If you missed it in September, please visit the Courtauld Gallery to see Claude Monet’s (1840-1926) views of the Thames. Monet was one of French Impressionism’s leading protagonists and, thus, the cornerstone of modern art. What most don’t know is that his most noteworthy paintings were, in fact, painted in London, not in France!
Of course, Frieze London and Frieze Masters at Regents Park are must-sees. If you have already done your rounds there, another exciting exhibition of London is Frank Auerbach’s seven-decade career, during which he painted many of the sites to see, such as Oxford Street and Hampstead Heath. He is showing until December 7 at Offer Waterman & Francis Outred.
For those of us who remember the 80s, there was Reaganomics and his Revolution, there was the fall of communism, AIDS, the yuppie culture, Ghost Busters and Die Hard, and then there was the fashion catapulted to a global scale through MTV. Madonna and Boy George became fashion style icons, and London especially became the fashion metropole for Punk culture and new-wave. If all of this rings a bell and brings forth a bit of nostalgia, an 80s fashion fix can be obtained at the Fashion and Textile Museum with its 80s Fashion exhibition.
If you feel up to an early evening stroll, Art After Dark runs from October 10 to 12, when central London stays wide awake after hours. It includes an art installation in Leicester Square Gardens by Chila Kuari Singh Burman MBE – her vibrant neon light displays will make you reminisce about the 80s again.
Other exciting exhibitions are Francis Bacon at the National Portrait Gallery, Wildlife Photographer of the Year at the Natural History Museum, Constable and the Hay Wain at The National Gallery and Tim Burton at the Design Museum. His best-known films include Batman and Edward Scissorhands, and this exhibition gives you a front-row seat in the performance of his imagination, showcasing his sketchbooks, sculptural installations, storyboards, paintings and photographs.
