Botticelli Reimagined

5 March 2016 - 3 July 2016
http://www.vam.ac.uk

Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510) is recognised as one of the greatest artists of all time. His celebrated images are firmly embedded in public consciousness and his influence permeates art, design, fashion and film. However, although lauded in his lifetime, Botticelli was largely forgotten for more than 300 years until his work was progressively rediscovered in the 19th century.  Telling a story 500 years in the making, Botticelli Reimagined will be the largest Botticelli exhibition in Britain since 1930. Including painting, fashion, film, drawing, photography, tapestry, sculpture and print, the exhibition will explore the ways that artists and designers have reinterpreted Botticelli. It will include over 50 original works by Botticelli, alongside works by artists such as Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Edward Burne-Jones, William Morris, René Magritte, Elsa Schiaparelli, Andy Warhol and Cindy Sherman

Bejewelled Treasures: The Al Thani Collection

Sat 21 November 2015 – Mon 28 March 2016
http://www.vam.ac.uk/

Discover the evolution and enduring influence of Indian jewellery from the Mughal Empire to the modern day. The exhibition will present over 100 spectacular items of Indian and Indian inspired jewellery, including precious jewels of breath-taking quality, exquisite enamelling and bejewelled ornaments.

Bejewelled Treasures: The Al Thani Collection highlights Indian traditions in design and craftsmanship, focussing on centuries-old techniques and processes. It allows you to see first-hand India’s influence on jewellery made by leading European houses in the 1920s and see contemporary pieces by modern masters, still drawing on those Indian traditions today.

Blue & White: British Printed Ceramics

31 January 2015 – 3 January 2016
http://www.vam.ac.uk

Blue and white printed ceramics are a pronounced British phenomenon with continued appeal for potters, artists and consumers. At its very best ceramic printing in blue results in a high-quality, technically precise and aesthetically pleasing decoration, enabling a rapid design response to society and culture.

This display features the wide variety of designs and decoration used in blue and white printed ceramics in Britain from the 1750s to present day, in both industrial and art production, demonstrating how these objects reflect British society, culture and interpret the wider world.

The display has been generously supported by The Headley Trust and includes loans from The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery, The Spode Museum Trust, The Wedgwood Museum and private collections. Displays complement our permanent collections; there are many free temporary displays around the V&A. They range in size from a single case to a room.

William Kent: Designing Georgian Britain

www.vam.ac.uk
22nd March 2014 - 13th July 2014

Experience the world of William Kent, the most prominent architect and designer in early Georgian Britain and explore how his versatility and artistic inventiveness set the style for his age when Britain defined itself as a new nation and developed an Italian-inspired style.

This exhibition will bring together over 200 objects including architectural drawings for such prominent buildings as the Treasury and Horse Guards at Whitehall, designs for landscape gardens, sculpture, furniture, silver as well as paintings and illustrated books.

Celebrating Kent’s art over three decades (1719-48) this exhibition will show the breadth and ingenuity of the Kentian style, ranging from spectacular gilt furniture to vivid interiors such as Houghton Hall, Chiswick House and his landscape gardens at Rousham, Holkham Hall and elsewhere.

David Bowie is

23.03 – 28.07.2013.

http://www.vam.ac.uk

The V&A has been given unprecedented access to the David Bowie Archive to curate the first international retrospective of the extraordinary career of David Bowie - one of the most pioneering and influential performers of modern times. David Bowie is will explore the creative processes of Bowie as a musical innovator and cultural icon, tracing his shifting style and sustained reinvention across five decades.

The V&A’s Theatre and Performance curators, Victoria Broackes and Geoffrey Marsh have selected more than 300 objects that will be brought together for the very first time. They include handwritten lyrics, original costumes, fashion, photography, film, music videos, set designs, Bowie’s own instruments and album artwork.

The exhibition will explore the broad range of Bowie’s collaborations with artists and designers in the fields of fashion, sound, graphics, theatre, art and film. On display will be more than 300 objects including Ziggy Stardust bodysuits (1972) designed by Freddie Burretti, photography by Brian Duffy; album sleeve artwork by Guy Peellaert and Edward Bell; visual excerpts from films and live performances including The Man Who Fell to Earth, music videos such as Boys Keep Swinging and set designs created for the Diamond Dogs tour (1974). Alongside these will be more personal items such as never-before-seen storyboards, handwritten set lists and lyrics as well as some of Bowie’s own sketches, musical scores and diary entries, revealing the evolution of his creative ideas.

Treasures of the royal courts: Tudors, Stuarts and the Russian Tzars

09.03 – 14.07.2013

http://www.vam.ac.uk

Experience the majesty of the courts of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I to Ivan the Terrible and the early Romanovs in a major exhibition at the V&A. From royal portraits, costume and jewellery to armour and heraldry, Treasures of the Royal Courts tells the story of diplomacy between the British Monarchy and the Russian Tsars through more than 150 magnificent objects.

A rarely-shown painting of Elizabeth I, Shakespeare's First Folio, a suit of armour tailor-made for Henry VIII and the legendary ruby-studded Drake Star reveal the spectacular world of kings, queens, merchants and courtiers from 1509 to 1685. At the heart of the exhibition is the beautiful English and French silver given to the Tsars by the British royal family, on exclusive loan from the Moscow Kremlin Museums in celebration of 500 years of Anglo-Russian exchange.