{"id":101819,"date":"2026-08-12T08:48:33","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T08:48:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/101819\/"},"modified":"2026-08-12T08:48:33","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T08:48:33","slug":"5-brilliant-london-art-exhibitions-are-closing-very-soon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/101819\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Brilliant London Art Exhibitions Are Closing Very Soon"},"content":{"rendered":"

With commercial\u00a0galleries\u00a0closed for the month while collectors and gallerists head off to the Mediterranean on their yachts, and major institutions busy preparing for a hectic schedule of autumn openings, August is famously a pretty quiet month for London\u2019s art scene.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But don\u2019t let the lack of new exhibitions dissuade you from making time in your busy schedule of summer festivals<\/a>, day trips<\/a> and Aperol dates<\/a> to see some art. Late summer is the perfect time to catch up on all those big shows you\u2019ve not had a chance to see yet, not least\u00a0because\u00a0several of the year\u2019s biggest and most talked-about exhibitions are entering their final days.<\/p>\n

Clear your weekend, and head to one of these in the nick of time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

RECOMMENDED:\u00a0The top 10 exhibitions in London<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Five amazing London art exhibitions closing in August 2026
\nZurbar\u00e1n at The National Gallery<\/a><\/p>\n

From still lifes of plump, waxy lemons to monumental saints, bloodied martyrs and ecstatic Virgins, baroque master Francisco de Zurbar\u00e1n did it all. He painted vast multi-canvas scenes that once lined the walls of convents and monasteries across Spain, worked for private patrons, the court of Philip IV of Spain and clients across the Spanish Americas, where more than 100 of his paintings ended up. And now, improbably, many of them are at the National Gallery. The artist\u2019s first UK exhibition is a chance to see more than 40 of his monumental, awe-inspiring pieces in the same room, thanks to major loans from\u00a0the\u00a0Louvre, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Museo del Prado.<\/p>\n

National Gallery.\u00a0Closes Sunday August\u00a023. From \u00a320.<\/p>\n

\"Zurbar\u00e1n
\nPhotograph: The National Gallery, LondonZurbar\u00e1n exhibition at The National Gallery <\/p>\n

The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition<\/a><\/p>\n

The 258th edition of the Royal Academy\u2019s open-submission bonanza has seen British sculptor Ryan Gander curate under the broad curatorial theme of \u2018Interconnectedness\u2019. Those looking for\u00a0some art world bigwigs will find paintings by\u00a0Frank Bowling,\u00a0Gary Hume,\u00a0Anselm Kiefer, and a beautiful black and white print by\u00a0Cornelia Parker, while\u00a0comedians are out in force once more this year; Harry\u00a0Hill\u00a0has two paintings of a car set on fire, while\u00a0Joe Lycett\u00a0returns with a rather unflattering painting of Cilla Black. Not so keen on Cilla? Fear not; with\u00a0nearly\u00a02,000 works chosen for the exhibition, there really is something for everyone. Give yourself time to wander, and somewhere among the\u00a0hundreds\u00a0of pieces you may discover your new favourite artist.<\/p>\n

Royal Academy. Closes Sunday August 23. From \u00a322.50.<\/p>\n

Hurvin Anderson at Tate Britain<\/a><\/p>\n

Turner Prize-nominated painter Hurvin Anderson\u2019s first major institutional show brings together more than 60 of his\u00a0lively paintings,\u00a0dating from\u00a01995 when he was an art student at the Royal College of Art up to this year (some he even finished off once they\u2019d been hung).\u00a0Inspired by his experiences as a\u00a0Black man of Caribbean heritage born and raised in the UK, they\u2019re big, vibrant pieces that convey a sense of inbetweenness, or\u00a0\u2018being in one place but thinking about another\u2019 as the artist puts it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tate Britain. Closes Sunday August 23. \u00a318.<\/p>\n

\"Hurvin
\nPhotograph: Tate Photography \/ Larina Annora FernandesHurvin Anderson at Tate Britain <\/p>\n

Donald Locke: Resistant Forms at Camden Arts Centre<\/a><\/p>\n

Spanning painting, drawing, sculpture, and ceramics, this long-overdue retrospective of Windrush generation ceramicist and painter\u00a0Donald Locke examines the legacy of colonialism in the\u00a0Guyanese-British artist\u2019s\u00a0hometown via some of his most celebrated works, including large scale mixed media piece \u2018Trophies of Empire\u2019. Donald Locke shows don\u2019t come around often, so don\u2019t miss the chance to get up close to these angry, claustrophobic yet beautifully crafted works,\u00a0ranging from wild, black paintings to intricate assemblages of found objects and ceramic pieces that suggest cages or instruments of violence.<\/p>\n

Camden Arts Centre. Closes Sunday August 30. Free.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tracey Emin: A Second Life at Tate Modern<\/a><\/p>\n

Positioned as a 40-year retrospective through the pioneering artist\u2019s vast and varied repertoire, one of 2026\u2019s most talked-about shows lays bare Emin\u2019s life through her distinct and often unsettling art, from career highs\u00a0\u2013 such as the iconic, Turner Prize-nominated \u2018My Bed\u2019\u00a0(1998)\u00a0\u2013 to stark personal lows in work depicting her experiences with sexual violence, abortion and recent life-threatening illness.\u00a0It\u00a0perfectly encapsulates\u00a0Emin\u2019s defiant approach to life and her ability to turn traumatic experiences into mesmerising art.\u00a0You\u2019ll leave feeling emotionally wrung out, but struck by the\u00a0realisation that \u2018Mad Tracey from Margate\u2019 is truly a force to be reckoned with.<\/p>\n

Tate Modern. Closes Monday August 31. \u00a322.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With commercial\u00a0galleries\u00a0closed for the month while collectors and gallerists head off to the Mediterranean on their yachts, and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":101820,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[26],"tags":[494,552,27,553],"class_list":["post-101819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-london","tag-art","tag-categories-art","tag-london","tag-news-art"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/117081676564082287","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101819"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101819\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}