Certain exhibitions do more than chart a chronological history of art; the moment you cross their threshold, they make you feel the radical ruptures within that history. Opening its doors on September 18, 2026, The Courtauld Gallery’s new exhibition, “Modern Painting from the Courtauld and Reuben Collections,” offers precisely such a conceptual threshold.
A Historic Convergence of Two Major Collections
Established in 2025, the long-term partnership between The Courtauld Gallery and the Reuben Foundation unlocked the doors to the Reuben Collection, long held in international museum vaults. This exhibition stands as the first major, concrete manifestation of that strategic collaboration.
Selections drawn from The Courtauld’s rich institutional archives come together with private masterpieces from the Reuben Collection to lay bare the radical transformation painting underwent during the first half of the 20th century. Tracing an arc from Cubism to Surrealism, this curatorial narrative documents modernism’s most intoxicating and turbulent era.
Exhibition Highlights
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Paul Cézanne – Turning Road (1905): A touchstone in the transition from Impressionism to modern art, Cézanne constructs the road in this canvas almost entirely through abstract planes of color. Painting the flow of perception rather than form itself, he sows the seeds for every avant-garde movement that followed.
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Amedeo Modigliani – Female Nude (c. 1916): Modigliani’s nude adopts a posture that subverts every academic rule of its era. Far removed from idealization, it stands as one of modern figurative painting’s most controversial and spellbinding achievements with its elongated neck, almond eyes, and deliberate, unsettling tension.
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Pablo Picasso – Second World War Period Portraits and Still Life: Perhaps the exhibition’s most charged corner. Portraits of two key women and muses in Picasso’s life hang side by side: Marie-Thérèse Walter (1937) and photographer Dora Maar (1939). The pair is accompanied by Still Life with Basket of Fruit and Flowers (1942), forged within the grim atmosphere of wartime occupied Paris.
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Man Ray – Black Widow (Nativity) (1915): Unseen in the UK for over 50 years, this monumental 178 cm canvas is recognized as a crucial precursor to both Dadaism and Surrealism.
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René Magritte – The Dominion of Light and The Intimate Friend (1950s): Hailed as the crown jewels of the Reuben Collection, these works by Magritte mark the exhibition’s crescendo. A house illuminated by a single streetlamp under a luminous daytime sky… An image pushing the boundaries of logic, instilling an endless sense of the uncanny and wonder in the viewer.
Why This Marks a Watershed Moment for Modern Art
The first half of the 20th century saw millennia of traditional painterly conventions dismantled in a matter of decades. Realism yielded to abstraction, perspective was interrogated, and the subconscious spilled onto the surface of the canvas. By synthesizing The Courtauld’s deep institutional heritage with revelation works from the Reuben Collection unveiled to the public for the first time, the exhibition offers a holistic vantage point on those revolutionary moments.
Courtauld members enjoy priority admission and exclusive event privileges. If you are updating your London art itinerary, membership is well worth considering.
Step through the historic stone courtyard of Somerset House; the conceptual jolt of modernism and the revolutionary spirit of the 20th century await.
Visiting Information
Venue: The Courtauld Gallery, Somerset House (Strand, London WC2R 0RN)
Transport: Temple (District & Circle Line) or Covent Garden (Piccadilly Line) tube stations
Date: From September 18, 2026
Hours: Daily 10:00 – 18:00
Tickets: Included with permanent collection admission (£14)
