The Art Exhibitions Blog

The headline new exhibition in London in October is Francis Bacon: Human Presence at the National Portrait Gallery, which assembles more than 55 works to examine Bacon's far-from-traditional approach to portraiture from the 1950s onwards. Among the sitters: Lucian Freud. The show runs from October 10 to January 19.  Those in search of something less visceral might prefer to Discover Constable &  The Hay Wain  at the National Gallery. This is the latest in a series of relatively small free shows at the gallery looking at a single picture in depth; we've found them very enjoyable so far. Constable's painting is now seen as presenting a traditional view of the countryside; when it was made, though, it was regarded as rather radical. On from October 17 to February 2.   More than five years ago, we went to the Nunnery Gallery in Bow in east London to see an exhibition of paintings of the local area by Doreen Fletcher . Those modern cityscapes could be seen as fo...

A big theme to start us off this month at London's Royal Academy. Entangled Pasts, 1768-Now: Art, Colonialism and Change  brings together more than 100 contemporary and historic artworks to examine empire and slavery. Joshua Reynolds, John Singleton Copley and JMW Turner on the one hand, Lubaina Himid, Yinka Shonibare and John Akomfrah on the other. It's on from February 3 to April 28.  Also at the RA, in a free display from February 17, is Flaming June , Frederic Leighton's masterpiece, a sensuous artwork that's absolutely stunning when you see it in the flesh, as it were, even if you don't normally much like Victorian painting. Usually housed in a museum in Puerto Rico, it's on show alongside others by Leighton and his contemporaries and works that inspired him. No rush, it can be seen till January 12 next year.  There'll be less classical drapery and a lot more contemporary modishness on display in Sargent and Fashion at Tate Britain from February 22. Jo...

The camera takes centre stage in London this month, starting at Tate Modern on June 13 with Capturing the Moment , a show that aims to explore the relationship between painting and photography through work by artists including Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, David Hockney and Gerhard Richter. No rush: It's on until January 28.  Missed the National Portrait Gallery? It reopens after refurbishment on June 22 with Yevonde: Life and Colour , exploring the career of the pioneering London woman photographer who was an early user of colour film in the 1930s. "Be original or die," she said, and you can see just how original she was until September 15. Despite Yevonde, the early 60s in Britain still seemed to happen in black-and-white, and here's the chance to view the biggest cultural phenomenon of the decade through the lens of one of the four young Liverpudlians who were conquering the world. Paul McCartney, Photographs 1963–64: Eyes of the Storm  is on at the NPG from June 28 ...