A selection of ten excellent exhibitions to visit in April, while munching on Easter eggs and avoiding the April showers.
Executions
Museum of London Docklands, Canary Wharf
(Note: exhibition closes on 16th April)
Adult: £15 | Children (12-17)/Concessions: £12 | Chilren (<12): Free
From Smithfield to Southwark, from Banqueting House to Newgate Prison, executions became embedded in London’s landscape and people’s lives. This exhibition looks at the long history of capital punishment in the capital city.
Chinese and British
British Library, King’s Cross
(Note: exhibition closes on 23rd April)
Free
Chinese communities have been calling the UK home for much longer than many realise. Many are able to trace their heritage to regions across East and Southeast Asia, which has led to a rich and diverse culture across the UK. This display reflects on this long history through photographs, manuscripts and interviews with those who have lived through it.
100 years of The Poppy Factory
Museum of Richmond, Richmond
Free
Founded in the aftermath of the First World War as a means to employ disabled ex-servicemen, The Poppy Factory continues to support veterans and produce Remembrance wreaths from its home on Petersham Road today.
This exhibition explores The Poppy Factory’s fascinating history and displays artefacts which chart the story of this unique local charity.
Ukraine: Photographs from the Frontline
Imperial War Museum, Lambeth
Free
This exhibition presents photographs from internationally renowned photojournalist Anastasia Taylor-Lind. Made during her time in Ukraine between 2014 and June 2022, these powerful works document the devastating reality of living amidst conflict.
Celebrating Seven Decades of Quo
Barbican Library, City of London
Free
A celebration of one of the UK’s most enduring rock bands. Curated by FTMO (the Official Status Quo Fan Club) and Status Quo fan and record collector, Andy Campbell.
Aladdin Sane: 50 Years Exhibition
Southbank Centre, Waterloo
Standard entry: £5 | Members: Free
Fifty years on from the release of David Bowie’s album, this exhibition delves into the creation of its iconic ‘lightning bolt’ cover portrait by Brian Duffy.
Donatello: Sculpting the Renaissance
V&A Museum, South Kensington
Adult: £20 | Young person (12-25)/Student/Concession: £13 | Under 12: Free | Members: Free
The first major UK exhibition to explore the exceptional talents of the Renaissance master Donatello, arguably the greatest sculptor of all time. Experience a fresh vision of the artist and his influence on subsequent generations.
Comprising around 130 objects, the exhibition incorporates a significant number of objects from the V&A’s own collections.
The Ugly Duchess: Beauty and Satire in the Renaissance
National Gallery, Trafalgar Square
Free
This exhibition looks again at one of the best-known faces in the National Gallery: Quinten Massys’s 16th-century depiction of an old woman, a painting known as ‘The Ugly Duchess’. For the first time, this work is displayed with a related drawing after Leonardo da Vinci, showing their shared interest in fantastical, ‘grotesque’ heads and the vibrant artistic exchange between Italy and Northern Europe in the Renaissance.
The Big City: London painted on a grand scale
Guildhall Art Gallery, City of London
Free (donations suggested)
The display celebrates monumental painters of the capital and showcases some of the largest paintings in the Gallery’s collection. A unique opportunity to view so many of these huge masterpieces together in one space.
A Great and Dirty City: Dickens and the London Fog
Charles Dickens Museum, Bloomsbury
Adult: £13.13 | Children (6-16): £7.88 | Concessions: £11.03
This exhibition peers through the London fog to explore the circumstances that created this problem and how Dickens was inspired by the phenomenon.
