5 amazing art shows to see this December

Make time this month to seek out some of this season’s best exhibitionsSt Anne reads avidly in bed after giving birth. Image: courtesy of the Bodleian Libraries

1. Chaucer’s touch

We might think we already know Geoffrey Chaucer as the father of English literature, but a new exhibition asks us to consider his legacy through the extraordinary, continuing influence of his work. Chaucer Here and Now is at the Weston Library at Oxford’s Bodleian Libraries and aims to give us a fresh perspective on the poet and polymath who died in 1400. This is a chance to take in early versions of Chaucer’s works in beautifully illustrated medieval manuscripts like the one above. It includes, too, later precious pieces, such as The Kelmscott Chaucercreated by William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones in 1896. In addition, view contemporary interpretations of and responses to Chaucer’s work by writers such as Patience Agbabi and Zadie Smith. To accompany the exhibition there will also be a book of the same name, from Bodleian Library Publishing. 

8 December 2023–28 April 2024

bodleian.ox.ac.uk

Sacred by Li Huang. Image: courtesy of the artist

2. Dual identities 

‘Being dual identifiable carries a sense of pride and strength. While there can be sorrow and pain, there is also joy.’ So says Cat Dunn, the Bajan-Scottish artist turned curator behind Fife Contemporary’s latest show Crafted Selves: The Unfinished Conversation. Featuring 13 artists working in Scotland, it explores what it means to have a dual identity, and how their sense of self is reflected in their craft. Highlights include this painting by Chinese-born, Dundee-based artist Li Huang, depicting an imaginary conversation with his late father, in which both men appear to be the same age. Connecting his own life with his father’s life experience in China, commonplace items like the chipped enamel mug and work uniform add a moving realism to the dream-like encounter.

At St Andrews Museum until 24 February 2024; then Kirkcaldy Galleries 23 March–12 May 2024

fcac.co.uk

Rebecca Salter in her studio (2023), featuring (left to right) her works Untitled R46 (2009) and Untitled AR1 (2019). Image: Hugo Glendinning​

3. Showing in Suffolk 

Two very different British artists headline this season’s special exhibitions at Suffolk’s largest gallery, Gainsborough’s House. The abstract painter, printmaker and current Royal Academy president Rebecca Salter has a solo show called In View: Rebecca Salter at Gainsborough’s House. Her Eastern-influenced ink drawings, watercolours and one sculpture are displayed alongside 12 works selected from the museum’s permanent collection, including pieces by Rembrandt, Cedric Morris and, naturally, local hero Gainsborough himself. After immersing yourself in Salter’s meditative explorations of light and texture, take an entertaining jaunt through Georgian Britain at the venue’s other show, James Gillray: Characters in Caricature. Showcasing the lively, satirical and often grotesque creations of the master, it’s curated by acclaimed Gillray biographer Tim Clayton.

Until 10 March 2024

gainsborough.org

Noli me Tangere, by Hans Holbein the Younger, 1526–28. Image: Royal Collection Trust/© His Majesty King Charles III 2023

4. Holbein at court

When the writer John Evelyn saw the painting above at King Charles II’s Whitehall lodgings in 1680, he wrote that he ‘never saw so much reverence & kind of Heavenly astonishment, expressed in Picture’. Depicting Mary Magdalene meeting the resurrected Jesus Christ, the unusual composition takes its Latin title from Christ’s words, ‘Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father’ (John 20:17). It’s one of more than 100 treasures by Hans Holbein the Younger on show in Holbein at the Tudor Court at the Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace. Many of the drawings on display were sketched during face-to-face sittings with Tudor royals and senior court figures, including Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour and Sir Thomas More. Don’t miss this rare chance to see works that are too fragile for permanent display.

Until 14 April 2024

rct.uk

Kim Lim working on Twice, 1966. Image: © Estate of Kim Lim, photograph courtesy of The Estate of Kim Lim, photo: Jorge Lewinski, © The Lewinski Archive at Chatsworth, All Rights Reserved 2023/Bridgeman Images​

5. Lim in the limelight

Born in Singapore, Kim Lim (1936–97) travelled to Britain to study art and realise her dream of a creative career. Perhaps best known for her abstract sculptures, as well as printmaking and ‘paper cut’ works, she was a passionate traveller who drew on diverse cultural influences in her practice. She wrote that her wanderings in America, South and East Asia and the Middle East had allowed her to see ‘a lot of extraordinary, breathtaking paintings, sculpture and architecture first hand. I felt like a sponge soaking up everything.’ Rather neglected in recent decades, her work is currently enjoying a revival, with The Hepworth Wakefield’s major retrospective Kim Lim: Space, Rhythm & Light bringing together more than 100 pieces from across four decades.

Until 2 June 2024

hepworthwakefield.org

For more inspiring shows, see The Arts Society Magazine, available exclusively to members and supporters of The Arts Society (to join, see theartssociety.org/member-benefits). And for our online monthly ‘5 amazing art shows to see’, sign up at theartssociety.org/signup