Art news to be on your radar this week: 20 - 26 April 2026

This week’s art news roundup (20–26 April 2026) spans from the announcement of finalists for Museum of the Year to new details on summer exhibitions at the Dulwich Picture Gallery and the Saatchi Gallery, alongside updates on upcoming art fairs and events in London. This week’s art visit spotlight also takes us to South Africa, exploring the remarkable collection at Ellerman House Hotel in Cape Town. 

Portrait of a City: A Century of American Photography

Dulwich Picture Gallery reveal more details about their summer exhibition Portrait of a City: A Century of American Photography, a major survey bringing together over 100 works from the DNB Savings Bank Foundation collection in Norway. The exhibition traces the dramatic evolution of American urban life across the 20th century through photography, focusing on cities such as New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Spanning 38 leading photographers, it explores how rapid urbanisation, industrial growth, economic crisis and social change shaped both the American city and the development of photography itself as a powerful documentary and artistic medium. Beginning with early modernist and documentary pioneers like Alfred Stieglitz and Lewis Hine, it moves through the social impact of the Great Depression in the work of Dorothea Lange and Margaret Bourke-White, before highlighting mid-century street photography and modernism from artists including Walker Evans, Helen Levitt and Roy DeCarava. The exhibition continues into the post-war and late 20th century, capturing shifting urban landscapes and cultural tensions through photographers such as Berenice Abbott, Diane Arbus, Garry Winogrand, Ed Ruscha and Robert Adams, and concludes with Bruce Davidson’s Subway series, offering an unflinching portrait of New York’s energy, diversity and complexity.

Date: 28 July - 4 October 2026. Location: Dulwich Picture Gallery, College Road, London SE21 7AD. Price: TBC. Book now

Walker Evans, 42nd Street and Sixth Avenue, 1929© Walker Evans Archive, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Women in Art Fair 2026 returns to London

Women in Art Fair (WIAF) 2026 returns to London from 7–10 May at the OXO Gallery for its fourth edition, featuring a curated programme aimed at addressing gender imbalance in the global art world. The fair will present 80 artists selected from around 600 applicants, showcasing both emerging and established talent and connecting them with collectors, galleries, and institutions. A selection committee led by curator Virginia Damtsa, alongside figures such as Christian Levett and Batia Offer, oversees a blind review process focused on originality, technical strength, and storytelling. The programme also includes a range of prizes designed to support artists’ careers, including The Christian Levett WIAF Prize, the Young Masters mentorship award, and the Hunger Magazine Prize, all offering opportunities for recognition, mentorship, and international exposure. In addition, a Creative Health & Wellbeing Day on 9 May will explore the relationship between art, creativity, and wellbeing through panels, workshops, and restorative practices, highlighting creativity’s role in supporting mental and emotional health.

Date: 7–10 May 2026. Location: OXO Gallery, Oxo Tower Wharf, Barge House Street, London, SE1 9PH. womeninartfair.com

Women in Art Fair, 2025. Image credit greg allen photography

Imprint Art Fair to launches in Westminster in October 2026

This autumn marks the launch of the inaugural Imprint Art Fair, a new contemporary art fair taking place at RHS Lawrence Hall in Westminster. The fair will bring together international galleries, publishers, institutions and artists to showcase original prints and editions within the broader context of contemporary art. Building on the legacy of the Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair, Imprint continues to emphasise prints as an accessible and meaningful entry point into collecting, offering both emerging and experienced collectors opportunities to discover and acquire works with confidence. This new chapter reflects a decade of curatorial and educational development, while expanding its vision and identity for the future, and expresses gratitude to the community that has supported its evolution.

Date: 29 October - 01 November 2026. Location: RHS Lawrence Hall, London, SW1P 2QD. imprintartfair.com

Image courtesy of Imprint Art Fair

National Art Pass announces 2026 Museum of the Year Finalists

Five institutions have been announced as finalists for the Art Fund Museum of the Year 2026, the world’s largest museum prize recognising excellence and innovation across the museum sector. The shortlisted museums are The Box in Plymouth, The Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, The National Gallery in London, Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery, and V&A East Storehouse. The winner will be announced on 25 June at Cutty Sark in London, with £120,000 awarded to the winning museum and £20,000 to each finalist.

National Art Pass holders can also access benefits across these venues, including free or discounted entry, reduced exhibition prices. Click here to discover more.

The V&A Storehouse, Museum of the Year, Shortlisted, 2026. Photo © David Leven

The Sun and The Moon: Art Inspired by the Celestial

Saatchi Gallery has announced its summer exhibition The Sun and The Moon: Art Inspired by the Celestial, a major new show opening in 2026 that explores how the Sun and Moon have influenced art, culture, science and human imagination across history. The exhibition occupies two floors and nine gallery spaces, presenting artworks, installations and archival material across a wide range of media, and is structured as a journey through a 24-hour cycle from dawn to night. It brings together historical and contemporary artists including Patrick Caulfield, Barbara Hepworth, Peter Doig, Paula Rego and Yinka Ilori, alongside installations by teamLab and a central illuminated sculpture Helios by Luke Jerram, which uses detailed solar imagery and sound to recreate the Sun at an enormous scale. The exhibition explores themes such as mythology, timekeeping, ritual, space exploration and spirituality, with sections focusing on sunrise, the height of the day, sunset reflection, lunar culture and nocturnal myth, including references to Apollo missions and human fascination with the Moon. Continuing Saatchi Gallery’s series on nature-inspired creativity following FLOWERS – Flora in Contemporary Art and Culture, the exhibition invites visitors to reconsider these celestial bodies and their role in shaping human belief, culture and imagination.

Date: 5 June – 8 September 2026. Location: Saatchi Gallery, Duke of York’s HQ, King’s Road, Chelsea, London SW3 4RY. Price: From £13 (members free). Book now

Luke Jerram, Helios at Bath Assembly Rooms, 2025. National Trust Images copyright Luke Jerram Photography by James Dobson.

The Artists’ Fair Returns to Somerset House Studios

The Artists’ Fair will return for its fourth edition at Somerset House Studios’ New Wing on 6 June 2026, running from 12pm to 7pm, offering an alternative, artist-led market where audiences can meet practitioners directly through stalls, conversations and live exchanges. Described as a car-boot-meets-Frieze-style event, it will feature artworks, props, posters, clothing and more, with 100% of profits going directly to participating artists, including contributors such as Charles Jeffrey Loverboy, Cooking Sections, Danielle Wilde, Harun Morrison, Jacob Samuel, Philomene Pirecki and others. In collaboration with Montez Press Radio, the event will also include a live talks programme broadcast from the River Rooms, exploring how artists can navigate uncertainty and sustain creative practice, with sessions such as Today’s Letters, The Violence of Money, and Studio Outlaws: Working Off the Record, alongside an audio journey titled The Walk by Tara Fatehi. The fair will also feature community-focused activities including Spaghetti Club, a kids-led forum with zine-making workshops, a family room for younger children, and Let’s Collab, Babe!, a networking event designed to spark new creative collaborations and connections.

Date: 6 June 2026. Location: New Wing, Somerset House Studios, Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 1LA. Price: Pay What You Can. somersethouse.org.uk

Ellerman House Hotel, Cape Town. Image credit MTotoe/FLOLondon.

Visit

Art tour at Ellerman House Hotel, Cape Town

We were fortunate enough to be given a private tour of the remarkable art collection at Ellerman House in Cape Town, a place that feels as much like a living gallery as it does a luxury retreat. Home to one of the largest private collections of South African art, it traces the country’s artistic evolution from the early 19th century to the present day, reflecting shifting social and political landscapes along the way. The collection begins with colonial-era works by artists such as Edmund Pink and Thomas Bowler, before moving into more distinctly South African styles, including the well-known landscapes of J.H. Pierneef and Jan Volschenk, and later developing into modernist and internationally influenced works by figures like Irma Stern and Gerard Sekoto, showing how South African artists increasingly engaged with wider global movements. The collection was carefully built by Paul Harris, who acquired Ellerman House in 1988 and reimagined it as both a luxury hotel and a celebration of the nation’s artistic heritage. Today, it comprises around 1,000 works, displayed not only throughout the house but also in a dedicated on-site gallery opened in 2009, creating an engaging and varied experience. Guests encounter art at every turn, from historic pieces through to contemporary works by artists such as Lionel Smit, Blessing Ngobeni, Benon Lutaaya, and Heidi Fourie, resulting in a setting where history, culture and modern luxury sit alongside one another, with each artwork offering a clearer insight into South Africa’s identity.

Click here for a visual preview.

Location: Ellerman House, 180 Kloof Rd, Bantry Bay, Cape Town, 8005, South Africa. Website: ellerman.co.za. Instagram: @ellermanhousehotel