AboutLondon Laura – March 2026

Firstly, thank you for all the birthday messages last month. I had a lovely day enjoying an excellent afternoon tea with a friend. And thank you for the comments about a cashless society. I was reminded of the many occasions it can be important to have some ‘emergency cash’. So, I’ve now started keeping this emergency money in my handbag, if not in my purse. And my teen daughter is now keeping a fiver inside her mobile phone case. If nothing else, I’ll be more ready for an ‘emergency’ charity shop purchase.

As I always ask, did you try any of my London recommendations last month? I’ve noticed Seurat and the Sea at The Courtauld is selling out regularly, so do book in advance for that. And Lucien Freud at NPG is getting some great reviews.

Be The Artist

I spend a lot of time admiring artwork in galleries, and I appreciate the skills of friends who are professional artists. I don’t normally attempt anything like that myself, but I’ve moved out of my comfort zone and have booked a residential art class for later this month. This got me thinking about the fun ways we can try being artists in London.

Did you know, the National Gallery often includes free life drawing sessions in the Friday Lates? On Friday, 20th March, there are two evening Drop-in and Draw sessions. Do book, but it’s completely free to attend, and all materials are provided. The sessions are even accompanied by music, as it’s an informal event meant for enjoyment.

The Royal Academy offers Drop-in and Draw on the first Friday night of the month for an evening of free drawing. Materials are provided, or you can bring your pencils. This month it’s on Friday, 6th March, 6 pm – 8 pm, and is themed around the Rose Wylie exhibition that has just opened.

Image by NoName from Pixabay

If you’d prefer a more informal venue, how about sketching in a pub? In west London, there’s a regular life drawing drop-in at The Grosvenor pub in Hanwell. It’s untutored, but all abilities are welcome.

In east London, there are weekly life drawing sessions at The Clapton Hart in Hackney. It’s every Monday, and there is a tutor to guide you. And at The Prince in Stoke Newington, there’s also a tutor available for the weekly Wednesday life drawing sessions.

The Balham Bowls Club Drink and Draw sessions are on the first Wednesday of the month and are beginner-friendly. And with this one, a free drink is included.

Finally, the London Art Bar is good to know about as it describes itself as the “home of pop-up painting”. There’s painting, drawing, printing and more creativity on offer.

What’s Happening This Month?

Catherine Opie: To Be Seen opens at the National Portrait Gallery on 5th March. It’s a showcase of photographic portraits by the American artist.

From 8th March at the Florence Nightingale Museum, there’s a new display, In Focus: Nurse Catherine Pine, which has the long-lost suffragette medal for this Chief Nurse. As 8th March is International Women’s Day, it would be a good day to visit as the medal will be out of the cabinet for handling. Sunday, 8th March is also the National Day of Reflection for those who died of Covid-19. The National Covid Memorial Wall is close to the FN Museum, and is well worth seeing. I’m intending to go that day to touch up the painted heart for my dad.

Back to celebrating women, the Charles Dickens Museum is offering free entry on 8th March to all named Catherine or Katey because of the Extra/Ordinary Women display. (Catherine Hogarth was Dickens’s wife, and their artist daughter was Katey Perugini.) And keeping on the female theme, I’m Every Woman – The Chaka Khan Musical opens at the Peacock Theatre on 5th March. (Edit: Due to essential building works at the Peacock Theatre, The Chaka Khan Musical is moving to Hackney Empire for 20th–25th March.)

Stubbs: Portrait of a Horse is a free exhibition at the National Gallery opening on 12th March. Stubbs is considered an equine master, so this will be a joy to see.

There’s a free David Hockney exhibition opening at the Serpentine Gallery North on 12th March. David Hockney: A Year in Normandie and Some Other Thoughts about Painting invites viewers to slow down and notice the extraordinary within the everyday.

Leonora Carrington, Down Below, 1940. Image Courtesy of Gallery Wendi Norris, San Francisco. © 2026 Estate of Leonora Carrington / ARS, NY and DACS, London

Leonora Carrington: The Symptomatic Surreal opens at the Freud Museum on 25th March. This British-born Mexican artist is one of the most celebrated figures associated with Surrealism. The exhibition brings together material from her hospitalisation in a Spanish sanatorium (after fleeing Nazi-occupied France during WW2), placing her recurring motifs of horses and the underworld in dialogue with Sigmund Freud’s collection of antiquities devoted to these themes.

The Last Princesses of Punjab opens at Kensington Palace on 26th March. It’s the story of Punjabi princess and suffragette icon, Sophia Duleep Singh and five women who shaped her extraordinary life.

Hurvin Anderson’s first major solo show opens at Tate Britain on 26th March. And Michaelina Wautier opens at the Royal Academy on 27th March. Both were new names to me, but both exhibitions seem worth seeing.

Côte d'Azur artwork, 1990 (Paint! Pattern! Print!)

Also opening on 27th March is Paint! Pattern! Print! The Textiles of Susan Collier and Sarah Campbell at the FTM. These sisters revolutionised textile design in the 1960s and led the market for over five decades. And another for the same opening day, Fairy Tales is at the British Library. This family-friendly show celebrates the iconic heroes, villains and fantastical creatures that populate the captivating worlds of fairy tales. And

Closing on 29th March, don’t miss Blitz: the club that shaped the 80s at the Design Museum. Costume Couture: Sixty Years of Cosprop at the FTM closes on 8th March.