{"id":447060,"date":"2026-05-27T02:39:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T02:39:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/447060\/"},"modified":"2026-05-27T02:39:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T02:39:12","slug":"from-zurbaran-to-whistler-the-best-exhibitions-to-go-to-in-june-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/447060\/","title":{"rendered":"From Zurbar\u00e1n to Whistler \u2014 the best exhibitions to go to in June 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wilting in the heat? Seek out the shade at Kew Gardens where 30 Henry Moore sculptures are summering beneath the trees. Don\u2019t miss the spikiest Moores giving Kew\u2019s cactus plants a run for their money in the glasshouses. Still sweltering? Cool yourself with the fogs and nocturnes of James McNeill Whistler at Tate Britain. Then, seek inspiration for your holidays with Winston Churchill: The Painter at the Wallace Collection. Wherever in the world Churchill found himself \u2014 the battlefields of Flanders, on holiday in the south of France or on official business in Jerusalem \u2014 he always packed his paints. And if you\u2019re off to Spain, get into the spirit with Zurbar\u00e1n at the National Gallery, an exhibition that dazzlingly marries the holy and the worldly. Here are four of the best shows to see this month.<\/p>\n

Zurbar\u00e1n \u2014 sumptuous, deeply weird, this show is a must-see<\/p>\n

\"TwoChrist on the Cross with the Virgin, Mary Magdalene and Saint John and, right, The Crucified ChristAlamy<\/p>\n

National Gallery, London<\/p>\n

The National Gallery\u2019s Zurbar\u00e1n exhibition opens with a spectacular piece of stagecraft. The first room is dark as a sepulchre. Directly ahead of you is the crucified Christ. No mourners gather, no friends or followers loosen his ropes or rush to lower him. Night has fallen on Golgotha. To your right St Serapion slumps unconscious, his arms pulled back by his bonds. To your left is St Peter, pained, emaciated, crucified upside down, the blood rushing to his head. You are no longer a tourist or a ticket-holder but a witness. If you can, book a 10am slot and be first through the doors. The effect of these three painted apparitions together is enough to convert a heathen on the spot. To Aug 23, nationalgallery.org.uk<\/a>
Read the full review<\/a><\/p>\n

James McNeill Whistler \u2014 up close with a witty, tricky painter<\/p>\n

\"PaintingJames McNeill Whistler\u2019s Arrangement in Grey and Black No 1COURTESY OF TATE<\/p>\n

Tate Britain, London\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis exhibition\u201d, the opening text outside the Whistler show at Tate Britain reads, \u201cpresents James McNeill Whistler\u2019s fearless pursuit of beauty\u201d. Whoa. Stop right there. This is big. Beauty is back. Let Whistler be Whistler and let history be history are the guiding forces of an exhibition that seeks to transport you to the past rather than stretch the past upon a rack. The show opens not with Whistler\u2019s birth in Massachusetts in 1834 but in Whistler\u2019s studio on the Thames at Chelsea in the 1870s. To Sep 27, tate.org<\/a>
Read the full review<\/a><\/p>\n

Winston Churchill: The Painter \u2014 I\u2019m not snobby about the PM\u2019s hobby<\/p>\n

\"IllustrationWinston Churchill\u2019s The Beach at WalmerAmerica\u2019s National Churchill Museum at Westminster College, Missouri. \u00a9 Churchill Heritage Ltd<\/p>\n

Wallace Collection, London\u00a0<\/p>\n

Beware the politician who is \u201c100 per cent\u201d committed to their constituency, their city, their country. There is much to be said for a hobby and hinterland. In the first room of the Wallace Collection\u2019s exhibition Winston Churchill: The Painter the great man stands at his easel, mahlstick in left hand, paintbrush in right, cigar in mouth. He wears his homburg even in the studio. Over 50 years, in and out of office, and in and out of black dog glooms, Churchill produced more than 500 paintings. About 50 of them are gathered here. To Nov 29, wallacecollection.org<\/a>
Read the full review<\/a><\/p>\n

Henry Moore: Monumental Nature \u2014 spectacular, this is the show of the summer<\/p>\n

\"SheepHenry Moore\u2019s Sheep Piece at Kew GardensGuy Bell\/Alamy<\/p>\n

Kew Gardens, London\u00a0<\/p>\n

Thirty sculptures by Henry Moore and a further 90 casts, carvings, drawings and etchings have made it to Kew for Henry Moore: Monumental Nature, the largest outdoor Moore show yet. Monumental is the word. Surely this is the show of the summer? Pack a picnic, lace your boots, wear sunscreen. There will be crowds, but Kew and Moore will weather them. Kew covers 320 acres, and if you walk up to the Pagoda and as far as the river, you\u2019ll leave the pack behind. To Jan 31, kew.org<\/a>
Read the full review<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Wilting in the heat? Seek out the shade at Kew Gardens where 30 Henry Moore sculptures are summering…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":447061,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[442,498,499,500,501,156,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-447060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-artsdesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447060","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=447060"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447060\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/447061"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=447060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=447060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=447060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}