The National Gallery exhibitions in 2026
RADICAL HARMONY: HELENE KRÖLLER-MÜLLER’S NEO-IMPRESSIONISTS
Until 8 February 2026
The first ever exhibition dedicated to the Neo-Impressionist art movement at the National Gallery will take place in the autumn of 2025. Radical Harmony: Helene Kröller-Müller’s Neo-Impressionists will show works largely drawn from the outstanding collection of the German art collector Helene Kröller-Müller (1869‒1939), at the Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo, in the Netherlands. The exhibition will show radical works of French, Belgian and Dutch artists, painted from 1886 to the early 20th century. These include Anna Boch, Jan Toorop, Théo van Rysselberghe and Paul Signac and Georges Seurat himself. One of the first great women art patrons of the 20th century, Kröller-Müller, assembled what is probably the world’s greatest and most comprehensive collection of Neo-Impressionist paintings just two decades after these works were painted. Supported by Lead Philanthropic Supporter Kenneth C Griffin and Griffin Catalyst and other donors
EDWIN AUSTIN ABBEY: BY THE DAWN’S EARLY LIGHT
Until 15 February 2026
A spectacular design for the ceiling of the House of Representatives, Pennsylvania State Capitol, Harrisburg – a palace of arts and one of the grandest public buildings ever constructed in the USA – is on display at the National Gallery from winter 2025. The 12-feet-diameter half-scale design for 'The Hours' depicts 24 female figures representing the 24 hours of the day. Newly conserved by Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut, this monumental work is on display as part of the first UK exhibition for over a century dedicated to its creator, Edwin Austin Abbey (1852–1911).
MING WONG: NATIONAL GALLERY ARTIST IN RESIDENCE 2025
15 January – 5 April 2026
Press View: Wednesday 14 January
The National Gallery’s 2025 Artist in Residence, Ming Wong, presents a new film work and installation responding to the depictions of Saint Sebastian in the Gallery’s collection, as well as to the work of seminal British artist and filmmaker Derek Jarman (1942–94). Wong’s new short film, Dance of the sun on the water|Saltatio solis in aqua, sees the artist re-enact scenes from Jarman’s ‘Sebastiane’ (1976) within the setting of the National Gallery, reimagining Jarman’s work in dialogue with historic artworks from Carlo Crivelli (about 1430/5–about 1494) to Gerrit van Honthorst (1592–1656).
Exhibition supported by LG, the Modern and Contemporary Art Partner of the National gallery and other donors.
STUBBS: PORTRAIT OF A HORSE
12 March – 31 May 2026
Press view: Tuesday 10 March
Next spring the National Gallery will present an exhibition devoted to 'Scrub, a bay horse belonging to the Marquess of Rockingham' (about 1762), painted by George Stubbs (1724–1806). The exhibition will focus on the creation of 'Scrub', contextualising the commission through two projects Stubbs undertook throughout his career which evidence his renown as an animal painter in Britain. These include 18 months Stubbs spent studying and drawing the anatomy of horses in a remote barn in Lincolnshire between 1756–58, as well as the much later project 'The Turf Review', commissioned in 1790 which saw Stubbs create a series of portraits of racehorses depicting the last 50 years of the Turf.
ZURBARÁN
2 May – 23 August 2026
Press view: Wednesday 29 April 2026
The first major monographic exhibition in the UK devoted to Francisco de Zurbarán (1598–1664) will open at the National Gallery next spring. This exhibition is the first dedicated presentation of the artist’s paintings at the National Gallery since 1994. The exhibition of almost 50 paintings will span the chronological and iconographic breadth of the artist’s career, and unite exceptional works from the collection of the National Gallery with paintings from the Musée du Louvre ('Saint Bonaventure on His Bier' and 'Saint Apollonia') and the Art Institute of Chicago ('The Crucifixion', 'Saint Romanus of Antioch' and 'Saint Barulas' ), the two partner museums to which the exhibition will travel between October 2026 and June 2027.
Exhibition supported by Headline Corporate Supporter Iberdrola and Scottish Power and other donors.
WALDMÜLLER: LANDSCAPES
2 July – 20 September 2026
Press view: Tuesday 30 June 2026
In summer 2026 the National Gallery will present the first ever UK exhibition of paintings by the Austrian 19th-century artist Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller (1793–1865). Waldmüller: Landscapes (2 July – 20 September 2026), additionally the first devoted solely to his work as a landscapist, is a collaboration between the National Gallery and the Belvedere Museum, Vienna, which is lending most of the works on display. Waldmüller is one of the most important figures in Austrian 19th-century art, significant for his work both as an artist and as an influential teacher. As well as landscapes, he painted portraits, genre pictures and still lifes, all characterised by his absolute commitment to truth.
RENOIR AND LOVE
3 October – 31 January 2027
Press view: Wednesday 30 September 2026
Renoir and Love will be the most significant exhibition of work by Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919) in the UK for 20 years. The exhibition will including the iconic 'Bal au Moulin de la Galette' (1876, the Musée d’Orsay, Paris), which has not been seen in the UK since 1985. Organised in partnership with the Musée d’Orsay, Paris, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Renoir and Love will focus on the crucial years of the artist’s career, from the mid-1860s to the mid-1880s, tracing the evolution of the imagery of affection, seduction, conversation, male camaraderie and the sociability of the café and theatre, as well as merry-making, flirtation, courtship and child-rearing in Renoir’s art.
Supported by Lead Philanthropic Supporter Kenneth C Griffin and Griffin Catalyst and other donors.
VAN EYCK: THE PORTRAITS
21 November 2026 – 11 April 2027
Press view: Wednesday 18 November 2026
The first ever exhibition of the portraits of the Netherlandish painter Jan van Eyck (active 1422–1441), will open at the National Gallery in winter 2026. Van Eyck was an artist who not only changed the genre of portraiture but also redefined who got to be portrayed.
Exceptional reunions will see among others the Gallery’s own 'Arnolfini Portrait' (1434) displayed for the first time ever with a panel showing the same sitter, 'Portrait of a Man (Giovanni? Arnolfini)' (c.1440, Gemäldegalerie, Berlin) and van Eyck’s newly conserved 'Portrait of a Man (Self Portrait?)' (1433, the National Gallery) shown next to the portrait of his enterprising wife 'Margaret' (1439, Groeningemuseum, Bruges), the first known portrait of a woman who was not a member of the aristocracy.
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The National Gallery is one of the greatest art galleries in the world. Founded by Parliament in 1824, the Gallery houses the nation’s collection of paintings in the Western European tradition from the late 13th to the early 20th century. The collection includes works by Artemisia Gentileschi, Bellini, Cezanne, Degas, Leonardo, Monet, Raphael, Rembrandt, Renoir, Rubens, Titian, Turner, Van Dyck, Van Gogh and Velázquez. The Gallery’s key objectives are to care for and enhance the collection and provide the best possible access to visitors. Admission free. nationalgallery.org.uk
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