London Education & Art Foundation
Spring has truly come to London. With blossom on the trees and the sun daring to break through the winter cloud, it’s time to start exploring the joys of London’s cultural scene once again! For this reason, the LEAF team have decided to pull together our top 5 exhibition picks for April 2022.
- The Art of Banksy
Located just a 3 minute walk from Covent Garden, this exhibition is the largest Banksy exhibition ever to be held. All the pieces in the collection have been loaned by private collectors, and the pieces include prints, canvases, screenprints, unique and limited edition pieces. The exhibition has welcomed over 1 million people thus far, and continues to delight visitors. Banksy is an England-based street artist, active since the 1990s, whose works are thought-provoking and often subversive.
- The Credit Suisse Exhibition: Raphael at the National Gallery
https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/exhibitions/the-credit-suisse-exhibition-raphael
9th April - 31st July 2022
This exhibition is truly not one to miss. With works on loan from the Louvre in Paris, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, the Prado Museum in Madrid, the Uffizi Museum in Florence and the Vatican Museum in Rome, this is a unique opportunity to see works from throughout Raphael’s life in the heart of London. Raphael was an Italian painter and architect, and is widely considered the supreme painter of the High Renaissance.
- Inspiring Walt Disney: The Animation of French Decorative Arts at the Wallace Collection
6th April 2022 - 16th October 2022
This new exhibition at the Wallace Collection in London is a collaborative effort with New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, which looks at 18th century French art and furniture alongside 20th century Disney animations. The connections between these two movements is manifest, and the gallery is also hosting members’ previews and talks for the public, to help viewers understand the great impact the French Rococo had on Walt Disney Studios.
- The Morgan Stanley Exhibition: Van Gogh. Self-portraits at The Courtauld
3rd February 2022 - 8th May 2022
This exhibition displays around half of the self-portraits Van Gogh created during his painting career, and reunites paintings which last were in the presence of each other in Van Gogh’s studio. This exhibition ends in early May, so definitely do take this opportunity to go visit in April! Van Gogh was a Dutch post-Impressionist painter, known primarily for his self-portraits and famous Sunflowers.
- Japan: Courts and Culture at the Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace
8th April 2022 - 26th February 2023
This exhibition displays some of the most significant and impressive examples of Japanese design and art housed in the West. Pieces on display include samurai armour, embroidery, porcelain and diplomatic gifts. The works demonstrate the artistic and cultural exchange that has occurred between Britain and Japan over a period of 300 years, and will not be one to miss.
While we have selected these exhibitions as being worth visiting this April, this list is by no means exhaustive! As always, there is a plethora of events going on in London, and as the weather improves, why not wander around London and explore the delights on offer?
The LEAF team
