tate britain queer tour

Take A Journey Through Tate Britain’s Queer History On These LGBTQIA+ Tours

This Pride Month, dive into the painted past and explore the stories behind the works, and the lives of the LGBTQ+ artists who painted them.

Every artwork has a story. And behind every painting or sculpture or work of art is an artist, who lived, or lives, a whole life outside of the work. These stories aren’t always clear, or examined in depth in a gallery or an exhibition . Plaques and descriptions provide some background and illustration, but the full story can escape you. A guided tour , however, can bring works to life and add further details to the works you already loved. Tate Britain’s LGBTQIA+ tours are doing just that, adding an oft-missing queer historical lens to the affair.

A regular programme of LGBTQIA+ tours is operating at Tate Britain, and they are an absolute must this Pride Month . The tours are led by volunteer guides with lived experience in the works and themes they are discussing. And they don’t just encompass contemporary works. Oh, no. The tour traces all the way back to Tate Britain’s historic collection (works from 1540-1910) in addition to the contemporary collection (1930-present day).

The tours are an explicit attempt to “spotlight narratives of those less visible in Tate’s collection through the lens of gender identity and sexuality, as well as highlight intersectional artworks and artists”. They make up just a small portion of the Tate’s constant and ongoing efforts to amplify marginalized voices in the art world .

How to attend the LGBTQIA+ Tours

Tickets are available on the day from the ticket desk (in person or through phone), on a first-come first-served basis. Each tour has a limited capacity, and they run once from 3-4PM on the day. Head to the website to find out more and to see the dates as they’re announced.

📍 The LGBTQIA+ Tours take place at Tate Britain, Millbank, SW1P 4RG.

🚇 The nearest station is Pimlico.

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London Queer Tour

Delve into London’s rich LGBTQ+ history, a vibrant story woven through years of resistance, creativity, and resilience. With a London Blue Badge Tourist Guide by your side you’ll explore some of the iconic neighbourhoods, historic landmarks, and happening hotspots that have all played a part in shaping the Capital’s unique queer identity.

This tour offers a glimpse into London’s rich LGBTQ+ history,  an unforgettable journey through time and identity with your very own London Blue Badge Tourist Guide. Highlights of this tour include:

The British Museum: Explore artifacts that trace the stories of homosexuality and identity across the centuries – from Greek and Roman artifacts (Sappho, Ganymede & the Warren Cup) to a Mayan ruler, the Dakota Sioux, African gender and gendered roles and the story of the Ladies of Llangollen.

Bloomsbury:  Take a stroll through Bloomsbury.  Virginia Woolf  and her husband Leonard Woolf lived here, both were instrumental figures in the Bloomsbury Group, a circle of intellectuals and writers who rebelled against societal norms in sexuality and gender.

Kings Cross:   Visit Queer Britain , the UK’s first museum of queer culture, that boasts a fascinating archive celebrating the stories and artwork of LGBTQIA+ people and preserving queer personal histories. Drop into the British Library where you’ll explore LGBTQIA+ manuscripts, posters and objects including the rare diary of Leendert Hasenbosch, a Dutch East India Company soldier, who was marooned on Ascension Island as punishment for sodomy in 1725.

Soho: Head into Soho, the beating heart of gay London. Stop off for tea and delicious pastries at the U.K.’s oldest pastry and tea shop frequented by Virginia Woolf and her literary crowd. As you fuel up, your London Blue Badge Tourist Guide will  share tidbits about the neighbourhood’s transformation into a haven for LGBTQ+ life in the mid-20th century. With more gay bars per square mile than any other area, it’s no surprise that when you think of queer London, you think of Soho. Soak up the fab atmosphere and discover the stories of London’s gay community through the years.

The West End: Pop into Trafalgar Square where in 1972 the first Gay Pride protest started. Walk along Whitehall and learn about the politics that have shaped queer lives in the UK. Take a stroll in London’s theatreland and explore the intriguing story of Charlotte Charke, a 18th-century actress and playwright who challenged gender norms both on and off the stage.

Depending on your time availability and your personal interests your tour can include stopping by the iconic  Gay’s the Word bookshop, grabbing a drink and a show at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern  or visit London’s LGBTQ+ Community Centre or Clerkenwell Green, a historic square once known for its clandestine “molly houses”.

As with all Blue Badge Tourist Guide private tours, you can tailor your tour to your specific interests. You also have added flexibility – you can stop to linger at a particular spot, you can ask as many questions as you like, share your thoughts and observations. You’ll be informed and entertained and have the undivided attention of your guide throughout.

If you require a guide with a private car to conduct your tour please tick above. This will send your request to one of our driver guides who are UK licensed, registered and insured.

If you like this tour, you may also like:

London food tour, national portrait gallery tour, shakespeare tour of london.

Take a queer art tour at the Tate Britain's Queer and Now festival

Queer and Now at the Tate Britain is shining a light on the pivotal role LGBTQ + culture plays in the arts .

Last year’s Queer and Now marked the 50th anniversary of the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality, looking through a queer lens at century of art prior to this law change.

This year, the focus is on the present and future. Curated by E-J Scott and Tate’s Learning teams, the one-day festival gives queer culture the podium and highlights UK LGBTQ+ contribution in shaping a space in the Tate Britain’s collection.

Queer tours around the galleries show what the history of art can teach us about the future and give a different perspective on some of the iconic works we may think we know all about.

Assistant curator Laura Castagnini leads a queer tour of current major exhibition All Too Human, exploring how painters such as Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud represented the human body and their relationships through a queer lens.

Guide John Wilson leads a BSL walk (with voiceover) through the LGBTQ+ themes, explorations of sexualities and gender identities depicted in British art.

Curator of the Museum of Transology E-J Scott discusses what a queer museum looks like, what it should contain, whose stories it should tell and whether it should invent a new model.

Talks giving the personal perspectives from artists and members of the Tate’s LGBTQ+ staff pop up in galleries throughout the day. The Tate’s Andrew Cummings discusses Sunil Gupta’s Untitled from the series Reflections of the Black Experience; Painter Sadie Lee talks about John Singer Sargent’s Ena and Betty, Daughters of Asher and Mrs Wertheimer; and artist Jessie McLaughlin talks Dead Hen by Dame Elizabeth Frink.

For the under fives, a queer walk through British art invites families to see the gallery in new ways, following the lead of their children’s unpredictability. By embracing your own inner creature, artist Ashley-Louise McNaughton will help to build personal connections with the artworks in completely new ways.

Life drawing, film screenings, workshops, poetry, music, dance and drag performances will also run throughout the day, as well as opportunities to delve into the archives and discover LGBTQ+ history for yourself.

Everything is free to attend, bathrooms are gender neutral and “vibe checkers” will be on hand to ensure inclusivity and and a low-anxiety environment.

2pm-10pm on June 23, Tate Britain, Millbank, SW1, tate.org.uk

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Providing content for Lesbians and Queer Women worldwide since 1989

Queer And Now at Tate Britain ✨

Celebrate the powerful role of LGBTQ+ arts and culture

Returning for its second year, Queer and Now  is a free festival that invites people of all ages and identities to come together to celebrate the powerful role of LGBTQ+ arts and culture in today's society.

Above: Sadie Sinner by Connie Taylor.

Head down to  Tate Britain  on Saturday 23 June for a day of live performances, workshops, artist-led talks and fun family activities for all ages, plus live music, film, DJs and dancing – all presented by the UK’s vibrant queer community.

Queery Tate Britain’s collection with the launch of the Queer Walk Through British Art, join trans disability activist Leo Ace Collins for life drawing, have your nails painted by DIVA’s 2018 Rising Star winner – Charlie Craggs from Nail Transphobia, hear Amy Lamé do a reading from her new book, have your own queer look illustrated, join the intergenderational gender questioning circle, be swept away by performance extraordinaire Sadie Sinner and pick up more than just a book at Timberlina’s library and archive speed dating!

Above: Jay Jay Revlon at Queer and Now 2017. Tate photography.  

There’s also dozens of LGBTQ+ speakers, performers, food trucks and craft stalls from Wotever World’s Queer Fayre, LGBT Arts & Crafts.

All Festival activity is free, but some events are ticketed on a first-come first-served basis.

This is a day to come together to inspire future generations through the preservation of a celebration of queer lives and culture.

marikiscrycrycry Hotter Than A Pan 2018 Performance Voices – An Event by Baltic Triennial, South London​

The festival is curated by E-J Scott, from the Museum of Transology, with Tate’s Learning teams and a dynamic cast of artists, cultural producers, commentators, activists, supporters and Tate’s own LGBTQ+ staff network, Queer and Now places community conversation and creativity at the heart of the gallery.

Above: Queer And Now 2018.

In association with Pride in London, UK Black Pride, Trans Pride Brighton and Regard – National Organisation of Disabled LGBT People.

For more information visit our website here  or follow Tate on Facebook , Instagram, and Twitter  @Tate .

Only reading DIVA online? You're missing out. For more news, reviews and commentary, check out the latest issue. It's pretty badass, if we do say so ourselves.

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Queer British Art

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Exhibition 'Queer British Art' in Tate Britain

Presenting the first UK show to focus exclusively on queer British art. The opening of Queer British Art marks the 50 year anniversary of the decriminalisation of male homosexuality in England. Featuring works from the Pre-Raphaelites to Francis Bacon, the show explores how artists expressed themselves in a time when established assumptions about gender and sexuality were being questioned and transformed. Deeply personal and intimate works are presented alongside pieces aimed at a wider public, which helped to forge a sense of community. Together, they reveal a remarkable range of identities and stories, from the playful to the political and from the erotic to the domestic. With paintings, drawings, personal photographs and film from artists such as John Singer Sargent, Dora Carrington and David Hockney the diversity of queer British art is celebrated as never before.

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Queer British Art: In Celebration of LGBTQ at Tate Britain

Fifty years after the partial decriminalisation of male homosexuality in England, this landmark exhibition showcases queer British art

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Focusing on the period 1861-1967, the exhibition traces the diverse body of work that arose as societal attitudes towards those who identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans or queer changed over the century. Among the artists featured are Francis Bacon, Keith Vaughan, Evelyn De Morgan, Gluck and Cecil Beaton, while photographs, film, magazines and other ephemera give additional context to the era.

The display spans from the discreet hints of desire seen in the works of the Pre-Raphaelites to the more open attitudes of the 1960s. Highlights include a section on the influential Bloomsbury Group, who were known for their bohemian lifestyles and forward-thinking perspectives on feminism, sexuality and other issues (member Vanessa Bell is also the subject of a major exhibition this year), and, to coincide with Tate Britain's comprehensive David Hockney retrospective , the artist's important work Going to be a Queen for Tonight is on show.

Beyond the artworks on display, there's an important insight into a time when LGBTQ identities were little recognised or understood. They are explored through the legacy of some of the more progressive minds of their day, such as sexologist Henry Havelock Ellis and activist Edward Carpenter. The high-profile trials of figures such as Oscar Wilde and Radclyffe Hall are also documented, bringing together artefacts that include the door from Wilde's prison cell.

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Queer British Art 1861-1967 is at Tate Britain until 1 October, tickets £16.50; tate.org.uk

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Queer British Art at Tate Britain: finally, a Great British LBGTQ exhibition

When Tate Britain opens its Queer British Art exhibition tomorrow [5 April], it will be the first comprehensive look at how the UK’s rich LGBTQ history has intersected with the art world.

Blockbuster names such as David Hockney and Francis Bacon are on show, alongside lesser-known artists such as the Jewish pre-Raphaelite painter Simeon Solomon – whose homoerotic reimagining of classic scenes lend drama to the exhibition – as well as the androgynous self-portraiture of lesbian painter Hannah Gluckstein, or just “Gluck”, as she preferred it.

Objects and ephemera inform the story: Noël Coward’s dressing gown; the door to Oscar Wilde’s prison cell

Then there are the objects and ephemera that inform the story: Noël Coward’s dressing gown; the door to Oscar Wilde’s prison cell; and the collaged covers created by artist Kenneth Halliwell and playwright Joe Orton for books they pinched from Islington libraries.

The works in the exhibition span the period from 1861, when the death penalty for sodomy was abolished in the UK, through to the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality in 1967. It is a section of LGBTQ history we hear little about, given that, at the time, gay people were forced to go about their business in private – or else face arrest.

For this reason, queer sexuality is often implicit rather than explicit in many of the works on show – perhaps through a coded message or an erotic gesture – noticeable only if you’re looking for it.

The exhibition starts an important conversation: what emerges when you take a queer look at British art? And, when you consider that homosexuality has been legal in Britain for 50 years, one also has to ask: why has this show taken so long?

It’s surprising that only a handful of smaller exhibitions in the UK have looked at queer lives so far

Clare Barlow, the lead curator of the exhibition, explains that the 50th anniversary of decriminalisation made for good timing. “It seemed like a really great moment to be exploring these stories – an opportunity to look back as a community and look forward to where we might be going next,” she says.

Still, given that there has been “more engagement with diverse identities in museums over the last five to ten years,” she acknowledges her surprise that this story hasn’t been told in the UK before.

Overseas, it has. In 2010, America’s Smithsonian Institution addressed sexuality in the show Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture , and in 2015 Berlin’s Homosexuality_ies   looked at LGBTQ history in a sweeping show staged between the German Historical Museum and the Schwules Museum – the latter a permanent space dedicated to gay culture.

With no such venue in this country, only a handful of smaller exhibitions in the UK have looked at queer lives. There was the Jewish Museum’s Through A Queer Lens: Portraits of LGBTQ Jews early last year, the Oscar Wilde exhibition at Reading prison in September, and the recent Museum of Transology at the Fashion Space Gallery in London.

Collectors ran around when someone died, sweeping things into bin liners to get them out before a family arrives to re-heterosexualise the life

Queer British Art is the first show of sizeable scope on the subject – the first to join the dots between the works of various LGBTQ artists or queer artworks – and it feels long overdue.

The idea of pooling these works together isn’t without its critics, however. Writing in i last year, after Queer British Art was announced, Janet Street-Porter denounced it as reductive. Why band together gay artists as if that means they have anything in common? she asked.

The answer, according to Barlow, is that it helps us understand the troubled history of LGBTQ people in this country. It’s also an opportunity to credit artists who were previously overlooked or persecuted because of their sexual preferences or subject matter.

Like Solomon, who exhibited at the Royal Academy until he was caught attempting to have sex with a man in a public toilet, with the result that his reputation was ruined. Or like the British painter Keith Vaughan, who, Barlow says, “agonised that his desires would be legible through his work.”

For these reasons, when she began researching the show – a three-year process – she worried there might be scant material.

The model Walter Crane used for Venus was actually Alessandro de Marco, one of the most famous male models of the time. There’s a real sense of delight in the gender-fluid possibilities

“This is a history in which so much has been lost or hasn’t yet been discovered,” she explains, adding that many of the collectors who have lent to Queer British Art have “heroically saved and preserved this material – in some cases running around flats when someone has died, sweeping things into plastic bin liners to get them out before a family arrives to re-heterosexualise the life”.

In the end, there turned out to be a lot to work with, and Barlow says Queer British Art celebrates how, in a period of oppression, there were people finding “incredibly nuanced ways of exploring the self”.

Like, for example, the poet Michael Field – who was actually a pseudonym for two people, the lovers Katharine Bradley and Edith Cooper adopting a shared male identity and sometimes masculine clothing. Or Walter Crane’s 1877 painting The Renaissance of Venus , which looms over the first room of the show.

“You might wonder why that’s there at first,” says Barlow, explaining that the model Crane used for Venus was actually Alessandro de Marco, one of the most famous male models of the time. “There’s a real sense of delight in the gender-fluid possibilities,” she grins.

Standing in front of Wilde’s prison cell door will be an emotional experience for many, but there are also amazing tales of liberation – playful stories, jokes

And what of the title? Until it was reclaimed as a positive label for LGBTQ people in the 1980s, “queer” was still a slur – and is still widely seen as one. Barlow explains that the name “wasn’t a decision we took lightly”, but felt that as an umbrella term, it encompassed the broad exploration of sexualities and interpretations of gender on display.

The inspiration came from a quote by the gay artist and film maker Derek Jarman: “For me, to use the word ‘queer’ is a liberation; it was a word that frightened me, but no longer.”

“There’s something there about the balance between fear and freedom, which are two of the key themes running through the show,” says Barlow, insisting that the show will deliver both the pathos and beauty of queer lives.

For people who might not know much about the LGBTQ culture of the past, the exhibition will be an education. For those who identify as LGBTQ, it seems vital

“Standing in front of Wilde’s prison cell door will be an emotional experience for many, but there are also amazing tales of liberation – playful stories, jokes. There are stories that speak to communities, friendships, lovers, going out and staying in. All of life is on display.”

For people who might not know much about the LGBTQ culture of the past, the exhibition will be an education. For those who identify as LGBTQ, it seems vital. Being in a world that still doesn’t allow everyone to openly discuss their sexual orientation or gender expression can be an alienating experience. For six months, Queer British Art is a place that queer people can go to feel less alone – to be in the company of others like them. What could be more important than that?

‘ Queer British Art’ , Tate Britain, London, 5 March to 1 October (020 7887 8730)

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15 queer art shows you can virtually tour now

This year was meant be a phenomenal year for LGBTQ-themed art exhibitions around the world — until March and the coronavirus pandemic came along, shuttering museums and putting the planet on lockdown. Most physical shows slated for this spring will still likely open sometime, but meanwhile, homebound, culture-hungry lovers of art cannot live on "Tiger King" and "RuPaul's Drag Race" alone.

Fortunately, several of the top LGBTQ art shows originally planned for physical reality right now can still be experienced virtually, as indeed can a number of excellent exhibitions by and about queer artists from years past. Several must-see galleries have also been created exclusively for virtual intake, focusing on the works of some queer art's greatest icons.

Here's our rundown of the shows that should be topping your virtual art tour agenda.

Aubrey Beardsley

Tate britain, london.

Just days before the pandemic temporarily shut down Tate Britain and most of the world, the museum opened its first exhibition in nearly a century dedicated to the work of influential late-Victorian provocateur Aubrey Beardsley, an illustrator whose beautifully curve-infused work focused on the decadent, the irreverent, the erotic and the ethereal. Beardsley's sexuality is still debated, but he was a certified dandy and an avid Oscar Wilde collaborator — most notably and audaciously as the illustrator of the first edition of "Salomé"— who got swept up in the scandal of Wilde's homosexuality trial in 1895. Though he died at just 25, Beardsley was extraordinarily prolific, as revealed in this video recap of the Tate exhibition — a collaboration with Paris's Musée d’Orsay — by curators Caroline Corbeau-Parsons and Alice Insley.

Art After Stonewall, 1969-1989

Columbus museum of art.

This groundbreaking show — exploring the impact of the Stonewall uprising on artists and their art, through more than 150 works — did enjoy its full opening run at New York's Leslie-Lohman Museum last year, but was sadly interrupted just days after its March relocation to the Columbus Museum of Art, which had organized the exhibition in the first place. Fortunately for everyone in Columbus and beyond, the museum has since posted numerous videos highlighting various works from the show, as well as a virtual exhibition that includes several pieces and their contexts.

Faces of Frida

Various museums.

Frida Kahlo lovers, rejoice. In conjunction with 33 museums around the world, Google Arts and Culture has amassed a truly astounding virtual collection of all things Frida, including numerous exhibits of her powerful works (more than 200 pieces in all); still more exhibits about her fascinating life; virtual tours of her Blue House in Mexico City; and copious feature articles, including one that explores her profound and enduring influence on global LGBTQ artists.

Andy Warhol

Tate modern, london.

Another March art casualty was Tate Modern's first Warhol exhibition in nearly 20 years, which opened just five days before the pandemic put the museum on pause. Luckily for us, staff pivoted quickly and launched a room-by-room virtual exhibition guide and a complete video walkthrough of the show, which includes 25 portraits of Black and Latinx drag queens and trans women from the artist's "Ladies and Gentlemen" series, seen for the first time in 30 years.

Kehinde Wiley: A New Republic

Brooklyn museum.

Probably best known for his gorgeous greenery-backed 2018 National Portrait Gallery rendering of President Barack Obama, Kehinde Wiley's exuberant works overlay the conventions of Old World portraiture with bold portrayals of contemporary black Americans, often challenging ideas about race, gender, sexuality and the politics of representation. Here, he talks us through his 2015 Brooklyn Museum mid-career retrospective , which featured 60 of his best paintings and sculptures.

Spectrosynthesis II – Exposure of Tolerance

Bangkok art and culture centre.

Spectrosynthesis II – Exposure of Tolerance: LGBTQ in Southeast Asia, the largest-ever survey of Southeast Asian LGBTQ-themed art, just barely beat the pandemic during its physical exhibition, closing as scheduled on March 1. The important and extremely diverse show also lives on virtually thanks to this video tour by Patrick Sun, founder of Sunpride Foundation, which mounted the show.

Fine, Bright Day: The Photography of Alice Austen

The center, new york.

One of the first female photographers to work outside of a studio setting, pioneering documentary photographer Alice Austen produced some 8,000 photographs in her lifetime, including many personal shots of her close circle of like-minded female friends. Originally a 2018 exhibition at NYC's LGBT Community Center, this virtual edition includes many images taken on the grounds of her Staten Island home, which in 2017 was recognized as an official site of LGBTQ heritage by the National Park Service.

Kent Monkman: Mistikôsiwak (Wooden Boat People)

The metropolitan museum, new york.

From the moment they debuted in The Met's Great Hall last December, two striking and monumental paintings by Cree artist Kent Monkman mesmerized throngs of museum-goers. Like most of Monkman's works, these Met commissions reverse the colonial gaze, with the nimble help of his shape-shifting gender-fluid alter ego, Miss Chief Eagle Testickle. The Great Hall paintings had been scheduled to close on April 9, but their run will extend post-pandemic once The Met reopens. Meanwhile we can marvel at them virtually via this video, with explanations and insights from Monkman himself.

Mickalene Thomas: Better Nights

The bass, miami beach.

Yet another fabulous show that's had its 2020 run interrupted by the pandemic is this immersive installation by art-world superstar Mickalene Thomas at Miami Beach's The Bass. Known for her work that challenges definitions of femininity and black beauty, Thomas was inspired for this show by her mother, and the eclectic late 1970s parties she hosted at their New Jersey apartment. Until The Bass reopens and it can be visited again in person, Executive Director and Chief Curator Silvia Karman Cubiñá virtually walks us through Thomas's ultra-groovy reality-meets-fantasy exhibition.

David Hockney: A Bigger Picture + 82 Portraits and 1 Still-Life

The royal academy of arts, london.

Fire up the popcorn for this full-length feature documentary (originally released in theaters) that deeply dives into two separate David Hockney exhibitions at London's Royal Academy of Arts, 2012's "A Bigger Picture" and 2016's "82 Portraits and 1 Still-Life."

Leonard Fink: Unofficial Mayor of Christopher Street + The Piers

The work of New York City photographer Leonard Fink uniquely chronicled the West Village's queer bar and pier culture of the 1970s and '80s. In 1993, Fink's estate donated more than 25,000 of his images to the LGBT Community Center National History Archive, several of which are presented in an eponymous virtual gallery . Another collection, The Piers , focuses exclusively on shots Fink took along downtown's then-salaciously seedy Hudson waterfront.

Keith Haring and Japan

Nakamura keith haring collection, hokuto, japan.

When Keith Haring first visited Japan in 1983, a cultural partnership began that would last until the artist's untimely death in 1990. This virtual exhibition from the Nakamura Keith Haring Collection explores the legacy of Haring's Japanese jaunts and projects, including the creation of the world's second Pop Shop in Tokyo in 1986.

On Our Backs: The Revolutionary Art of Queer Sex Work

The leslie-lohman museum, new york.

This innovative 2019 exhibition explored the under-publicized culture of queer sex work, and its intimate ties to LGBTQ art and activism. In this video, curator Alexis Heller walks us virtually through the fun and enlightening multimedia show .

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Queer British Art: The first exhibition dedicated to LGBT+ art at Tate Britain

It’s saddening to realise that homosexuality was only "partially" decriminalised in the UK 50 years ago, and perhaps more so to consider that we’re still seeing homophobia today.

Duncan Grant Bathing 1911 Oil paint on canvas 2286 x 3061 mm © Tate

But queer identities aren’t about legislation or politics: they’re about a sense of self and an expression of sexuality, and individual experience. Just as we wouldn’t societally sweep a broad brushstroke over what "heterosexual identity" means, we shouldn’t do the same with LGBT+ ones either.

Such rich and varied selves and identities are superbly expressed through creativity, as a forthcoming show at London’s Tate Britain gallery proves. The exhibition Queer British Art 1861-1967 is to display artworks created from the abolition of the death penalty for sodomy in 1861 to the passing of the Sexual Offences Act in 1967. This near century-long period was a time that saw many radical shifts in how artists and non-artists alike viewed and presented gender and sexuality, and it’s easy for us today to forget just how risky it was to be gay 100 years ago, how maligned queerness was in years gone by.

The exhibition will feature work by artists including David Hockney, Francis Bacon, Keith Vaughan, Evelyn de Morgan, Gluck, Glyn Philpot, Claude Cahun and Cecil Beaton alongside erotic drawings by Aubrey Beardsley, queer ephemera including the door from Oscar Wilde’s prison cell, personal photographs, films and publications.

One room of the space will be devoted to the famously Bohemian and sexually open artist coterie the Bloomsbury set, featuring paintings of various members and their lovers and commissions by artists including Duncan Grant and Ethel Walker. Elsewhere, we’ll see examples of Pre-Raphaelite works that hint at coded desires, and the swinging nature of Soho in the 1960s.

"Spanning the playful to the political, the explicit to the domestic, Queer British Art 1861-1967 will showcase the rich diversity of queer visual art and its role in society," says Tate Britain. "Many of the works that will be displayed were produced in a time when the terms ‘gay’, ‘lesbian’, ‘bisexual’ and ‘trans’ had little public recognition.

"Queer British Art 1861-1967 will show how artists and audiences challenged the established views of sexuality and gender identity between two legal landmarks. Some of the works in the show are intensely personal while others spoke to a wider public, helping to forge a sense of community."

The exhibition runs from 5 April – 1 October 2017.

David Hockney Life Painting for a Diploma 1962 Yageo Foundation © Yageo Foundation

Angus McBean (1904-1990) Quentin Crisp 1941 Bromide print National Portrait Gallery (London, UK) © Estate of Angus McBean / National Portrait Gallery, London

Keith Vaughan Drawing of two men kissing 1958–73 Tate Archive © DACS, The Estate of Keith Vaughan

Simeon Solomon 1840-1905 Sappho and Erinna in a Garden at Mytilene 1864 Watercolour on paper 330 x 381 mm Tate. Purchased 1980

Laura Knight (1877-1970) Self-Portrait 1913 Oil on canvas 152.4 x 127.6 cm National Portrait Gallery (London, UK)

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Creative Boom at 15: What we stand for, and why creatives should care

Yuanhao Tang is an illustrator aiming to benefit his community through art

Keith Haring's iconic art is brought to life in a new pop-up book

Freelancers' best-kept secrets: top tips for thriving on your own

Jessica walsh launches her own type foundry, focused on 'emotional type'.

How French illustrator Lapin turned sketching from a pastime into a way of life

The introvert's guide to creating video content: how to thrive on social media

Small but perfectly formed: Seb Lester’s Tiny series

Lightning strikes with Nomad's designs for sports betting brand Betano

The best new typefaces for September from leading foundries and designers

Embracing Fun: The fuel for creative sparks, with Richard Speight, Jr.

The art of giving a f**k, with Kelly Korzun

Lines & Legacy: Exploring the creative process amidst industry shifts, with Christoph Niemann

Branding brilliance and crafting iconic identities at Koto, with G Torto

Further reading.

Gender Wars: Tom Le French subverts ideas of female empowerment

Emotional Architecture: James Casebere's miniature models of Barragán's bright buildings

Vulnerability, prophecy, fashion and high art: Wolfgang Tillmans comes to Tate Modern

Andrew McGranahan's surreal & psychedelic collage art crafted from vintage magazines

The Paper Aviary lands in St James's Market with over 100 multicoloured tropical birds

Record sleeve and tape designs inspired by Brutalism and Sainsbury's branding, by Blank Editions' David Blanco

Exciting opportunity for an emerging artist to work with Hew Locke at National Trust's Croome

Tino Razo's stunning photographic love letter to Californian pool skating

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State Hermitage Museum

St. Petersburg's most popular visitor attraction, and one of the world's largest and most prestigious museums, the Hermitage is a must-see for all first-time travellers to the city. With over 3 million items in its collection, it also definitely rewards repeat visits, and new-comers can only hope to get a brief taste of the riches on offer here, from Impressionist masterpieces to fascinating Oriental treasures. One estimate has it that you would need eleven years to view each exhibit on display for just one minute, so many visitors prefer to organize a guided tour to ensure they have time to catch all the collection's highlights. Art aficionados, however, may find it more rewarding to seek out for themselves the works that they are particularly interested in.

The bulk of the Hermitage collection is housed in the Winter Palace, formerly the official residence of the Romanov Tsars, and its several annexes. However, there are a number of other sites that constitute part of the Hermitage, including the recently opened Storage Facility in the north of St. Petersburg, which offers guided tours through some of the museum's vast stocks. Our guide to visiting the Hermitage is designed to help you find your way around this enormous collection, with a detailed tour of the main site and individual information on each of the affiliated museums.

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The HYMN World Tour is Coming to Saint Petersburg!

The HYMN World Tour is coming to BKS in the wonderful city of Saint Petersburg, Russia on October 30th!

Saint Petersburg is also known as the ‘city of palaces,’ including the beautiful Summer Palace of Peter the Great. Located on an island formed by the Fontanka river, Moyka river and the Swan Canal, this palace was the first one built in the city, in 1710. It is open to the public from June through October each year.

Tickets and VIP packages to all announced shows on the HYMN tour are available. More dates to be announced soon! https://sarahbrightman.com/tours

Queer Walk Through British Art Launch

Henry Scott Tuke, August Blue 1893–4. Tate.

Join us for the opening of a queer perspective of our Walk Through British Art

This Queer Walk Through British Art both locates queer artistic expression in Tate Britain’s collection and speaks out about how queer British lives can be found within the works. By marrying artistic expression with the viewer’s heartfelt and often deeply personal interpretations, it creates a visible and intimate layer of queer experience within the gallery that is open for all to share.

Tate Britain

Date & time.

23 June 2018 at 01.00–01.00