From the Royal Academy in London to the Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh, we list the best art exhibitions across the country to visit this December.
EXHIBITIONS OPENING DECEMBER 2014:
‘Side-Show’ by Peter Blake
Famed for his fascinated nostalgia for the circus, Peter Blake curates a new exhibition of wood-engravings including ‘Bearded Lady’ and ‘Tattooed Man’ and a selection of photographs, proofs and drawings that provided his inspiration. The exhibition shows his nostalgia for the circus and side-shows, as well as the ephemera of these popular entertainments. It marks the launch of two new highly detailed etchings by Peter Blake, a wrestler and a tattooed girl. Both published by Paul Stolper Gallery, these reveal an entirely new medium and style in Blake’s oeuvre.
Until 10 January 2015
Paul Stolper Gallery, 31 Museum Street, London, WC1A 1LH
0207 580 7001
Rory Carnegie, Tales of the Dog and House
Rory Carnegie first showed this series of Port Meadow Dogs with John Martin Gallery at London Art Fair in January 2014. Carnegie’s works can be seen at both the Mayfair Gallery and in Chelsea.
05 December 2014 until 17 January 2015
John Martin Chelsea, 80 Fulham Road, London SW3 6HR
020 7590 9991
Rose Corcoran, Bold & Beautiful
Celebrated British wildlife artist Rosie Corcoran, best known for her striking depictions of tigers, will show 32 large-scale charcoal and pastel drawings and limited-edition silkscreen prints to help raise funds for the Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI). The charity works to prevent illegal wildlife trade and poaching, particularly of wild tigers, but also supports community projects. Corcoran’s artworks will help fund a nursery school on the fringe of the charity’s Sundarbans Tiger Reserve, which provides schooling for 50 children and education on conservation awareness.At least 5 per cent of the sale price goes to WPSI.
04 December 2014 until 22 December 2014
Asprey London, 167 New Bond Street, London W1
020 7493 6767
The Scottish Gallery, December Exhibitions
For his second solo exhibition at The Scottish Gallery, Ed Kluz explores the unique topography and architecture of Edinburgh’s New Town with a new series of collages. Ed Kluz is an artist, illustrator and printmaker. His work explores contemporary perceptions of the past through the reimagining of historic landscapes, buildings and objects.
29 November 2014 until 24 December 2014
The Scottish Gallery, 16 Dundas Street, Edinburgh EH3 6HZ
0131 558 1200
A Christmas Spectacular, Decorative Art from The John Scott Collection
The John Scott Collection, nearly fifty years in the making is perhaps the finest collection of British objects and design from the period 1830-1930 in existence. This exhibition, the fifth in a series, presents a dazzling diversity of over 400 works priced from £20 to £20,000.
03 – 19 December 2014
The Fine Art Society, 148 New Bond Street, London WIS 2JT
0207 629 5116
Susan Wilson, Fauna and Flores
10 – 23 December 2014
Browse & Darby, 19 Cork Street, London, WIS 3LP
020 7734 7984
Timur D’Vatz, Recent Work
Timur D’Vatz is a Russian artist who fuses ancient legends and symbols with modernist form and a vibrant colours in his rich paintings.
04 – 19 December 2014
Cadogan Contemporary, 87 Old Brompton Road, London SW7 3LD
020 7581 5451
Maggie Hambling, Walls of Water
One of Britain’s most significant and controversial painters and sculptors, Maggi Hambling, exhibits a new series of dramatic paintings, which have never been seen in public before. Inspired by Hambling’s experience of gigantic waves crashing onto the sea wall at Southwold, Suffolk – the county where she was born, still lives and which has often inspired her work – the works offer visitors a contemporary parallel to the seascapes by Norwegian artist Peder Balke concurrently displayed in the Sunley Room.
26 November 2014 – 15 February 2015
The National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London WC2N 5DN
020 7747 2885
David Williams-Ellis, Elemental
This will be David William-Ellis’s first exhibition at Portland Gallery, comprising 21 bronze sculptures in varying sizes and colours. The artist will be in attendance at the gallery from 10am – 6pm on the 2, 3, and 4 of December. Award-winning documentary maker and writer Charlotte Metcalf has produced a short film on David in conjunction with the exhibition.
03 – 23 December 2014
The Portland Gallery, 8 Bennet Street, London, SW1A 1RP
020 7493 1888
Mary Fedden Exhibition
Portland Gallery represents the Estate of Mary Fedden and presents an exhibition of over 70 works by Mary in oil and on paper.
04 – 19 December 2014
The Portland Gallery, 8 Bennet Street, London, SW1A 1RP
020 7493 1888
‘Life as it Was’, William Graham (1923 – 2011)
“Life as it Was” is a retrospective exhibition showing the unique collection of works by William Graham, who was represented by the Gallery during the 20 years he lived in Winchester.
04 December 2014 until 15th January 2015
The Minster Gallery, Minster Chambers, 3A Great Minster Street, Winchester,
Hampshire SO23 9HA
01962 877601
The Art for Art’s Sake Show
This highly successful, eclectic and informal mini art fair, offers the public a rare opportunity to talk to the artists (whether painters, ceramicists, sculptors or photographers) and buy directly from them. Exhibitors include: Roger Hooper (photographer), Jane Burrows (artist/sculptor), Linda Dangoor (ceramicist/sculptor).
01 December 2014 until 6th December 2014
ArtSpace Galleries, 18 Maddox Street London W1
020 7499 6878
Love is Enough; William Morris and Andy Warhol, curated by Jeremy Deller
Love is Enough will examine the prolific careers of these two figures, each of whom developed an artistic practice and a conceptual framework that helped to define the centuries in which they lived. The exhibition draws together works from public and private collections across the UK and the USA. They include the epic and rarely seen Holy Grail tapestries completed by Morris in 1896, a selection of Warhol’s iconic silkscreens and archival material from the Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, including a signed photograph of Shirley Temple posted to a thirteen-year old Andy from the actress in 1941.
06 December 2014 until 08 March 2015
Modern Art Oxford, 30 Pembroke St, Oxford OX1 1BP
01865 722 733
Small Stories: At Home in a Dolls’ House
This exhibition reveals the fascinating stories behind some of the UK’s best-loved dolls’ houses. The exhibition spans 300 years and features some of the UK’s best-loved dolls’ houses from country mansions to high rise apartments.
13 December 2014 until 06 September 2015
V&A Museum of Childhood, Cambridge Heath Road, London E2 9PA
020 8983 5200
Royal Institute of Oil Painters
Annual Exhibition 2014
The ROI Annual Exhibition is a showcase for many of the finest practitioners of the Art of Oil Painting today.
10 December 2014 until 21 December 2014
Mall Galleries, The Mall, London SW1
020 7930 6844
The Burrell Collection in Glasgow
An outstanding vision of more than 9,000 objects and one of the world’s greatest personal collections, announced today a new exhibition ‘Burrell at Bonhams – A selection of treasures from Glasgow.’ This is the first time the Burrell Collection has brought together a selection of objects – many of which will likely form part of a forthcoming international tour – in an exhibition outside Scotland.
15 December 2014 until 09 January 2015
Bonhams, 101 New Bond St, London W1S 1SR
020 7447 7447
Charles Stewart: Black and White Gothic
This winter the Royal Academy of Arts will present a display of dark and dramatic drawings by the illustrator Charles Stewart (1915–2001). Charles Stewart: Black and White Gothic comprises a survey of almost forty years work in which he produced a set of meticulously executed illustrations to accompany the Victorian Gothic novel ‘Uncle Silas’ (1864).
20 December 2014 until 15 February 2015
Tennant Gallery, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, W1J 0BD
020 7300 8000
Small Paintings, Ceramics and Sculpture
Mary Fedden, John Piper, Donald Hamilton Fraser and Maggi Hambling are amongst the wealth of reputable artists exhibiting smaller works at the Bohn Gallery. The exhibition is recommended to collectors seeking some real ‘gems’ at comparatively low prices.
06 December 2014 until 24 January 2015
Bohun Gallery, 15 Reading Road, Henley-on Thames, Oxfordshire RG9 1AB
01491 576 22
Beauty and Revolution: The Poetry and Art of Ian Hamilton Finlay
The exhibition traces Hamilton Finlay’s artistic development from the poems that make Britain’s most internationally acclaimed concrete poet to the images and texts that marked his engagement with the ideas of the French Revolution. It also presents his famous garden, Little Sparta, in photographs and film. The Scottish poet first met and began to correspond with Jim Ede, the creator of Kettle’s Yard, I 1964 and in the same year a group of Cambridge students started to exhibit and write about his work. Among them was Stephen Bann, who went on to become an expert on the artist and has devised this show from his private collection.
06 December to 01 March 2015
Kettle’s Yard, Castle Street, Cambridge CB3 OAQ
01223 748100
Through Different Eyes; ways of seeing landscape
Paintings by Julian Bailey (glowing gouache landscapes); Daisy Cook (‘vibrant textured landscapes’); Luke Elwes (traveller, writer and painter whose works are made by running water over his drawings); Alex Lowery (who captures the essence of the Dorset coastline); David O’Connor (who trained as a sculpor and is fascinated by mapping, archaeology and the layers of time in landscape); and Alfred Stockham (who paints simple and strong compositions that convey a powerful atmosphere based on years of study and experimentation with colour).
06 December to 22 February 2015.
Sladers Yard, West Bay, Bridport, Dorset DT6 4EL
01308 459511
Drawn by Light: the Royal Photographic Society Collection
Over 200 extraordinary images from the history of photography, including some of the earliest, drawn from the archives of the Royal Photographic Society, which holds one of the world’s most important photography collections. Pioneers including Lewis Carroll are displayed alongside modern photographers such as Don McCullin, Terry O’Neill and Martin Parr. Also images by the early war photographer Roger Fenton, who documented the Crimean War. And significant artefacts from the history of photography, such as Fox Talbot’s early camera.
Until March 1, 2015
The Science Museum, Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London SW7 2DD
From Saltburn to Flamborough: Norman Ackroyd
Etchings of the Yorkshire coast by the printmaker and Royal Academician who has made an international name with his atmospheric etchings of the British coastline and islands. Norman Ackroyd was born in Leeds and has for the first time focussed on his native county, with a dramatic collection of prints showing the coastal cliffs of Yorkshire, which he describes as “deceptively beautiful..but a closer look reveals a long spiritual, industrial and often violent history”.
Until 24 January, 2015
Zillah Bell Gallery, Kirkgate, Thirsk, North Yorkshire YO7 1PQ
01845 522479
Alan Sorrell (1904-1974)
An exhibition on the Southend artist, who painted in oils and watercolour, made murals, was a teacher and illustrator. Alan Sorrell had a particular interest in ancient history and was well known for his illustrations of reconstructions of ruined buildings. In association with Liss Fine Art, this exhibition brings together works from Southend’s collections and loans from private owners and features murals, sketches and local scenes from throughout Sorrell’s career. To mark the opening of the show, Liss Fine Art is offering for sale 52 newly released works from the artist’s estate.
Until 4 April, 2015
Beecroft Art Gallery, Victoria Avenue, Southend on Sea, Essex SS2 6EX
EXHIBITIONS CLOSING SOON:
Timur D’Vatz, Recent Work
Timur D’Vatz is a Russian artist who fuses ancient legends and symbols with modernist form and a vibrant colours in his rich paintings.
4 – 19 December 2014
Cadogan Contemporary, 87 Old Brompton Road, London SW7 3LD
020 7581 5451
Natural Selection
The exhibition aims to propound the study of nature and its importance drawing on work from the 17th Century to the present day. Five works from Andy Worhol’s Endangered Species exhibit will be on display along with a variety of other artists and media projects. On the 26th November, there will be a live taxidermy display between 10am – 5pm.
26 November – 18 December 2014
Shapero Modern, 32 St George Street, London, W1S 2EA
0207 493 0876
Daniel Chatto: Green Earth
Utilising raw elements from the earth, Chatto’s latest work captures his love for the South Downs in Sussex and his fascination with the metamorphosis and changeability of our landscape.
Until 19 December 2014
Long & Ryle, 4 John Islip Street, London, SW1P 4PX
0207 834 1434
Royal Institute of Oil Painters
Annual Exhibition 2014
The ROI Annual Exhibition is a showcase for many of the finest practitioners of the Art of Oil Painting today.
From 10th December 2014 until 21st December 2014
Mall Galleries, The Mall, London SW1
020 7930 6844
Gerhard Richter
This exhibition of over 40 of Richter’s new and recent works will inaugurate a new London gallery. As well as his ‘strip paintings’, which revisit ideas first employed in his late 1970s ‘128 Photographs of a Painting’ project, and ‘flow paintings’, the show includes a large glass sculpture and a selection of key earlier pieces.
14 October to 20 December 2014
Marian Goodman Gallery, 5-8 Lower John Street, London W1F 9DY
020 7099 0088
The 117th Annual Exhibition of the Society of Scottish Artists
A number of the artists selected to exhibit at the 117th annual exhibition of the Society of Scottish Artists (SSA) have been announced with a line up that promises to demonstrate the breadth of talent from across Scotland and beyond. Contemporary artists were invited to submit entries for the exhibition run by the SSA, which dates back to 1891 and has a history of supporting emerging, experimental and adventurous artists. Selected to represent Scotland at next year’s Venice Biennale, Graham Fagen is this year’s SSA guest artist.
5 December 2014 until 20 December 2014
The Royal Scottish Academy, The Mound, Edinburgh, EH2 2EL
0131 225 6671
The Colour of Music, Paintings by Alfred Huckett
London artist Alfred Huckett was invited by Kentmere House Gallery to be artist-in-residence at the York Early Music Festival in July 2014. This exhibition sees his resulting paintings on show.
6 Decemember until the 19 December 2014
National Centre for Early Music, Walmgate, York, YO1 9TL
01904 658338
Mary Fedden Exhibition
Portland Gallery represents the Estate of Mary Fedden and presents an exhibition of over 70 works by Mary in oil and on paper.
4 – 19 December 2014
The Portland Gallery, 8 Bennet Street, London, SW1A 1RP
020 7493 1888
Glasgow style: Arts & crafts from 1890-1930
This show focuses on the so-called ‘Glasgow style’ of the later-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries; associated with the Arts and Crafts movement it blended imagery of the Celtic Revival with Art Nouveau.
25 July – 31 December 2014
Blackwell The Arts and Crafts House, Bowness-on-Windermere, Cumbria, LA23 3JT
01539 446 139
Flowers of Basalt
Inspired by the basalt cliffs of the Shiant Isles in the Outer Hebrides, Jill McManus has created a series of kaleidoscopic floral prints inspired by the rocks. The spinning flower faces are all produced using ink jet printed on a treated watercolour fine art paper and can be viewed in many different patterns.
21 November – 21 December 2014
Updown Gallery, Satis House, 11 Elms Avenue, Ramsgate, Kent, CT11 9BW
01843 588 181
The Photographers 2014
Over 150 iconic photographs from a plethora of leading photographers will be displayed in this exhibition that cites works from the 19th Century up to the present day. Amongst the contributors is Vivian Maier, the New York nanny, who recorded the lives of ordinary people on the streets of New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. In addition, Cecil Beaton, Lord Snowden, Robert Mapplethorpe and Henri Cartier-Bresson will also contribute.
20 November – 23 December 2014
Beetles and Huxley, 3-5 Swallow Street, London, W1B 4DE
0207 434 4319
The Scottish Gallery, December Exhibitions
For his second solo exhibition at The Scottish Gallery, Ed Kluz explores the unique topography and architecture of Edinburgh’s New Town with a new series of collages. Ed Kluz is an artist, illustrator and printmaker. His work explores contemporary perceptions of the past through the reimagining of historic landscapes, buildings and objects.
29 November 2014 until 24 December 2014
The Scottish Gallery, 16 Dundas Street, Edinburgh EH3 6HZ
0131 558 1200
A Christmas Spectacular, Decorative Art from The John Scott Collection
The John Scott Collection, nearly fifty years in the making is perhaps the finest collection of British objects and design from the period 1830-1930 in existence. This exhibition, the fifth in a series, presents a dazzling diversity of over 400 works priced from £20 to £20,000.
3 – 19 December 2014
The Fine Art Society, 148 New Bond Street, London WIS 2JT
0207 629 5116
Susan Wilson, Fauna and Flores
10 – 23 December 2014
Browse & Darby, 19 Cork Street, London, WIS 3LP
020 7734 7984
Ben Nicholson: Abstract Progressions
A small collection of works by one of Britain’s leading Modernist artists of the 20th century. They span 40 years of Nicholson’s career, highlighting a lifelong exploration of abstraction that began after a visit to France in 1921. The exhibition demonstrates his progression from loose abstractions and collage to abstract relief paintings, throughout which he maintains a balance link between abstraction, use of colour, and illusions of pictorial space.
Until 19 December 2014
Richard Green Gallery, 33 New Bond Street, London W1
Anthony Eyton RA – Drawing on Hawksmoor
A series of paintings focusing on the London churches of Nicholas Hawksmoor. They include oils and pastels produced in 2012, as well as a selection of early sketches and paintings from the beginning of Eyton’s career. The exhibition reflects the artist’s longstanding affiliation with the architect, who is most well-known for his work completed alongside Christopher Wren in the late 17th century.
Until 23 December
Eleven Spitalfields Gallery, 11 Princelet Street, London E1 6QH
020 7247 1816
Rose Corcoran, Bold & Beautiful
Celebrated British wildlife artist Rosie Corcoran, best known for her striking depictions of tigers, will show 32 large-scale charcoal and pastel drawings and limited-edition silkscreen prints to help raise funds for the Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI). The charity works to prevent illegal wildlife trade and poaching, particularly of wild tigers, but also supports community projects. Corcoran’s artworks will help fund a nursery school on the fringe of the charity’s Sundarbans Tiger Reserve, which provides schooling for 50 children and education on conservation awareness.At least 5 per cent of the sale price goes to WPSI.
4 December until 22 December 2014
Asprey London, 167 New Bond Street, London W1
020 7493 6767
David Williams-Ellis, Elemental
This will be David William-Ellis’s first exhibition at Portland Gallery, comprising 21 bronze sculptures in varying sizes and colours. The artist will be in attendance at the gallery from 10am – 6pm on the 2, 3, and 4 of December. Award-winning documentary maker and writer Charlotte Metcalf has produced a short film on David in conjunction with the exhibition.
3 – 23 December 2014
The Portland Gallery (www.portlandgallery.com)
8 Bennet Street, London, SW1A 1RP
020 7493 1888
The Scottish Gallery, December Exhibitions
For his second solo exhibition at The Scottish Gallery, Ed Kluz explores the unique topography and architecture of Edinburgh’s New Town with a new series of collages. Ed Kluz is an artist, illustrator and printmaker. His work explores contemporary perceptions of the past through the reimagining of historic landscapes, buildings and objects.
29 November until 24 December 2014
The Scottish Gallery, 16 Dundas Street, Edinburgh EH3 6HZ
0131 558 1200
77th Annual Exhibition of The Society of Wood Engravers
Aiming to promote the art of Wood Engraving, the exhibition will also display other forms of relief printmaking. Work will be showcased from around 70 members of the society.
20 November – 28 December 2014
Art Jericho, 6 King Street, Oxford, OX2 6DF
01865 604 070
Frank Phelan
Irish born Phelan has masterfully followed in the footsteps of the great European tradition of abstract painting. The whole exhibition can be viewed online and almost all works exhibited are for sale.
26 November – 24 December 2014
Messum’s, 28 Cork Street, London, W1S 3NG
020 7437 5545
A Symphony of Curves; Geoffrey Preston – A Tradition in Plaster
Showing recent sculpture and decorative plasterwork ranging from small stucco flower relief panels to a wildly exuberant Rococo ceiling, alongside drawings, photographs and objects. Among work on show are pieces from Geoffrey Preston Sculpture & Design’s award-winning work at Great Fulford.
Until 24 December 2014
The Harley Gallery, Wellbeck, Worksop, Nottinghamshire S80 3LW
01909 501700
