An artist's guide to museums in London
We are spoilt for choice with museums in London. There are about 170 dotted around the capital. And while the big hitters are popular for a reason, you may need several lifetimes to see them all.
Whilst museums have a permanent collection, it's worth checking the revolving exhibitions that are cleverly curated and updated biannually.
If you’re put off by the hoards of visitors, I get it. It's hard to sketch when visitors gather and crane their necks, as interested in your work as they are in the artefacts. Here’s a tip: most museums have numerous archival works that are not on display. A quick swipe through an online inventory and a request placed with a museum ahead of your visit means you can examine an artefact in peace.
Here’s an artist’s guide to museums in London – for fellow artists.
The British Museum
With a massive 2 million years of history crammed into The British Museum, it’s no wonder it draws in the crowds. Although the entrance queue might seem otherwise, it's not just tourists who flock here.
Art students disperse to sketch scenes from tales of the Iliad carved onto the bowls of ancient Greece. School children flock to the Rosetta Stone to trace Egyptian hieroglyphics. With the Parthenon sculptures and endless portable sketching stools offered by the museum, it's no wonder it's a favourite spot for the Royal Drawing School.
A golden tip is the lesser-known prints and drawings department. Give 48 hours notice and you can spend hours with a Turner sketchbook or young Peter Doig drawings. It's a nice reminder that the museum is not just a depositary but a living and evolving place.
Bloomsbury, WC1B | britishmuseum.org
The Imperial War Museum
War is often seen as mechanical and strategic. The art in the Imperial War Museum is essential to humanise and reinstate the personal impact of conflict.
Over 20,000 works have been displayed since 1914 with war artists featuring prominently. Out of the atrocities came heart-wrenching poetry by the likes of Siegfried Sassoon. Propaganda posters expose the psychological tension of the time. John Singer Sargent’s paintings captured life along the Western Front.
While the paintings and personal objects capture emotive memories, photographs in The Holocaust Gallery reveal the devastating truth of WWII. At a crucial time when war is not a thing of the past, it becomes quickly apparent that art is war's true witness.
Lambeth, SE1 | iwm.org.uk
The Hunterian Museum
Not one for the squeamish, The Hunterian Museum tells the chronological story of modern medicine.
Prehistoric skeletons are encased in glass alongside early anatomical preparations. Both seem fairly sterile compared to the visual heart of the museum, the specimens zone. Rows upon rows of glass jars distort their floating contents: medical specimens suspended in various liquids. There is a slight wobble as you recognise some as human. A penis injected with dye to show blood vessels or a two-headed cow is grossly fascinating.
Everything from leeches to tourniquets, anaesthetics to antiseptics. The most recent addition is a human heart from a recent successful transplant, reminding us that medicine is ever-advancing.
I bought a sketchbook here but was too engrossed to even bother finding my pencil.
Bloomsbury, WC2A | hunterianmuseum.org
The Foundling Museum
The Foundling Museum was once the UK's first children's charity that took in those who were orphaned or abandoned. Hogarth and Gainsborough were keen donors, and their works now line the walls.
A tender point is the heartbreaking tokens left by mothers, often in a state of desperation or poverty, as a point of identification should they return. These could have been as little as half a bottle cap or a marble and can be found cast in metal scattered around the Bloomsbury paving stones.
Bloomsbury, WC1N | foundlingmuseum.org.uk
The Garden Museum
In the middle of central London's concrete jungle is a quiet corner for green-fingered folk to convene and space for children who have never seen an earthworm.
The Garden Museum was built surrounding the graves of 17th-century naturalist John Tradescant and his son (who introduced pineapples, the Virginia creeper, and plane trees to Britain). It has been developed over the years to form a distinctive museum – a sort of medieval church that meets contemporary exhibition space while modern landscapers have a dig around, and there's a cafe to complete it.
As a plant lady myself, their current show, The Lost Gardens of London, is a small but fascinating view into the archives of the city greenery.
The Lost Gardens of London is on until 2 March 2025
Lambeth, SE1 | gardenmuseum.org.uk
The Natural History Museum
I cannot not mention the architectural giant that is the Natural History Museum. A British institution that is stuffed with more than 80 million artefacts. From intricately detailed fossils to the famous blue whale and enough taxidermy to take the term ‘still life’ literally. And all overseen by a statue of Darwin himself.
A favourite of mine is the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition. The imagery is beautiful, but it's almost more fascinating to see the steps taken to capture the photos.
The Wildlife Photographer of the Year is on until 29 June 2025
South Kensington, SW7 | nhm.ac.uk
The Sir John Soane’s Museum
The London home of eccentric Sir John Soane is always a good one to mention. This architect who designed the Bank of England, among other landmarks, was also a nineteenth-century hoarder.
Every inch of his carefully designed house is filled with antique furniture, objects, and art. And each one is priceless. It's a total labyrinth as Soane filled it with collectables. Cabinets show Canalettos and Turners, and there is even an alabaster sarcophagus.
Just no bags allowed as even a small knock would be an expensive mistake.
Holborn, WC2A | soane.org
Editor's note: Spot any incorrect information? Or have an article idea for HeadBox.com? Get in touch at submissions@headbox.com