Major LS Lowry Exhibition in the autumn

There is to be a major exhibition of the paintings of LS Lowry in the Autumn. 

The exhibition L.S. Lowry: The Theatre of Life marks the 50th anniversary of Laurence Stephen Lowry (1887 – 1976) and opens at MK Gallery in Milton Keynes in October.  It represents a culmination of a nationwide celebration and features over 140 works, including A Football Match (1932). 

• The new exhibition is the first major career survey of his work in over a decade. In addition to iconic “matchstick men” industrial scenes, the showcase will explore lesser-known works such as portraits and surreal pieces. 
• a rare overview of his career, bringing together lesser-known aspects of his practice, including pencil and charcoal studies from the antique and life, detailed urban drawings, and works in pastel and watercolour that reveal the breadth of his practice (MK Gallery)
• A key theme of the exhibition is a re-examination of the myths that grew around him, situating his life and career within the wider transformations of twentieth-century Britain, as the mills, terraced streets and working communities he depicted were bombed, cleared and replaced.

L.S. Lowry, Our Town (1943). Oil on canvas.

Purchased from the artist, 1944.

© Touchstones Rochdale, Rochdale Arts & Heritage Service.

Basics: 

• L.S. Lowry: The Theatre of Life
• When: 24 October 2026 – 28 February 2026
• MK Gallery, 900 Midsummer Boulevard, Milton Keynes MK9 3QA
• Tuesday – Sunday, 10am – 5pm. Closed Mondays
• You can book tickets on the MK Gallery website.

L.S. Lowry: The Theatre of Life is also accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue.

Why people like Lowry's art

London is the best city for art! (Time Out Survey)

London has been declared to be the best city in the world for art galleries - according to Time Out’s latest guide to the planet’s top places for culture.

This conclusion arises out of a survey of more than 24,000 people around the world about culture in their cities.

An impressive 81.1 percent of surveyed Londoners said that the city does art galleries better than it does anything else. London was a clear gold medal winner in the category, scoring much higher than Paris (which came second with 67.9 percent) and New York (third with 67.7 percent).

Of course, one of the main reasons for this is that so many are free to access - which is a very significant bonus for both residents and visitors alike.

In addition, 88.4 percent of London’s residents backed London’s museum venues. That put us third, only behind Paris and Madrid. 

Below is a summary of Time's Out View - based on its survey - of:

• the top 50 art galleries in London
• the top 25 museums in London.
  

I really out to get back to doing my twice a year overview of what's on where at the major art galleries....

The Top 50 Art Galleries in London

This is the Time Out Guide to The 50 best art galleries in London

Frankly, I don't think they're in any order of "best". 

• Rather this is a collection of what they think are the best. 
• I guarantee that the majority of Time Out Readers will not have heard of the majority of them - which makes it a very odd list in that sense.
• It also excludes rather a lot of very active art galleries which are well worth a visit - mainly because they forgot to say.....

There is a VERY STRONG Contemporary Art bias

Hence they EXCLUDE:

• any of the long running and very respectable art galleries (eg Cork Street and associated area) which a lot of artists would give their eye teeth to get into
• anything to do with art societies - which is sad, because it basically indicates that anything associated with an art society is of no interest. Which is very far from the truth.

As such I'll tell you which I think are the best!

Plus all the ones I have never visited

They are listed in a very odd order - so I have reordered into my particular order of preference

The Sainsbury Wing is now effectively the main entrance to the National Gallery
- and all temporary exhibitions

Would you like to win a medal for your art?

One group of artists have the scope to win a medal for their art. 

Every year, leading botanical artists and illustrators from across the world come to London to see if they can win a coveted RHS Gold Medal.

The Royal Horticultural Society's Botanical Art Show is the most prestigious botanical art exhibition in the world.

Nothing else even gets near - because to exhibit in this exhibition

• you first have to be assessed as good enough to exhibit - without having seen what you propose to exhibit!
• you get five years to prepare your exhibit
• which comprises a minimum of six artworks on a botanical or horticultural theme/topic which might be:
• Family or Genus Names (of Plants)
• Exhibits related to specific locations/habitats
• Habit / Lifecycle / Growth
• Common and Generic Names
• Medicinal Plants
• Theme names related to botanical history

Raucous Glaucous: Lichens of Texas Hill Country 16X 2026
Christiane Fashek (New York, USA)
these are shown in wet and dry mode magnified 16 times
It won a Gold Medal.

Medals are assessed by an expert panel according to strict and defined criteria

This is a brief characterisation of what each medal represents, written after a discussion about the meaning of the colour of the different medals, back in 2018.

• A Gold medal exhibit has to be outstanding in all areas and really have the ‘wow’ factor.
• A Silver-Gilt medal is a very high award and still an exceptional achievement. In many cases a Silver-gilt will have only been missing a couple of elements that meant it was not quite a Gold.
• The Silver medal will usually have numerous areas for improvement.
• A Bronze medal is rarely awarded as the standard is generally so high, but it may be awarded if the artist has really only achieved one or two elements from the criteria.​
• EXTRACTED FROM: RHS Botanical Art Show #3: Medals Awards and Feedback (2018)

Jenny Hyde-Johnson (South Africa) achieved a "first"
She was awarded Best Exhibit, Best Artwork and a Gold Medal for
"Fynbos Diversity of the Coastal Limestones on Grootbos"

The RHS Botanical Art Show 2026 can currently be seen at the Saatchi Gallery in Chelsea until 2nd August.

• open 10-6 daily
• admission FREE to those with membership of the RHS or Saatchi Gallery
• £6 for everybody else

I've been writing posts about this and the Portrait Award in tandem as they both opened at the same time!

Here are the posts relating to this year's show​ - which have been posted on the blog on my Botanical Art and Artists website (#1 in the world for botanical art!)

• RHS Botanical Art Show 2026: Awards and Gold Medals
• RHS Botanical Art Show 2026: Silver Gilt Medals
• RHS Botanical Art Show 2026: Silver Medals

AND

• How to exhibit at RHS Botanical Art Show 2027 (Part 1: How to get approved to exhibit)

I've got another couple of posts still to write....

Service is interrupted due to the heatwave

I feel a bit like the train people who announce that the heat has warped the railway lines and you can't get to where you want to go.

In my case, my blogging has completely tailed off because I'm finding it difficult to focus on writing. 

I'm afraid I'm really suffering with the heatwaves and seem to be entirely focused at present on 

• how to stay cool indoors - I'm living in semi darkness most of the time.
• how to be able to get some exercise outside when it's so very hot.
• how to eat without using any heat!
• changing what I'm wearing about three times a day!
• buying more hats with wide brims
• sleeping with my feet up on a wedge to reduce the swelling in my ankles!

Me at Knole last Monday. 
We spent most of the time trying to find shade....

Part of the explanation is that I have no thyroid - which is what regulates your body temperature - due to it being surgically removed back in 2005 after hot soup made my throat close up so much I couldn't breathe properly! I had a goitre which was growing fast.

• I now take medication to regulate instead - but that can get out of whack. 
• So making sure that my body is responding appropriately to the excess heat feels a bit like a full time job at the moment. 

I went for my blood test for my annual thyroid check-up this morning and hopefully we'll know soon whether an adjustment needs to be made.

I'm hoping to get back to normal blogging - just as soon as this heat retreats!

The Tale of the Portrait Award Catalogue 2026 - and two major mishaps

This is about the debacle of The Portrait Award Catalogue 2026 - and why I do not have a copy.

Portrait Award Catalogue 2026 - as advertised on the NPG website

Every year I usually get the catalogue of The Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery. I use it when writing my review of the exhibition. You'll note no review to date....

However this year there have been two major mishaps

1. The Printing Error
2. The "ready to ship" date.

The Printing Error

This year, 2026, the catalogue, sponsored by Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer, was found to have a serious error in the original printed version.

Now printing errors in museum publications are not unheard of

• many are relatively minor (eg a name spelt incorrectly) and 
• they are normally corrected in the next print - 
• and an errata slip put in the edition with the error.

My guess as to why the original catalogue was NOT released at all is that it the error is too significant/important - and this most likely reason is it involves the sponsor's name.

The name that keeps changing. It started as "Herbert Smith Freehills" - and last year it became "Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer".

That's important enough to stop the release of a catalogue.

The alternative might be that the colours were badly wrong. Except, as somebody who used to be responsible for producing marketing material for my professional qualification, I know that sort of error gets caught very easily at the proofs stage. So long as you have somebody competent doing the job and piping up as soon as they spot a problem. 

Approving proofs is the signal to "go to print". 

When I did it, my publications lady did all the checking - but the proofs were signed off by me after I had checked them carefully too. It's much too expensive to get wrong hence all mistakes have to be spotted!

So I can only assume that whoever was responsible for collating, drafting, designing and checking - and double checking and authorising - the catalogue proofs did not do their job properly.

That's a very expensive mistake. That's because once you have approved the proofs, you are agreeing liability for the costs of the print run. Which means NPG will be charged for that error and in effect will have paid for the catalogue twice.

For the record, I did ask what the print error - but was nobody knew and/or was prepared to say.

The "Ready to Ship" date

I was thinking of going into the NPG today to pick up a catalogue. However I wasn't optimistic it would be there (I know how long print runs take - particularly if a job is contracted out to Asian printers as many are - ships take a long time to dock!) so checked the website first.

That's when I found the page related to the Portrait Award Catalogue for sale in the shop.

Which states

Expected to ship from 29 July 2026.

That's seven weeks late - given the exhibition opened to the public on 25th June.

Which leads us to the next issue.....

Details of the Portrait Award Catalogue

The cost of the mistake