Exhibitions to see this spring

Across the UK, galleries and museums are showcasing the very best in drawing, from from Lucian Freud to Rose Wylie.
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Rose Wylie
Rose Wylie Pink Skater (Will I Win, Will I Win), 2015. Oil on canvas. 208 × 329 cm (overall). Courtesy private collection and JARILAGER Gallery. Photograph courtesy Jari Lager. Photo: Soon-Hak Kwon. © Rose Wylie
Lucian Freud Portrait of a Young Man
Lucian Freud Portrait of a Young Man, 1944 (black crayon & white chalk on paper) © The Lucian Freud Archive. All Rights Reserved 2025 / Bridgeman Images. Private Collection.

Rose Wylie: The Picture Comes First

The Royal Academy, until 19 April 2026

This exhibition brings together Wylie's most recognisable artwork as well as brand new and unseen paintings. Combining contemporary culture, personal experience and historical motifs, her bold, vibrant and often humorous work can be seen in her largest exhibition yet. 

Lucian Freud: Drawing into Painting 

National Portrait Gallery, until 4 May 2026 

Exploring Freud's lifelong dedication to the human face and figure, this exhibition is a chance to delve into the artist's work on paper; from pencil, pen and ink to charcoal and etching. There will also be a carefully selected group of paintings on display which will show the way in which he moved between mediums.

Ishbel Myerscough Soap
Ishbel Myerscough Soap 1, 2025. Oil on board. 20.6 x 25.4 cm (8 1/8 x 10 in)
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Laura Lima The Drawing Drawing, 2026. Photograph: Anne Tetzlaff. Life model: Olia Poliakova.
Boat-Cave
Peter Doig Boat Cave (Saut d'Eau). Etching on paper. Gift of the Artist, presented by the Contemporary Art Society through the Great Works Scheme supported by the Sfumato Foundation, 2025
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Hurvin Anderson Hawksbill Bay, 2020. Tate: Lent by Tate Americas Foundation, courtesy of Mala Gaonkar 2023. © Hurvin Anderson. Courtesy the artist, Thomas Dane Gallery and VeneKlasen

Ishbel Myerscough: Stay at Home, Save Lives

Lyndsey Ingram, until 10 April 2026 

In this exhibition, Myerscough presents work that centres on a series of ink drawings created in 2020 at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, shown with more recent still life and portrait paintings. Exploring themes of domesticity and family the work brings attentive detail to the everyday, highlighting the psychological impact of isolation. 

Laura Lima: The Drawing Drawing

ICA, until 29 March, 2026 

The ICA presents The Drawing Drawing, the first London solo exhibition by Brazilian multidisciplinary artist Laura Lima. The show brings together new and existing performative installations involving sculpture, movement, and public participation. At the heart of the exhibition, a new interactive artwork unsettles the conventions of the life drawing class and with it ideas of subject and object, mastery and value.  

Peter Doig: Morning, Paramin

National Galleries Scotland, until 3 January 2027

This exhibition of 28 etchings celebrates the friendship between Peter Doig and the poet, Derek Walcott. The two men met and became friends whilst Doig lived and worked in Trinidad over almost 20 years. In 2016 Walcott published a book of poems called Morning, Paramin, written in response to Doig's paintings.

Hurvin Anderson

Tate Britain from 26 March 2026 - 23 August 2026 

Hurvin Anderson's first major solo show brings together more than 80 of his vibrant paintings, spanning the artist’s entire career, from his days as a student to new, never-before-seen paintings. Through colour-drenched landscapes and interiors, Anderson meanders back and forth across the Atlantic, between the UK and the Caribbean.