The exhibitions you must see this March
Wander the forest, discover a new Andy Warhol and get lost in the glamour of Cecil Beaton’s photography – here are our top picks of exhibitions to see this March.
With spring on the horizon, you may want to get a taste of the outdoors with nature-led exhibitions Among The Trees at the Hayward Gallery, or John Newling’s Dear Nature in Birmingham.
Elsewhere you can enter a material world with the Kimono exhibition at the V&A, or discover how textiles have inspired artists through the centuries at Compton Verney’s Fabric: Touch and Identity.
Whatever you decide, don’t forget almost all of our must-see exhibitions are 50% off with a National Art Pass – plus there are many more amazing shows to discover in our full exhibition listings.
Among The Trees
- Hayward Gallery, London
- 1 August – 31 October 2020
This major group exhibition of sculpture, painting, installation, video and photography celebrates the tree as a source of inspiration for some of the most compelling contemporary artists, among them Tacita Dean, Steve McQueen and Myoung Ho Lee.
Fabric: Touch and Identity
- Compton Verney, Stratford-upon-avon
- 7 July 2020 – 3 January 2021
This exhibition offers an immersive look at the way textiles can seduce, conceal and reveal through art, design, film and dance, featuring works by fashion designer Vivienne Westwood, weaver Raisa Kabir, painter Alison Watt, sculptor Cathy de Monchaux and an immersive installation by textile designer Reiko Sudo.
Andy Warhol
- Tate Modern, London
- 27 July – 6 September 2020
A leading figure of the pop art movement, Andy Warhol embraced commerce, celebrity and the counter-culture in his work. His iconic screenprints of Marilyn Monroe and Campbells soup cans are instantly recognisable and will be on display at Tate Modern alongside works never before seen in the UK.
Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk
- V&A (Victoria and Albert Museum), London
- 27 August – 25 October 2020
The UK's first major exhibition on kimono reveals the sartorial and social significance of the popular Japanese garment, from the 1660s to the present day. Rare 17th and 18th-century kimono are displayed for the first time in the UK, together with fashions by major designers and costumes from the Star Wars films.
William and Evelyn De Morgan: Two of the Rarest Spirits of the Age
- Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle Upon Tyne
- 14 March – 20 June 2020
Evelyn Pickering was heavily influenced stylistically by early Italian Renaissance art and her Pre-Raphaelite contemporaries, and her paintings often expressed political concerns, especially about the outbreak of the First World War. In 1887 she married William De Morgan, a ceramics designer and cohort of William Morris. This exhibition looks at the works of this intriguing ‘power couple’ of British Victorian art.
Cecil Beaton's Bright Young Things
- National Portrait Gallery, London
- From 12 March 2020
An eccentric, glamorous and creative era of British culture is brought to life through portraits of artists and socialites in the 1920s and 1930s by eminent photographer and society figure Cecil Beaton. Focusing on Beaton’s photographs of ‘Bright Young Things’, the exhibition also features paintings by Beaton's friends and artists including Rex Whistler and Henry Lamb.
Young Rembrandt
- Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
- 10 August – 1 November 2020
The Dutch master Rembrandt van Rijn shot to fame in the mid-1630s. This exhibition focuses on the preceding years of his career, displaying the largest collection of works devoted to the young Rembrandt to date – including, for the first time in public, the newly discovered Let the Little Children Come to Me (1627-8).
British Surrealism
- Dulwich Picture Gallery, London
- 26 February – 17 May 2020
Marking the 100th anniversary of the 'birth' of surrealism in the 1920s, this exhibition champions the British artists who contributed to an iconic movement. See more than 70 works from artists including Eileen Agar, Francis Bacon, Leonora Carrington, Henry Moore and Paul Nash, and trace the roots of surrealism as far back as 1620 through supporting archive material.
John Newling: Dear Nature
- Ikon Gallery, Birmingham
- 4 March – 6 September 2020
Birmingham-born conceptual artist John Newling is a pioneer of public art with a social purpose. At Ikon he showcases his latest works inspired by nature and domestic gardens, exploring the impact humans have on their environment in the current 'anthropocene' geological age, including Nymans Language (2019), a new typeface inspired by leaves.