2022's Most Anticipated Art Exhibitions

Francis Bacon: Man and Beast at the Royal Academy (29 January — 17 April 2022)

The Royal Academy is kicking off 2022 with a blockbuster exhibition featuring work’s from Irish-born artist Francis Bacon, one of the most prolific painters of the 20th century. Focussing on his deeply rooted fascination with animals, the exhibition will explore how it shaped and distorted his approach to the human body with works spanning the whole of his 50-year career. Highlights include some of his earliest works, as well as his last-ever painting.

Van Gogh Self-Portraits at the Courtald Gallery (3 Feb – 8 May 2022)

The first exhibition at the Courtauld after it's brilliant renovation is devoted entirely to Van Gogh’s self-portraits. Featuring works spanning his entire career, the exhibition hinges around his most famous work – Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear – with more than 15 additional self-portraits from collections around the world. The new spaces also showcase the gallery's world-class impressionist collection with works by renowned artists such as Monet, Degas and Manet.

Louise Bourgeois: The Woven Child at the Hayward Gallery (9 February–15 May 2022)

Louise Bourgeois grew in a Parisian suburb in the early nineteenth century and became one of the great figures of modern and contemporary art. She’s probably best known for her large-scale sculptures and installations, but she also made revolutionary work with fabrics and textiles, inspired by her childhood in a tapestry-making workshop. Billed as the first exhibition dedicated exclusively to these works, this superstar show will show works spanning her eight-decade career. Highlights include four large-scale vitrine pieces that she made in the last five years of her life

Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery (1 October 2022 –22 January 2023)

This landmark exhibition brings together Lucian Freud’s most important works from his seven-decade career, from intimate pictures to large-scale canvases. The show also includes more than 60 loans from museums and private collections around the world. Stand-out pieces include the Girl with Roses, as well as Reflections with Two Children. The exhibition aims to showcase the artist behind the celebrity to mark what would have been his 100th year.

Cezanne at the Tate Modern (6 October 2022  – 26 February 2023)

This hotly anticipated show is dedicated to the works of impressionist painter Cezanne. It will explore the tensions and contradictions in his works, as well as seeking to understand the artist in his own context. It follows an ambitious young painter from his native Aix-en-Provence, through still lifes, landscapes and paintings. Many of the works are also being shown for the first time in the UK too. It’s set to be one of the most exciting exhibitions dedicated to the artist to date.