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New Exhibitions in September

The Bayeux Tapestry  exhibition at the British Museum starts on September 10; it's already sold out for this year but booking for the rest of the run, from January 1 through to July 11, will open on October 21. If you've never seen this most breathtaking of historical artefacts, you may want to seize the chance before it leaves London next year for its permanent home in Normandy, which will have been renovated during its absence. At Southampton City Art Gallery, we're promised an extensive exhibition of British art from the first half of the 20th century, drawing on the museum's own substantial holdings and those of the Ingram Collection . Running from September 26 to February 21,  Art Then! British Painting, Sculpture and Drawing, 1910-1960  will feature artists including Barbara Hepworth, Gwen John , Paul Nash and Eric Ravilious.   There might not be much new on in London this month, but we'll always have Paris. Starting at the Musée Jacquemart-André with Time...
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Picasso: Twice as Pricey at the Tate as in Paris

It's getting more expensive to visit London's big art exhibitions, with prices in 2018 crossing the £20 mark. The Picasso 1932 show at Tate Modern starting in early March looks to be setting a new benchmark.

The headline price for tickets to Picasso, described by the Tate as "one of the most significant shows the gallery has ever staged", will be £22, or £25 including a Gift Aid donation. The exhibition is a joint effort with the Musée Picasso in Paris, where it's just finished its run. In Paris, though, full-price tickets cost just 12.50 euros, or £11, half the London level.
Exhibition prices at the Tate have been hovering just under the £20 mark recently. The Modigliani show on Bankside and the Impressionists on Millbank both cost a headline £19.70 (£17.70 without a Gift Aid donation), while the Bacon and Freud show starting at Tate Britain on February 28 is £19.50 (though it's £17 if you book in advance).

Both the recent Cezanne show at the National Portrait Gallery and the outstanding Charles I exhibition at the Royal Academy have cost £18 without a Gift Aid donation, £20 with.

The National Gallery is adopting a similar trend. You'll pay £20 during the week and £22 at weekends to see Monet & Architecture starting there in April, though tickets are £2 cheaper if booked online.
Consumer prices in Britain have risen about 7% in the past five years. By comparison, tickets for Tate Modern's big spring show appear to have more than doubled. The Roy Lichtenstein retrospective in 2013 cost £14.

We asked the Tate to comment on the pricing for Picasso, but so far it hasn't responded.

How do the big shows on the Continent compare? The Louvre is doing Delacroix starting next month and is charging 15 euros, while you can get into the Rubens exhibition at the Städel in Frankfurt for 14 euros during the week.

Is more than £20 for an art show expensive? Not necessarily. Compared with a couple of hours spent at a top sporting event or the theatre, it's good value. And West End cinema tickets are not far off £20 these days either. The big question is whether these £20 blockbusters will live up to their billing....

Images

Pablo Picasso, Nude in a Black Armchair (Nu au fauteuil noir), 1932, Private collection, USA. (c) Succession Picasso/DACS London, 2017
Claude Monet, The Water-Lily Pond (Le Bassin aux nymphéas), 1899. (c) The National Gallery, London

Pablo Picasso
Nude in a Black Armchair (Nu au fauteuil noir)
1932
Oil paint on canvas
1613 x 1295 mm
Private Collection, USA
© Succession Picasso/DACS London, 2017
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