London

Edvard Munch Portraits

13 March - 15 June 2025

National Portrait Gallery, London

 

Hans Jæger, 1889 by Edvard Munch © Nasjonalmuseet for kunst, arkitektur og design, The Fine Art Collections. Photo: Nasjonalmuseet/Børre Høstland.

Widely regarded as one of the great portraitists of the 19th and 20th centuries, Edvard Munch consistently produced intimate portraits of family, friends, lovers, writers, artists, patrons and collectors, together with an extraordinary range of self-portraits. With energetic brushstrokes, bold colour and a direct sense of engagement with the sitter, these works have had a strong influence on the portrait genre.

Edvard Munch Portraits will be the first exhibition in the UK to focus on this important, but sometimes overlooked, aspect of the artist’s work. The exhibition will show how Munch painted portraits as commissions and for personal reasons, with many pictures doubling up as icons or examples of the human condition despite being based on the direct observation of named individuals.

More Info www.npg.org.uk

 

Copyright Text: National Portrait Gallery, London

 

ARPITA SINGH: REMEMBERING

Serpentine North
 20 March – 27 July 2025

Arpita Singh, My Lollipop City: Gemini Rising, 2005. Vadehra Art Gallery © Arpita Singh.

Serpentine is delighted to present Remembering, the first institutional solo exhibition of Arpita Singh’s work in London. Open at Serpentine North from 20 March to 27 July 2025, the exhibition will showcase works selected in consultation with the artist from her prolific career which expands over six decades.

 

Born in Baranagar in 1937, Singh emerged in the 1960s, developing a painting practice that brings together Surrealism and figuration with Indian Court painting narratives. She combined this with periods of abstraction, using pen, ink, and pastels to form dynamic lines and perforations on the surface to create layers and textures.

 

Remembering at Serpentine North will explore the full breadth of her practice, ranging from large-scale oil paintings to more intimate watercolours and ink drawings.

 

The paintings on view will celebrate Singh’s endless experimentation with colour and mark making to figuratively explore emotional responses to social upheaval and international humanitarian crises.

 

 

More www.serpentinegalleries.org

 

Copyright Text: Serpentine North

 

Siena: The Rise of Painting, 1300 ‒1350

8 March – 22 June 2025

National Gallery, London

 

X10748: Duccio Maestà - Panels, 1308-11

 

The Calling of the Apostles Peter and Andrew,

 

Tempera and gold leaf on panel

 

43.3 x 46.2 x 4.4 cm

 

National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC (1939.1.141)

 

Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington

 

 

Step into Siena. It’s the beginning of the 14th century in central Italy. A golden moment for art, a catalyst of change. Artists Duccio, Simone Martini and the brothers Pietro and Ambrogio Lorenzetti are forging a new way of painting.

They paint with a drama that no one has seen before. Faces show emotion. Bodies move in space. Stories flow across panels in colourful scenes.

We bring to life a vibrant city of artists collaborating, learning and looking. After centuries of separation, we reunite scenes that once formed part of Duccio’s monumental 'Maestà' altarpiece. Panels from Simone Martini’s glittering Orsini polyptych come together for the first time in living memory.

This local artistic phenomenon made waves internationally. Gilded glass, illuminated manuscripts, ivory Madonnas, rugs and silks show Siena’s creative energy spilling over between painters, metalworkers, weavers and carvers across Europe.

With over a hundred exhibits made by artisans working in Siena, Naples, Avignon and beyond, see some of Europe's earliest, most exquisite and most significant artworks.

The exhibition was organised by the National Gallery and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

More Info www.nationalgallery.org.uk

 

Copyright Text: National Gallery, London

 

NAOMI: In Fashion

V&A South Kensington
22 June 2024 – 6 April 2025

 

Photo by Dave Benett Getty Images for Victoria & Albert Museum

 

The V&A will open the major exhibition NAOMI: In Fashion, which explores the
unequalled 40-year career of fashion model and cultural icon Naomi Campbell (b. 1970).
A trailblazer in the field, her celebrated ability to ‘walk’ the catwalk, along with the special
alchemy she creates through collaborations with every major fashion house, fashion publication
and leading fashion photographers, ensure that after four decades in the fashion
industry, Campbell continues to star in catwalk shows, advertising campaigns
and editorial fashion shoots around the world. In parallel, Campbell’s cultural leadership,
activism and championing of emerging creatives transcend the traditional parameters of the
fashion model role.
Produced in collaboration with Campbell and foregrounding her voice and perspective, NAOMI:
In Fashion is the first exhibition of its kind. The exhibition draws upon Campbell’s own extensive
wardrobe of haute couture and ready-to-wear ensembles from key moments in her career along
with loans from designer archives and objects from the V&A’s collections. Highlights include a
dramatic 1989 Thierry Mugler car-inspired corset, Campbell’s look from Sarah Burton’s last Alexander McQueen show, a pink Valentino ensemble worn at the 2019 Met Gala and a pair of
staggeringly high Vivienne Westwood platform shoes worn by Campbell during her famous 1993
catwalk fall. The exhibition includes around 100 looks and accessories from the best of global
high fashion chronicling her 40 years in the industry. Visitors can encounter designs by
Alexander McQueen, Anna Sui, Azzedine Alaïa, Burberry, Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, Gianni and
Donatella Versace, Jean Paul Gaultier, John Galliano, Karl Lagerfeld, Kenneth Ize, Torishéju
Dumi, Valentino, Virgil Abloh, Vivienne Westwood, Yves Saint Laurent and many others.

Naomi Campbell said: “I’m honoured to be asked by the V&A to share my life in clothes with the
world.”

More www.vam.ac.uk

 

Copyright Text: V&A South Kensington