Top Spring Exhibitions 2025
From Cicely Mary Barker’s botanically accurate fairies to Tim Burton’s childhood drawings, there is a myriad of drawing-inspired exhibitions to explore across the UK this Spring.
The Royal Drawing School has partnered with Art Fund to award our newsletter subscribers a free tote bag designed by artist Morag Myerscough with purchase of a National Art Pass. That means you can take a National Art Pass with you on your adventures to receive 50% off major exhibitions across the UK. Each exhibition included in this list is discounted (or free!) with a National Art Pass.
To claim your free tote, simply head to the National Art Pass page and enter the code SPRING at checkout.
Drawing the Unspeakable. Installation view, Towner Eastbourne. Photo by Rob Harris
Drawing the Unspeakable, Towner Eastbourne, Eastbourne
5 October 2024 – 27 April 2025
Drawing the Unspeakable highlights the power of drawing to express what words cannot. Both David Dimbleby and his daughter Liza Dimbleby recognise its unique ability to convey the inexpressible. The exhibition, with over 100 works, explores themes like war, grief, and displacement, featuring artists such as David Bomberg, Barbara Hepworth, and Madge Gill.
Flower Fairies logo, Penguin Random House Children’s UK
Flower Fairies: The Magical World of Cicely Mary Barker, Watts Gallery, Artists’ Village, Compton
22 October 2024 – 27 April 2025
Famed creator of much-loved Flower Fairies is celebrated in this display of Barker’s life as an artist, author, and illustrator.
The exhibition traces Barker’s artistic journey from childhood sketches and postcard designs to her commercial success through books in adulthood. Barker’s botanically accurate fairies were inspired by real children in her life. Explore Barker’s world of original illustrations, personal sketches, and family photographs. Enjoy family-friendly activities like dressing up as a fairy, creating your own postcard, and designing a garden.
Image: #1130224 by Jemma Appleby RWA
Paper Works, RWA (Royal West of England Academy), Bristol
25 January – 27 April 2025
Paper Works celebrates paper as a surface for drawing and printmaking in its many formats: Japanese tissue, papier-mâché, paper pulp, and more. Works on display in this exhibition range from charcoal drawings to ephemeral hangings and fine line drawings on cotton rag. Expect to discover a love for paper!
Print, Catherine Maude Nichols, 'Broadland Scene', drypoint on paper, undated, Norfolk Museums Service
Catherine Maude Nichols: Making her Mark, Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery, Norwich
29 June 2024 – 1 June 2025
At a time when it was uncommon for women artists to support themselves through their creative practice, Nichols broke the mould by sustaining a successful career as a practicing artist.
Nichols was an especially gifted printmaker. This exhibition showcases the full range of her work, with a keen focus on her drypoint etchings, in addition to her watercolours and drawings.
Dora Carrington, Farm at Watendlath, 1921. Photo: Tate
Dora Carrington: Beyond Bloomsbury, Pallant House Gallery, Chichester
9 November 2024 – 27 April 2025
Curated by Anne Chisholm and Ariane Bankes, this exhibition is a celebration of Carrington’s creative achievements and extensive body of work. An iconic member of the Bloomsbury Group, Carrington’s paintings, drawings, prints are displayed alongside personal film and photographs that capture her creative life and artistic achievements.
Tim Burton, Untitled (Creature Series), 1994 © Tim Burton
The World of Tim Burton, Design Museum, London
25 October 2024 – 21 April 2025
Take a comprehensive look at the creativity behind Tim Burton’s artistic outputs. Explore Burton’s personal archive that dates from his childhood creative outputs to present-day creative projects.
This exhibition is an extensive display of Burton’s work as an illustrator, photographer, painter, and author, in addition to collaborations with designers.
