Throughout her long reign, the Queen was often photographed with a clutch of corgis in tow – she owned over 30 Pembroke Welsh corgis during her lifetime.

In this exhibition at The Wallace Collection, one room is dedicated to photographs of Her Majesty with her canine companions, with each decade of her life recorded with a single image. The earliest image dates from July 1936 and features the young Princess Elizabeth playing in the garden of 145 Piccadilly – the London house where she lived for much of her early childhood – with a pair of dogs, Jane and Dookie.

‘We are honoured to pay tribute to Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth with this display,’ says Dr Xavier Bray, director of The Wallace Collection. ‘The Queen devoted her entire life to serving the British people, but we hope that this display will show a more personal side – her deep love of animals and her abiding passion for her corgis.’

The display complements ‘Portraits of Dogs: from Gainsborough to Hockney’, which runs until 15th October.

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This week why not visit…

Anne Redpath and her Circle

20th May to 5th November at The Granary Gallery, Berwick-upon-Tweed

Anne Redpath (1895–1965) was one of Scotland’s finest mid 20th-century artists. After training at Edinburgh College of Art she spent her formative years mainly in the South of France where she painted alongside Scottish colourists Samuel Peploe and George Leslie Hunter. She returned to the Scottish Borders in 1934 and 10 years later was elected as President of the Societyof Scottish Women Artists.

After moving to Edinburgh in 1949, Redpath became a prominent figure for a group of artists now known as the Edinburgh School. Characterised by an abiding passion for colour in their art, the group, which included Sir William Gillies, John Maxwell and Sir William MacTaggart, were recognised in London and Scotland as cutting-edge transformers of traditional genres such as landscape, interiors and still life. This is the first dedicated UK show of Redpath’s work for 15 years.

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Making Mischief: Folk Costume in Britain

Until 11th June at Compton Verney

The recent pandemic had a major impact on in-person events. And while many communities adapted by putting their events online, nothing could truly replicate the collective joy of Hastings’ Jack in the Green festival, or the raucous Haxey Hood game in north Lincolnshire.

As these traditional activities begin to re-emerge, ‘Making Mischief’ explores the shared creativity, resilience, identity and communality of British folk cultures and the vital role that dress plays within them. Thanks to a £250,000 National Lottery Heritage Fund grant, over 40 costumes – all made, customised and worn by people participating in local, seasonal customs – will be on display.

As the exhibition shows, certain themes recur throughout the various events and festivals – notably horses, music and dance. The child-focused Festival of the Horse on Orkney is characterised by girls dressing as highly decorated horses, with shiny, jangling costumes that have been handed down through generations. While the boys of South Ronaldsay island congregate on the Sands o’Wright beach and use miniature ploughs to draw lines in the sand, learning the craft of the finely tilled furrow.

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Harvest: Fruit Gathering

Until 18th June at the Harley Foundation, North Nottinghamshire

The glass exhibition by Neil Wilkin and Rachael Woodman is inspired by natural and spiritual worlds. Visitors will step into a space where towering, improbable installations made from delicate blown glass sit alongside perfectly glittering pieces that would fit in the palm of your hand. Neil and Rachael are both masters in traditional hot-glass techniques and have been working collaboratively for over 40 years – yet this is their first exhibition together.

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Interrupted Views

Until 18th June at the Harley Foundation, North Nottinghamshire

Jennie Moncur makes vibrantly coloured tapestry weaving with geometric contemporary compositions, using centuries-old techniques. Jennie uses the same ‘Gobelins’ weaving technique that is used in the tapestries from the 17th century in the museum next door, and brings the artform into the 21st century in a technical tour-de-force. Expect flowers, geometric patterns, and a palette that will drench the gallery in colour.

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Haslemere Artists: A Golden Era

When the railway arrived in Haslemere in 1859, artists were suddenly drawn to the area, attracted by the pre-industrial pastoral idyll they encountered. George Eliot, who finished her novel, Middlemarch, in Haslemere in 1871, described it as ‘…a land of pine woods and copses, village greens and heather-covered (hills), with the most delicious old red or grey brick timbered cottages nestling among creeping roses.’

Over the course of the following 50 years the charming market town became a magnet for a string of painters, illustrators, engravers and etchers, including Helen Allingham, Myles Birket Foster, Walter Tyndale, James Clarke Hook, Frederick Walker and Charles E. Wilson, as well as the famous illustrators, Kate Greenaway, Randolph Caldecott and Punch cartoonist Charles Keene.

This exhibition will showcase the museum’s collection of paintings and illustrations from 1859–1914 alongside loans from private collections, with the focus being on how this picturesque place in Surrey became so alluring for the flourishing artistic community that evolved there.

Hallyu! The Korean Wave

Until 25th June at the V&A Museum

The first tides of hallyu or ‘Korean Wave’ rippled across Asia in the late 1990s before becoming a worldwide phenomenon that challenges the currents of global pop culture today. ‘Hallyu! The Korean Wave’ at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum is the first exhibition of its kind to showcase the colourful and dynamic popular culture of South Korea. The exhibition will explore the makings of the Korean Wave and its impact on the creative industries of cinema, drama, music, fandom, beauty and fashion.

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Luxury and power: Persia to Greece

Until 13th August at the British Museum, London

This exciting new exhibition at the British Museum considers the relationship between luxury and power in the Middle East and south-east Europe between 550–30BC, before the Persian empire was conquered by Alexander the Great.

Items on display include gold, silver and glass objects belonging to the Museum, alongside exceptional loans. ‘Traditionally, we have viewed the Persians and their apparently ‘decadent’ love of luxury through the eyes of their enemies, the Greeks,’ says Dr Jamie Fraser, a curator at the British Museum. ‘This exhibition is a chance to explore beyond these biased accounts and understand how Persians wielded luxury as a political tool across a vast and complex empire.’

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Lavinia Fontana: Trailblazer, Rule Breaker

Until 27th August at the National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin

A ground-breaking artist of her time, Lavinia Fontana (1552–1614) is widely considered to be the first female artist to achieve professional eminence beyond the confines of a court or a convent. She was the first woman to manage her own workshop, paint public altarpieces and also the female nude.

‘Fontana truly was a trailblazer for women artists, her story is still inspirational and paves the way for a society we still aspire to today,’ says Dr Aoife Brady, curator of the exhibition. ‘Unable to study in artists’ academies like her male contemporaries, she learned her trade from her father, before running her own workshop. She continued to actively work throughout motherhood and had 11 children during the course of her career, while serving as her family’s main breadwinner. A trailblazer both then and now, she continues to be a source of inspiration to women everywhere.’

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Colour with Kaffe: a textile exhibition at Powis Castle

Until 3rd September at Powis Castle, Wales

Internationally renowned fine artist and textile designer, Kaffe Fassett, is bringing an exhibitionof his colourful work to Powis Castle.

‘Kaffe is a fantastic artist and we’re honoured he’s chosen us as his inspiration and backdrop for his new collection,’ says Shane Logan, general manager at Powis Castle and Garden. ‘To welcome an artist like Kaffe to Welshpool is quite something and we do anticipate fans from all over the world to travel here to see the exhibition. We hope local people will take full advantage of what’s on their doorstep and experience something different and exciting this year.’

Patchwork quilts, knitted shawls and throws, needlepoint cushions, carpets and furniture will be displayed in the State Rooms, and a special exhibition with seven new quilts from Kaffe Fassett’s latest book, Quilts in Wales, will be on display in the Gateway Room.

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Quills and Characters

Until 3rd September at Chawton House, Hampshire

‘Quills and Characters’ provides fascinating insights into stories of science and scholarship, love, and literature through the manuscript letters on display. These include letters written by mathematician Mary Somerville and her protégée Ada Lovelace on loan from the Bodleian Library, letters written by the novelist and abolitionist Amelia Opie, and letters from the Chawton House collection never before displayed. Today, women’s letters provide an unending and increasingly recognised resource for understanding their lives – both material and imaginative – for piecing together their social networks, fleshing out their biographies, exploring their self-construction, and uncovering the information they valued and shared.

In addition to retelling some of these stories ‘Quills and Characters’ considers the practicalities of letter writing, from making ink and sourcing paper to folding, sealing and postage. On display are objects used in composition, including novelist Maria Edgeworth’s inkwells, travel writer Maria Graham’s wax seal stamps, and a selection of 18th-century letter-writing manuals. Visitors will be encouraged to pen their own letters, or to take part in reading and transcribing early 19th-century letters.

Deputy director of Chawton House and curator of ‘Quills and Characters’, Dr Kim Simpson says: ‘From brains and hands through ink and paper, across the country and overseas, and sometimes translated into print, letters provided insight into the private worlds of the first celebrities. From the mundane to the momentous, letters captured the everyday and changed the world. The mere act of writing a simple letter was often an international endeavour with quills imported from North America, ink components sourced from Aleppo and Sudan, and sealing wax from India. We write fewer letters now, yet ‘Quills and Characters’ is a timely reminder of the need for connectivity in a digital world.’

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Explorations in Paint

Until 24th September at Petworth House, West Sussex

This year marks 300 years since the birth of Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723–92), first President of the Royal Academy of Arts (RA) and the leading English portrait artist of the late 18th century.

The National Trust has the largest collection of his works in historic house settings in the UK and Reynolds’ Studio Experiments canvases will be the starting point for a major exhibition at Petworth House. Specially curated by the RA, ‘Explorations in Paint’ brings together artworks by current and recent Royal Academicians, all exploring the possibilities of paint and its expressive potential.

‘Reynolds advocated for art and art education, while also constantly looking and learning from the artists around him,’ says Rebecca Lyons, director of collections and learning at the RA.

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Portraits of Dogs: From Gainsborough to Hockney

Until 15th October at The Wallace Collection, London

After having to postpone due to the pandemic in 2020,The Wallace Collection has put its best paw forward in this exhibition devoted to man’s best friend.

Dog portraiture developed as an artistic genre in tandem with its human counterpart and it flourished, particularly in Britain, from the 17th century onwards. ‘Portraits of Dogs’ features loans primarily from collections in the UK, and works were deliberately chosen for their lack of human presence.

‘Two of our most popular paintings are seminal dog portraits, Rosa Bonheur’s Brizo, A Shepherd’s Dog (1864) and Edwin Landseer’s Doubtful Crumbs (1858–9),’ says director Dr Xavier Bray. ‘Bonheur’s portrait is a superbly lifelike and intimate portrayal of her French otterhound, Brizo. By contrast, Landseer is more interested in introducing a biblical parable into his portrayal, exemplifying the 19th-century urge to moralise through dog portraiture. In his work, a small street terrier waits for the ‘crumbs’ from the St Bernard – a Victorian moral of the rewards that await in heaven for the meek amongst us.’

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Morris’s Successor: John Henry Dearle (1859-1932)

Until 17th December at The William Morris Society, Hammersmith

Golden Lily, Blackthorn, Compton and Seaweed… for the connoisseur, these are all familiar Morris & Co designs. But what may be unfamiliar to you is that these patterns were all created not by the great William Morris himself but by his apprentice, John Henry Dearle.

Despite54 years of loyal service to the company, Dearle is a somewhat forgotten figure in the Morris timeline. Throughout his time at the company, Dearle designed over 30 patterns for wallpaper and 40 for textiles. He worked hard and his congenial personality saw him rise from a shop assistant at the Oxford Street showroom to artistic director of Morris & Co.

In the late 1880s and 90s, when Morris became increasingly interested in political activities and book printing, it was Dearle he entrusted as principal advisor to the firm’s customers, and as chief designer and head of the firm’s workshops at Merton Abbey.

Dearle was a talented artist and pivotal to the firm’s success, and this exhibition seeks to redress the lack of recognition through examination of Dearle’s artistic output and his relationship with Morris.

Find out more about Morris’s Successor: John Henry Dearle

The Brontës and the Wild

Until 1st January 2024 at Brontë Parsonage Museum, Haworth, West Yorkshire

Few authors are more closely aligned to the landscape that inspired them than the Brontë siblings, and a new exhibition will explore the influence of the natural world in their lives and work.

‘The Brontë Parsonage Museum leads directly out onto the moor and its closeness and the wild freedom it offered were instrumental in the lives of the young family,’ says Ann Dinsdale, principal curator at the museum. ‘In the paintings, drawings, poetry and fiction of Charlotte, Branwell, Emily and Anne, we see their escape into the landscape and ‘The Brontës and the Wild’ will highlight the influence it had on their lives.’

A central element of the exhibition is the Brontë family’s annotated copy of Thomas Bewick’s A History of British Birds, recently acquired by the museum from the Blavatnik Honresfield Library. Other highlights include poetry manuscripts by Emily and Charlotte, early printed works by Patrick Brontë, copies from Bewick by Emily and Charlotte, and two wood blocks on loan from the Wordsworth Trust. First editions of Poems by Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell and Wuthering Heights will also be on display.

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Tartan

Until 14th January 2024 at V&A Dundee

Celebrating tartan and its global impact, this exciting exhibition explores how tartan has connected and divided communities worldwide, how it has embraced tradition, expressed revolt, and inspired great works of art, as well as playful and provocative designs. More than 300 items have been gathered from over 80 lenders worldwide, meaning visitors will be treated to a dazzling display of objects, from fashion to architecture, photography to furniture, and glass to ceramics. Some of the key lenders include Chanel, Vivienne Westwood, The Royal Collection, National Trust for Scotland and National Theatre of Scotland, to name a few.

Throughout the exhibition tartan will be viewed in radical new ways as historical objects are juxtaposed with contemporary pieces, allowing you to fully immerse yourself in the world of tartan. In addition, V&A Dundee has asked the public to contribute, culminating in ‘The People’s Tartan’, an eclectic selection that is sure to spark recognition and nostalgia.

‘To mark our fifth birthday we are celebrating and challenging the history and contradictions within Scotland’s most iconic design,’ says V&A Dundee director Leonie Bell. ‘Everyone knows tartan and it is linked to a hugely diverse range of identities. It is at once the pattern of Highland myth and legend, forever entwined with Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Jacobite uprising, as well as being the pattern of 1970s punks and contemporary Japanese fashion influencers. It is adored and derided, and somehow can represent unity and dissent, tradition and rebellion, the past, present and future.’

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Conversations with the Collection

Until 2025 at Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern One)

Curators have been delving into the riches of Scotland’s collection of modern and contemporary art to bring to light rarely displayed yet fascinating artworks and stories. This major exhibition presents over 100 artworks in unexpected arrangements, finding bold juxtapositions and visual similarities across different styles and movements without using jargon or art-historical terminology.

The curators, Emma Gillespie, Leila Riszko and Stephanie Straine, have tapped into key ideas and issues of our times in a fresh approach that offers visitors a new way of understanding modern and contemporary art. ‘With open-ended creativity at the heart of this big exhibition, we hope our visitors will feel inspired to rediscover their collection,’ says Stephanie.

Highlights include a ‘Madonna’ lithograph by Edvard Munch, on long loan from a private collection, a vibrant still life by celebrated Scottish artist Anne Redpath, and Saturn by Helen Frankenthaler, which has not been on display for 10 years.

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Unseen Treasures of The Portland Collection

Until 2026 at the Harley Foundation, North Nottinghamshire

This display reveals works from the world-class art collection that have never been seen before in public and sheds new light on star items from the collection – such as a drawing by Michelangelo and Queen Mary’s stunning ruby coronation ring. A highlight of the exhibition is a picture gallery stacked with Tudor and Jacobean portraits.

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Exhibitions opening soon…

Constable: The Dark Side

26th May to 16th August at The Gallery at The Arc, Winchester

Constable has a reputation for being a painter of traditional ‘chocolate box’ English scenery; safe, unchallenging and sentimental, epitomised in works such as The Hay Wain. But there was a darker side to him, which is explored in this exhibition at The Arc.

Constable faced many challenges in his private life – he was plagued by worries about his finances, his reputation in the art world and also his family. His wife, Maria, suffered from tuberculosis and his children were often ill. After Maria died aged 41, Constable was left to bring up seven children aged from 11 months to 11 years. This took a toll on his wellbeing and his art too.

We know so much about his mental state as Constable was an enthusiastic letter writer and poured out his anxieties in correspondence to family and friends. In this exhibition, the artist’s own words and feelings will be displayed alongside some of his most famous works, which are on loan from key national institutions including the Royal Academy, the Tate and the V&A.

‘John Constable is such a well-known painter and someone we tend to associate with an untroubled sense of nostalgia, but he was actually an incredibly emotional individual and someone whose private life directly impacted his professional activity,’ says curator and art historian Nicola Moorby. ‘There is something so relatable about his constant worries as a husband and dad, and I think people will easily identify with his struggles with anxiety.’

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Quentin Blake: Birds, Beasts & Explorers

27th May to 1st October at Compton Verney, Warwickshire

A staple for many children from the 1970s onwards, Quentin Blake’s illustrations are unmistakable in their joyful freedom and expression of sheer abandon. Adorning the pages of favourite stories by Michael Rosen, Roald Dahl, David Walliams, and, of course, himself, Blake’s artworks never fail to ignite the imagination and help bring the stories to vivid life.

Compton Verney is staging a brilliant new exhibition of original paintings and drawings, created for bestselling books, hospital wards and past exhibitions. Visitors will be treated to over 70 images of real and imaginary creatures, intrepid characters and curious modes of transport, all on loan from Blake’s personal archive.

‘There are lots of connections between what visitors will see on the walls of the galleries inside the house and the wildlife we have in the grounds of Compton Verney,’ explains curator Oli McCall. ‘Follow Quentin’s lead, and take inspiration from the characters he has so memorably created, before embarking on your own adventures.’

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Essence of Nature: Pre-Raphaelites to British Impressionists

27th May to 14th October at Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne

Starting with the Pre-Raphaelites’ ideal of ‘truth to nature’, represented by artists such as William Holman Hunt and John Ruskin, this exhibition traces radically different approaches to landscape painting.

Featuring pictures from the Laing’s extensive collection as well as many loans, visitors will also be treated to works by British Impressionists including Ethel Walker and Philip Steer whose works are imbued with light and colour. Sketching in front of their subjects, they produced beautiful vistas of sunny hillsides, orchards and gardens, balancing scenes of relaxation with working farmland.

Newlyn artists and coastal painters similarly took their easels to beaches and sunny uplands, and the exhibition includes lovely scenes by Laura Knight, SJL Birch, and Elizabeth Forbes. While the Rural Naturalist scene is represented by George Clausen and Henry La Thangue, who aimed to capture the character of rural working landscapes.

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Joana Vasconcelos: Wedding Cake

8th June to 26th October at The Dairy, Waddesdon, Bucks

After five years in the making, in her most ambitious commission to date, Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos has created a 12m-high sculptural pavilion in the form of a three-tiered wedding cake.

Clad entirely in ceramic tiles, Wedding Cake is an enormous, fully immersive sculpture, combining patisserie and architecture. Gleaming with pink, green and blue icing, inside and out, the structure offers a richly sensory experience, with the sound of trickling water and a site-specific lighting scheme.

Described by the artist as ‘a temple to love’, her sculpture celebrates festivity and marriage. Wedding Cake was commissioned by the Rothschild Foundation and is a contemporary response to the great Rothschild traditions of hospitality, with echoes of 18th-century garden pavilions, while representing the exuberant baroque buildings and ceramic traditions of Lisbon, the artist’s home.

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Art and Artifice: Fakes from the Collection

17th June to 8th October at The Courtauld Gallery, London

Forgeries are usually deemed to be unworthy of display: a costly embarrassment once their real origins are deciphered. Yet in this exhibition at The Courtauld Gallery that is exactly what’s happening to them. Remarkable forgeries, originally thought to be masterpieces by artists such as Sandro Botticelli, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, John Constable and Auguste Rodin will be exhibited this summer.

Featuring around 25 drawings and seven paintings, as well as sculpture and decorative art from The Courtauld’s collection, the showcase will tell the intriguing stories behind the creation of these works and the discovery of the deceptions.

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Jean Cooke: Ungardening

21st June to 10th September at Garden Museum, London

This summer, the Garden Museum is shining a light on Jean Cooke RA (1927–2008).

Historically underrated, Cooke created some remarkable garden paintings and expressive portraiture and this display of her works will seek to bring her new fans. The 30 paintings in the exhibition have been gathered from both public and private collections and, along with the catalogue, will provide the most comprehensive exploration of the artist’s life and art to date.

The works on display will include paintings of trees and flowers, a poppy-strewn meadow, wildflowers against a backdrop of the sea, an orchard in bloom, and Cooke’s beloved doves. Her gardens were predominantly uncultivated as she left nature to its own devices. She painted them with lyrical enjoyment and wit, and with an inventiveness that displays a deep understanding of her subjects.

At the centre of the exhibition will be two substantial canvases from the 1960s, Toujours en Fête (1969) and Hortus Siccus (1967).

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Movement: The Magic of the Silver Swan

8th July to 7th January 2024 at The Bowes Museum, County Durham

Besides the wonderful quilts, tapestries, artworks, ceramics and costumes, over the years many visitors to The Bowes Museum have made a beeline for the magnificent Silver Swan automaton, hoping to be in time to see its daily performance of a graceful dip in the glassy ‘water’ to catch a fish.

Owners of the chateau-like Bowes, John and Josephine, first saw the swan at the Paris International Exhibition in 1867 and fell in love with it. And many more since have been captivated by the mechanical creature’s grace and magical quality.

In this exhibition, a spotlight will be shone on the man behind the internal mechanics: inventor and clockmaker John Joseph Merlin (1735–1803). For it is his ingenuity that renders the swan so smooth in its realistic movements.

Our enduring fascination with mechanical devices and the beauty that can be found through, and in, technology will also be explored. This is the perfect opportunity for anyone with an interest in automata, moving objects and kinetic artworks to be inspired and learn more about this wonderful world of invention and artistry.

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