A selection of ten exhibitions to visit in London before the clocks go back and the darkness falls into winter.
Wren at Work – Wren300 Exhibition
Guildhall Art Gallery, City of London
(Note: closes on 15th Oct)
Free
Visit this re-creation of Wren’s St Paul’s working ‘office’ and experience the intensity of a significant moment in the Capital’s history, the rebuilding of London and the new St Paul’s cathedral after the 1666 fire.
A Great and Dirty City: Dickens and the London Fog
Charles Dickens Museum, Bloomsbury
(Note: closes on 22nd Oct)
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.
WAVE: Currents in Japanese Graphic Arts
Japan House London, Kensington High Street
(Note: closes on 22nd Oct)
Free
Explore the vibrant diversity of Japanese graphic arts in this bold exhibition which bridges the worlds of fine art, commercial illustration and counterculture.
The work of a selection of 60 Japanese artists is presented, with late 20th-century innovators Tanaami Keiichi and Yumura Teruhiko featured alongside a number of emerging artists being exhibited for the first time in the UK.
Christy
Museum of Brands, Ladbroke Grove
Adult: £9 | Children (7-16): £5 | Concessions: £7
Christy, the near 175-year-old British heritage brand credited with creating towelling as we know it today, is the centre of a two-month exhibition at London’s Museum of Brands.
Treasures of Gold and Silver Wire
Guildhall Art Gallery, City of London
Adults: £10 | Children (<12): Free | Concession: £7
Featuring over 200 items dating from the Middle Ages to the present day, many of them on display for the first time, Treasures of Gold and Silver Wire will present historical items and royal, military, ecclesiastical, and theatrical costumes, and fine examples of modern jewellery, silversmithing, and embroidery.
Admonitions of the Instructress to the Court Ladies
British Museum, Bloomsbury
Free
This masterpiece is considered a milestone in Chinese painting history.
Traditionally attributed to Gu Kaizhi (about AD 345–406), it probably dates to between AD 400 and 700. Due to conservation precautions, it can only be displayed for six weeks a year.
Inventing the Future
Freemasons’ Hall, Covent Garden
Free
This exhibition celebrates the Tercentenary of the Constitutions of the Freemasons. This book, now almost forgotten by non-freemasons, had a remarkable and unexpected impact.
Titanosaur
Natural History Museum, South Kensington
Adult: £16 | Child (4-16): £9 | Concession: £12.95
Four times heavier than Dippy the Diplodocus, 12 metres longer than Hope the blue whale and making its European debut, prepare to meet titanosaur and learn all about life as the biggest dinosaur. Patagotitan mayorum, the most complete gigantic dinosaur ever discovered.
The Van de Veldes: Greenwich, Art and the Sea
Queen’s House, Greenwich
Free
This exhibition celebrates these forgotten masters and their practice, marking 350 years since they arrived in England. It also reveals how the family’s legacy as renowned émigré artists transformed British visual culture and inspired future generations of artists including J.M.W. Turner.
Oh Boy! Boy’s Dress 1760-1930
Fashion and Textile Museum, Bermondsey
Adults: £12.65 | Students: £10.45 | Concessions: £11.55 | Children under 12: Free
Breeched: No More Dresses explores the ceremony of entry to the masculine world, taking place after six years of age, through abandoning dresses in favour of breeches, focusing on 1760 through to 1810. Featuring a dimity gown and coat; a robust three-piece fustian breeches suit and a block-printed skeleton suit, alongside other fascinating pieces.
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