2026

This landmark exhibition traces the development of modern art in Nigeria from the late colonial period through the decades following independence. Bringing together painting, sculpture, textiles, and works on paper, it highlights how artists negotiated modernism, national identity, and international influence in distinctive ways.

Turner & Constable: Rivals and Originals

Tate Britain · 27 November 2025 – 12 April 2026

Marking the 250th anniversary of both artists’ births, this exhibition brings J.M.W. Turner and John Constable into direct dialogue. It looks at how rivalry, influence, and differing approaches to landscape shaped British painting at the turn of the 19th century, with a substantial selection of paintings and works on paper.

The Griffin Catalyst Exhibition: Seurat and the Sea

The Courtauld Gallery · 13 February – 17 May 2026

This focused exhibition at the Courtauld brings together Georges Seurat’s paintings and drawings of the French coast. It offers a rare chance to see how his approach to light, colour, and atmosphere developed through sustained engagement with the sea.

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