UNSPEAKABLE

Works from the museum’s collection of Holocaust-related art, including eyewitness accounts and artworks.
Imperial War Museum London, Lambeth Road, London SE1 (www.iwm.org.uk 020-7416 5320/5321), Sept 5-Aug 31

STEVE MCQUEEN

Two new works: Pursuit, comprising architecture and video installation; and the beautiful but unsettling
Running Thunder. Baltic, Gateshead Quays, Gateshead (www.balticmill.com 0191-478 1810), Sept 10-Nov 23

FRANCIS BACON

Retrospective heralding the artist’s centenary next year, while his work continues to set record prices at auction.
Tate Britain, Millbank, London SW1 (www.tate.org.uk/britain 020-7887 8888), Sept 11-Jan 4, 2009

BESIDE THE SEASIDE

Photographs, posters and memorabilia explore working life and early tourism along the British coast.
National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London SE10 (www.nmm.ac.uk 020-8858 4422), Sept 17-Apr 13, 2009

GERHARD RICHTER

A stunning series of new work, 4900 Colours, by arguably the world’s greatest living painter.
Serpentine Gallery, Kensington Gardens, London W2 (www.serpentinegallery.org 020-7402 6075), Sept 23-Nov 16

IN MEMORIAM

Show marking the 90th anniversary of the Armistice, and focusing on individual experiences: the frontline soldier; the nurse; the internee; the artist and more.
Imperial War Museum London, Lambeth Road, London SE1 (www.iwm.org.uk 020-7416 5320), Sept 30-Sept 6, 2009

COLD WAR MODERN

The Cold War viewed through design, from telecom towers to housing developments.
Victoria and Albert Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 (www.vam.ac.uk 020-7942 2000), Sept 25-Jan 11, 2009

ROTHKO

Retrospective of 50 works by the great American painter, which includes works from Japan that have not been out on loan before.
Tate Modern, Bankside, London SE1 (www.tate.org.uk/modern 020-7887 8888), Sept 26-Feb 1, 2009

THE REVOLUTION CONTINUES

Survey of painting, sculpture and installation featuring 30 of China’s leading artists , in the much anticipated, much-delayed new space from the elusive collector.
Saatchi Gallery, Duke of York’s Headquarters, King’s Road, London SW3 (www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk 020-7823 2363), from Oct 9

RENAISSANCE FACES: VAN EYCK TO TITIAN

Charting portraiture in the Renaissance, through the great Masters of Europe, such as Raphael, Titian, Botticelli, Van Eyck, Holbein and Dürer.
National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London WC2 (www.nationalgallery.org.uk 020-7747 2885), Oct 15-Jan 18, 2009

ANNIE LEIBOWITZ

Brings together the work of one of the world’s best-known portrait photographers.
National Portrait Gallery, St Martin’s Place, London WC2 (www.npg.org.uk 020-7306 0055), Oct 16-Feb 1, 2009

HERE’S ONE WE MADE EARLIER . . . 50 YEARS OF BLUE PETER

Exhibition charting the world’s longest-running children’s TV programme from the early years to the present day.
National Media Museum, Bradford (www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk 0870 7010200), Oct 18-Jan 11, 2009

THE INTIMATE PORTRAIT

Private Georgian and Regency portraiture. Sitters include Robert Burns and Queen Victoria.
Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Queen Street, Edinburgh (www.nationalgalleries.org 0131-624 6200), Oct 25-Feb 1, 2009

BYZANTIUM 330-1453

A thousand years of history, revealing the splendours of the Byzantine Empire through more than 300 objects.
Royal Academy of Arts, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1 (www.royalacademy.org.uk 0870 8488484), Oct 25-Mar 22, 2009

BLACK PANTHER

The first time work by Emory Douglas, the official artist of the Black Panther civil rights movement, has been exhibited in this country.
Urbis, Cathedral Gardens, Manchester (www.urbis.org.uk 0161-605 8200), Oct 30-Mar 31, 2009

TAKING LIBERTIES: THE STRUGGLE FOR BRITAIN’S FREEDOM AND RIGHTS

Find out how the rights of UK citizens have been established. Includes pivotal documents that made political history.
British Library, Euston Road, London NW1 (www.bl.uk 01937 546060), Oct 31-Mar 1, 2009

BABYLON

The British Museum reveals ancient Iraq’s City of Sin, famed for its hanging gardens and its mythical whore.
British Museum, Great Russell Street, London WC1 (www.britishmuseum.org 020-7323 8181), Nov 13-Mar 15, 2009

DARWIN

A celebration of Charles Darwin’s ideas and their impact, giving new insight into his achievements through notebooks, artefacts and the specimens that he collected.
Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 (www.nhm.ac.uk 020-7942 5000), Nov 14-Apr 19, 2009

WAR AND MEDICINE

How warfare and medicine have affected each other.
Wellcome Collection, Euston Road, London NW1 (www.wellcomecollection.org 020-7611 2222), Nov 22-Feb 15, 2009

JAPAN CAR

How Japanese car designers create cars for their home market. With 14 cars, many of them unseen here, including one that looks like an armchair.
Science Museum, Exhibition Road, London SW7 (www.sciencemuseum.org.uk 0870 8704868), Nov 1-Apr 1, 2009

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