Kerry James Marshall: The Histories @ Royal Academy of Arts, London

Royal Academy of Arts, London // September 20, 2025 - January 18, 2026

September 11, 2025 | in Painting

Untitled (Studio), 2014 Acrylic on PVC panel. 211.6 x 302.9 cm. Purchase, The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Foundation Gift, Acquisitions Fund and The Metropolitan Museum of Art Multicultural Audience Development Initiative Gift, 2015. © Kerry James Marshall. Photo: Matthew Hollow. Image courtesy of the artist and David Zwirner, London

School of Beauty, School of Culture, 2012 Acrylic and glitter on unstretched canvas. 274.3 x 401.3 cm. Birmingham Museum of Art, Alabama. © Kerry James Marshall. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York. Photo: Sean Pathasema

Untitled, 2009 Acrylic on PVC panel. 155.3 x 185.1 cm. Yale University Art Gallery, Purchased with the Janet and Simeon Braguin Fund and a gift from Jacqueline L. Bradley, B.A. 1979. © Kerry James Marshall

Untitled (Blanket Couple), 2014 Acrylic on PVC panel, in artist's frame. 150.2 x 242.5 cm. Fredriksen Family Art Collection. © Kerry James Marshall. Image courtesy of the artist and David Zwirner, London

De Style, 1993 Acrylic and collage on canvas. 264.2 x 309.9 cm. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Purchased with funds provided by Ruth and Jacob Bloom. © Kerry James Marshall. Photo: © Museum Associates/LACMA

Better Homes, Better Gardens, 1994 Acrylic and collage on canvas. 254 x 360.7 cm. Denver Art Museum. © Kerry James Marshall. Image courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.

Untitled (Porch Deck), 2014 Acrylic on PVC panel. 180.3 x 149.9 cm. Kravis Collection. © Kerry James Marshall. Image courtesy of the artist and David Zwirner, London

Vignette #13, 2008 Acrylic on PVC panel. 182.9 x 152.4 cm. Private collection. © Kerry James Marshall. Image courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.

We think you'll like

Painting

Hyacinth Canyon: Joshua Petker @ Anat Ebgi Gallery, Los Angeles

Painting

Grace Weaver "Mothers" @ Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin

Painting

Marty Schnapf’s "Vignettes" @ Perrotin, Hong Kong

Painting

Bryan Rogers "Dressers" @ Monya Rowe Gallery, NYC

Installation

The Unibrow Show @ T&Y Projects, Tokyo

Painting

Louisa Owen "Spires" @ Fredericks & Freiser, NYC

The Royal Academy of Arts is mounting The Histories, the largest survey of Kerry James Marshall's work in the United Kingdom to date.

Elevating the presence of Black figures in paintings built on principles codified in the tradition of Western picture-making Marshall encountered during his childhood, the artist places Black bodies front and center in his lyrical, frequently large-scale figurative paintings and murals.

Organized thematically, this exhibition features 70 works including a new series of paintings made especially for the show and his commemorative sculpture Wake which evolves each time it is exhibited.

The exhibition will then travel to the Kunsthaus Zurich and the Musée d'Art Moderne, Paris.

We think you'll love