Discover the best London art exhibitions in 2026, from Tate Modern and the V&A to the Royal Academy, with major shows by Tracey Emin, Friday Kahlo and David Hockney.
The Must See Shows at Tate Modern, V&A, Royal Academy & Beyond
London’s 2026 art calendar is marked by an ambitious programme of museum exhibitions, international retrospectives and cross-disciplinary shows that reaffirm the capital’s position as a global cultural leader. Major institutions including Tate Modern, the Royal Academy, the Barbican, Serpentine Galleries and the Victoria and Albert Museum are presenting exhibitions that range from deeply personal artistic narratives to expansive historical surveys and fashion-as-art explorations. Together, they create a season that invites slower looking, critical reflection and a renewed engagement with material, place and identity.
Together, these exhibitions define London’s cultural landscape in 2026, balancing blockbuster appeal with scholarly depth. They reflect a broader institutional shift toward storytelling that is at once personal and global, historical and forward-looking — an art season that rewards curiosity, time and attention.
This landmark retrospective brings together more than four decades of Tracey Emin’s work across painting, drawing, neon, film and installation. Moving beyond the provocative narratives often associated with her early career, the exhibition focuses on Emin’s enduring exploration of vulnerability, memory and the human body. Recent large-scale paintings reveal a shift toward raw figuration and expressive mark-making, positioning her firmly within the lineage of contemporary painters while maintaining the autobiographical intensity that defines her practice.
Read our Tracey Emin, Sex & Solitude, Florence exhibition feature here
Address: Tate Modern, Bankside, London SE1 9TG Dates: 26 February – 30 August 2026
This presentation of David Hockney’s later works examines the artist’s continual experimentation with perception, technology and landscape. Monumental studies of nature sit alongside digitally produced compositions, reflecting Hockney’s embrace of new tools while maintaining his unmistakable chromatic language. Set within Kensington Gardens, the exhibition becomes an extension of its surroundings, encouraging viewers to consider how we experience time, light and environment through both traditional and contemporary media.
The Barbican’s survey of Colombian artist Beatriz González introduces audiences to a powerful body of work that transforms political imagery into vivid, often unsettling paintings. Drawing on press photography, popular graphics and national history, González interrogates how societies process violence, power and collective memory. Her distinctive visual language — at once playful and critical — offers an important counterpoint to Western narratives and highlights the increasing global scope of London’s exhibition programming.
Address: Barbican Art Gallery, Silk Street, London EC2Y 8DS Dates: February – May 2026
One of the most anticipated exhibitions of the year, this major Frida Kahlo presentation examines the depth of her artistic practice beyond biography. Paintings, archival materials and contextual works explore themes of identity, symbolism, indigeneity and self-representation. By situating Kahlo within broader modernist dialogues, the exhibition underscores her influence across contemporary art, fashion and visual culture while reaffirming her status as a singular voice in 20th-century art.
Address: Tate Modern, Bankside, London SE1 9TG Dates: June 2026 – January 2027
This exhibition revisits Ana Mendieta’s influential earth-body works through film, photography and sculptural interventions. Created in dialogue with the natural world, Mendieta’s practice explores exile, belonging and spiritual connection to landscape. In today’s context of ecological awareness and migration narratives, her work resonates with renewed urgency, offering a poetic meditation on presence, absence and cultural identity.
Address: Tate Modern, Bankside, London SE1 9TG Dates: July 2026 – January 2027
Richard Dadd Royal Academy of Arts The Fairy Feller’s Master-Stroke
A rare opportunity to encounter Richard Dadd’s intricate and visionary paintings, this retrospective reconsiders the Victorian artist’s extraordinary imagination. Best known for his densely detailed fantastical scenes, Dadd created many works while in confinement, producing images that blur reality and hallucination. The exhibition combines art historical scholarship with psychological insight, offering a compelling rediscovery of a singular figure in British art.
Address: Royal Academy of Arts, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1J 0BD Dates: July – October 2026
The V&A explores the radical vision of Elsa Schiaparelli, whose collaborations with Surrealist artists such as Salvador Dalí transformed couture into conceptual expression. Featuring garments, accessories, sketches and artworks, the exhibition traces the house’s evolution from the 1920s to its contemporary revival. By positioning fashion within an art-historical framework, the show highlights the enduring dialogue between material innovation, illusion and artistic imagination.
Address: V&A South Kensington, Cromwell Road, London SW7 2RL Dates: 21 March – 1 November 2026
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