Exhibitions to see this summer

Frank Bowling Frank Bowling with his artwork Swan II (1964) in Frank Bowling: Driven to Draw at the Royal Drawing School, 2026. Photo © David Levene.

Frank Bowling Potarospray, 1980, acrylic on canvas, 116 x 81 x 5 cm. Courtesy the artist. Photographed by Jess Littlewood.

Frank Bowling: Driven to Draw

Royal Drawing School gallery, open until 22 August 2026

Spanning more than sixty years, this exhibition brings together works from Frank Bowling's personal archive, offering a rare and intimate insight into the role drawing has played throughout his practice. Widely celebrated for his monumental abstract paintings, Bowling has consistently used drawing as a vital means of thinking, experimenting and recording ideas. As his son Ben Bowling recently reflected, drawing is for Bowling a “first order activity” — a fundamental human need, akin to eating and breathing, and a primary way of communicating. This exhibition reveals that instinctive and lifelong relationship with drawing, tracing the development of his visual language from his student years to the present day.

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The exhibition is organised by the Royal Drawing School in collaboration with the Frank Bowling Studio and the Frank Bowling Foundation.

The exhibition is kindly supported by The Maria Manetti & Jan Shrem Foundation

Frank Bowling: Seeking the Sublime

Fitzwilliam Museum, open until 17 January 2027

This summer you can also see Bowling's work at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Camberidge. Frank Bowling: Seeking the Sublime examines the connections between art across time and explore Bowling’s works and his artistic influences, from Titian to Turner and his contemporary Aubrey Williams to Tracey Emin. Find out more.

Richard Dadd Bacchanalian Scene, 1862. Oil on wood. 35.6 x 24.1 cm. Tate: Lent from a private collection 1993. Photo: Tate

Richard Dadd: Beyond Bedlam

Royal Academy, opens 25 July

Best known for his paintings of Shakespearean fairy scenes, Richard Dadd (b.1817) was a student at the RA schools and had a successful career as an established artist. However, on return from a trip across the Eastern Mediterranean, he suffered from delusions which resulting in him killing his father. He was then hospitalised at Bethlam and Broadmoor until his death in 1886. The work he produced in these years drew heavily on his memory and imagination and are some of the most original and imaginative works in British art. Bringing together more than 100 works, this exhibition tells the story of Dadd's life and art. Find out more

Lewis Hammond Installation image of Lewis Hammond: Crystal in the Shade at The Hepworth Wakefield, May 2026. Photo: Michael Pollard

Lewis Hammond: Crystal in the Shade

The Hepworth Wakefield, open until 1 November

This exhibition marks Lewis Hammond’s (b. 1987, Wolverhampton) first museum presentation in the UK, featuring a new body of paintings developed specifically for The Hepworth Wakefield. Hammond’s practice reflects a fascination with the materiality of oil paint and the evocative power of dark, earthy tones. His charged, fantastical paintings interweave mythological elements with contemporary themes and explore the interplay between personal relationships and global socio-political events. Find out more.

Frida Kahlo Frida Kahlo (Mexican, 1907–1954), Untitled [Self-portrait with thorn necklace and hummingbird], 1940. Oil on canvas mounted to board. Nickolas Muray Collection of Mexican Art, 66.6. Harry Ransom Center.

Frida: The Making of an Icon

Tate Modern, open until 3 January 2027

This exhibition will showcase over 30 of Kahlo’s most iconic works that introduce her ‘many selves’ – the dedicated wife, the intellectual, the modern artist, and the political activist. Alongside treasured garments, jewellery, photographs and memorabilia, there are over 200 works by her contemporaries and the artists she inspired from later generations, celebrating her lasting impact on those who continue to reimagine and reclaim her remarkable story. The show will culminate by exploring ‘Fridamania’. Kahlo’s transformation into a global brand will feature more than 200 commercial objects. Find out more

Henry Moore: Monumental Nature

Kew Gardens, open until 31 January 2027

Set across Kew's iconic landscapes and world-renowned botanical collections, the Henry Moore: Monumental Nature exhibition brings art and nature together on an extraordinary scale, blurring the boundaries between sculpture and living form. Find out more.

Ferdinand Waldmüller View of the Dachstein from the Sophien-Doppelblick near Ischl, 1835. Belvedere, Vienna

Waldmüller Landscapes

National Gallery, until 20 September 2026

This exhibition is the first ever presentation of work by Austrian artist Ferdinand Georg Waldmuller in the UK. Born in 1793 Waldmüller, is one of the most important figures in Austrian 19th-century art, significant for his work both as an artist and as an influential teacher. As well as landscapes, he painted portraits, genre pictures and still lifes (notably flowers and fruit), all characterised by his absolute commitment to truth. Waldmüller’s attention to detail, photographic clarity and equal treatment of elements in the landscape is comparable to the work of the British Pre-Raphaelite artists. Find out more.