7 Exhibitions to See in London During Frieze Week, From Shocking ’90s Artworks to Renoir Masterpieces

Édouard Manet’s A Bar at the Folies-Bergère (1882) hangs in the Courtauld Gallery, where, next door, Pakistani American artist Salman Toor has his first European solo exhibition, “Salman Toor: Someone Like You.” In it is a work depicting a different kind of bar in The Bar on East 13th (2019), in which a man with pigtails and painted nails holds a lemon and raises it above a margarita glass. It’s one of the 19 paintings by Toor on display. There are also Phone Watcher (2022), in which a figure is dead behind the eyes with a smartphone in hand, and Fag Puddle with Carriers (2026), in which limp bodies lie on top of each other as others roam around.

Until January 10, 2027.

The works of Pierre-Auguste Renoir have made headlines recently, with several of the Impressionist artist’s paintings recently stolen from his home-turned-museum in southern France. (The thieves left behind two of the four paintings they tried to take; the remaining two have been recovered.) That suspenseful news story unfolded only a few weeks before the more joyous “Renoir and Love” opened at the National Gallery. The exhibition focuses on how the artist represented friendship, love, and everyday gestures across 40 paintings, from the crowded scenes in Bal au Moulin de la Galette (1876) to Danse à la campagne (1883), depicting his friend Paul-Auguste Lothe dancing with his future wife, Aline Charigot.

Until January 31, 2027.

“Tim Walker’s Fairyland: Love and Legend,” at the National Portrait Gallery, is a who’s who of contemporary icons. The exhibition captures portraits of the Gay Liberation Front; there are also musicians such as Björk, Lady Gaga, Frank Ocean, and Chappell Roan, as well as a nude Harry Styles hugging himself. “The running theme throughout the exhibition is love—at its core this exhibition is about everyone’s right to love. It celebrates love in all its forms—the power of connection between friends, chosen families, couples and communities,” Susanna Brown, curator of the exhibition, told ARTnews recently. Walker began the project in 2020, after inspiration struck out on a walk in Highbury Fields, where he noticed a plaque tucked away on the side of a public building marking the spot where 50 earlier 150 people had gathered to protest for gay liberation. The date of the demonstration was November 27, 1970, the very same day he was born. This exhibition relays both queer history and Walker’s personal history.

Until February 7, 2027.

Before Robert Ryman turned to painting, he wanted to become a professional jazz saxophonist, and to make ends meet, he took up shifts as a security guard at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, which at the time was rapidly acquiring works by Mark Rothko, Willem de Kooning, and Jackson Pollock. The Barbican Art Gallery’s survey of Ryman’s work traces his beginnings to The Painting of the Mysterious Shadow (1966), which he created after leaving his day job at MoMA, and also includes such works as Surface Veil II (1971). The latter piece is situated in front of a bench for visitors to gather their thoughts as they gaze at Ryman’s white paint.

Until February 28, 2027.

A bouquet of fresh and colorful flowers by Osias Beert the Elder, a basket of fruit by Bartolomeo Cavarozzi, a ram with its legs tied by Francisco de Zurbarán (recently part of the artist’s show at the National Gallery), and a resting skull by Andy Warhol: These are among the works on show at Robilant, which is surveying the still life genre as it shifted between the 16th century and today. The gallery is also participating in Frieze Masters with a booth that holds John Singer Sargent’s Constantinople and Warhol’s portrait of Erich Marx, the German art collector and real estate developer. “We have all seen the renewed interest in Old Masters as the pendulum swings from speculative to secure, and as clients look to artists who have already shown they can hold their value,” gallery director Michele di Robilant told ARTnews.

Until December 18.

The artist and set designer Es Delvin is a creator of worlds. (After all, she has three Emmy Awards, three Olivier Awards, and a Tony Award for production design, and has helped building sets for musicians such as Beyoncé, The Weeknd, and Adele.) In her exhibition at the Design Museum, she opens her library of work, from installations to films. She recreated her London studio and is now displaying a wall installation, titled Archive Unboxed, that combines the work she produced in her formative years in school, university and art college. The artist also partnered with Penguin Random House UK on a book installation titled Infinite Library. Exhibited at the end of the show, it includes books that will be donated to local charities.

Until April 4, 2027.

“The 90s: Art and Fashion” at Tate Britain has left art critics “dissatisfied” and “buzzing,” making it the type of exhibition you need to see for yourself. It’s a fresh and different perspective on the 1990s, and sure enough, there are works by Tracey Emin and Damien Hirst there. But the show also spotlights names not typically associated with the Young British Artists (also known as the YBAs), including Hamad Butt, Eileen Perrier, Yinka Shonibare, and Barbara Walker. Whether you walk away from the exhibition feeling empty or elated, you can let everyone know you went to the exhibition by getting one of the T-shirts that Sam Taylor-Johnson wears in her photograph Fuck, Suck, Spank, Wank (1993). You can guess what the T-shirt says.

Until February 17, 2027.