London hosts many museums and galleries, with many offering free admission. Key institutions include the British Museum with its global artefacts, the National Gallery for Western paintings, and the National Portrait Gallery, which holds the world's most extensive portrait collection. The South Kensington cultural quarter features the Victoria and Albert Museum, while Tate Britain showcases British art and Tate Modern presents modern works in the former Bankside Power Station.
190 on view
This week's highlights
A Golden Age of Architecture: Rare Elizabethan and Early Jacobean Drawings by Thorpe and the Smythsons
Sir John Soane's Museum
Jenkin van Zyl: Enclosure
Somerset House
Our Bodies Have Been Bridges
Autograph at Rivington Place
Rising Voices: Contemporary Art from Asia, Australia and the Pacific
Victoria and Albert Museum
Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life in Style
The King's Gallery, Buckingham PalaceVenues in London
See all →- ArtAutograph at Rivington Place4 on view
- ArtChisenhale Art Place5 on view
- ArtEstorick Collection3 on view
- ArtGladwell & Patterson
- ArtHeath Robinson Museum3 on view
- ArtInstitute of Contemporary Arts1 on view
- ArtLeighton House Museum1 on view
- ArtLightroom
- ArtMoco Museum London7 on view
- ArtNational Gallery, London8 on view
- ArtOrleans House Gallery3 on view
- ArtPiano Nobile1 on view
- ArtPitzhanger Manor House and Gallery4 on view
- ArtQuentin Blake Centre for Illustration4 on view
- ArtRoyal Academy of Arts9 on view
- ArtRoyal Institute of British Architects3 on view
- ArtSignet Contemporary Art
- ArtSir John Soane's Museum9 on view
- ArtSomerset House4 on view
- ArtSophia Contemporary Gallery
- ArtSouth London Gallery2 on view
- ArtSouthwark Park Galleries1 on view
- ArtTanya Baxter Contemporary
- ArtTate Modern13 on view
- ArtThackeray Gallery6 on view
- ArtThe Cartoon Museum4 on view
- ArtThe Courtauld Gallery2 on view
- ArtThe King's Gallery, Buckingham Palace2 on view
- ArtThe Photographers' Gallery6 on view
- ArtThe Showroom3 on view
- ArtThe Wallace Collection3 on view
- ArtUCL Art Museum3 on view
- ArtUnit London
- ArtVictoria Miro3 on view
- ArtVictoria and Albert Museum9 on view
- ArtWhite Cube4 on view
- ArtWhitechapel Gallery4 on view
- HistoryBank of England Museum4 on view
- HistoryBrent Museum and Archives
- HistoryCharles Dickens Museum1 on view
- HistoryFlorence Nightingale Museum1 on view
- HistoryFoundling Museum2 on view
- HistoryFreud Museum London2 on view
- HistoryGunnersbury Park Museum3 on view
- HistoryHandel Hendrix House2 on view
- HistoryImperial War Museum London2 on view
- HistoryLondon Museum Docklands2 on view
- HistoryMuseum of Freemasonry1 on view
- HistoryMuseum of Richmond1 on view
- HistoryNational Army Museum2 on view
- HistoryRAF Museum London5 on view
- HistoryRoyal Museums Greenwich3 on view
- HistoryThe Guards Museum2 on view
- HistoryTwickenham Museum
- ScienceHunterian Museum
- ScienceNatural History Museum, London5 on view
- ScienceScience Museum2 on view
- ScienceWellcome Collection5 on view
- SpecialtyDesign Museum9 on view
- SpecialtyGarden Museum1 on view
- SpecialtyHorniman Museum and Gardens1 on view
- SpecialtyMuseum of Brands1 on view
- SpecialtyThe Fan Museum1 on view
- SpecialtyWilliam Morris Gallery1 on view
All current exhibitions
Hernan Bas: TIME TO SHINE! (the salesmen)
Victoria Miro
The exhibition focuses on overlooked characters – from a perfume counter attendant and a gallerist who specialises in ‘cat-made painting,’ to a man who sells seashells by the seashore – capturing the interactions that…
Firenze Lai
White Cube
North and True North
Winter Flowers Week 2026
Garden Museum
Five floral designers, five immersive installations celebrating seasonal British-grown flowers and foliage.
Forgotten India at 80: The Stories You Don’t Know
National Army Museum
This special display sheds light on the experiences of South Asian communities during the Second World War and its immediate aftermath.
Roots
The Photographers' Gallery
This group exhibition at The Print Sales Gallery explores trees, memory, cultural heritage and belonging through photography and mixed media across global landscapes.
Inside Aardman: Wallace & Gromit and Friends
Victoria and Albert Museum
Go behind the scenes of stop-motion animation and explore how Aardman’s iconic characters and worlds are brought to life
Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art
Victoria and Albert Museum
"For me, dress designing is not a profession but an art." – Elsa Schiaparelli
David Smith: Scotland Revisited
Thackeray Gallery
We are delighted to present David Smith RSW’s fourth solo exhibition at Thackeray Gallery, ‘Scotland Revisited’. David Smith is celebrated for his striking seascapes, where bold colour and expressive brushwork bring…
Monika Sosnowska: Weight of Matter
South London Gallery
★★★★ – Time Out The Main Gallery and Fire Station are open: Wed 12-9pm and Thu-Sun 12-6pm Monika Sosnowska is a Polish artist whose sculptural practice explores architecture and urban transformation. Spanning the Main…
R. B. Kitaj: From Fragments
Piano Nobile
In the first half of his career, R. B. Kitaj (1932–2007) gathered and sifted a vast array of source material. It included film stills, illustrations from old books and magazines, book covers and spines, and thumbnail…
Voices in the Room
Foundling Museum
See a small display of three contemporary works by Rachel Kneebone, Tamsin van Essen and Grayson Perry recently acquired by the Museum.
Autumn Knight: I Can't Complain
Institute of Contemporary Arts
29 September – 29 November 2026 I Can’t Complain is a solo exhibition by New York-based artist Autumn Knight. Featuring a new commission alongside recent work, this is the first major presentation of her work in the UK.…
Branding Britain
Museum of Brands
The Museum of Brands is proud to present Branding Britain: Built on Tradition, Shaped by Culture. Opening 4 June, the exhibition explores how Britain’s enduring identity has been moulded, expressed and exported around…
Paola Estrella: Deep Time Currents
Orleans House Gallery
Deep Time Currents is a new iteration of Paola Estrella’s ongoing project The Cenote Ring, bringing together painting, moving image, sound and garments. Rather than presenting nature as a static landscape, Deep Time…
Jenkin van Zyl: Enclosure
Somerset House
A newly commissioned film and installation by Somerset House Studios artist Jenkin van Zyl.
Winston Churchill: The Painter
The Wallace Collection
Join us for a major retrospective of Sir Winston Churchill's paintings.
The Coming of Age
Wellcome Collection
An exhibition that gives you hope about getting old. ★★★★ The Times
Kibuuka Omumbaale
Chisenhale Art Place
Chisenhale Gallery presents Kibuuka Omumbaale, a major new video commission and the first UK exhibition by Kampala-based collective Wakaliga Uganda. The exhibition introduces a subversive take on the superhero action…
Exhibit: ‘The Sad Ghost Club’: Lize Meddings
The Cartoon Museum
‘The Sad Ghost Club’ is here to make feeling feelings less lonely. Created over 10 years ago by illustrator Lize Meddings, the club centres around the character of a sad ghostie learning to better understand themselves,…
The Film London Jarman Award 2026
Whitechapel Gallery
Featuring work from the four artists shortlisted for the prestigious 2026 Film London Jarman Award, the exhibition showcases the incredible diversity within the world of artists’ filmmaking in the UK. The artists…
ALICE MUMFORD
Thackeray Gallery
Alice Mumford is painter of still life and interiors who is known for her skilful use of light. Alice was born in Bogota, Colombia and later moved to Norway with her family. She went to Dartington Hall School in Devon…
Yalda: Celebrating the Longest Night at Leighton House
Leighton House Museum
About the evening Yalda is the ancient Persian festival marking the longest night of the year and the return of light. Traditionally, Yalda is a night when family and friends of all generations gather together, sharing…
Tino Stefanoni: Between Vision and Memory
Estorick Collection
This ‘intervention’ celebrates the work of Tino Stefanoni (Lecco, 1937–2017). Conceived as a dialogue between his paintings and the permanent collection, it precedes a number of retrospectives being organised across…
Wanda and Marion Wulz: Avant-garde Photography in 20th-Century Italy
Estorick Collection
This exhibition explores the pioneering work of sisters Wanda Wulz (1903–1984) and Marion Wulz (1905–1993), key figures in the development of avant-garde photography in 20th-century Italy. In 1928, Wanda and Marion…