What’s on in Spring 2017: the best C20 architecture, art and design

Our latest round-up includes Japanese houses at the Barbican, textiles from Josef Frank and Tadek Beutlich, and a century of ceramics at Tate St Ives.

Mies van der Roh and James Stirling: Circling the Square
RIBA, London, from 8 March to 25 June FREE ENTRY

A chance to compare James Stirling, Michael Wilford & Associates’ No 1 Poultry with Mies van der Roh’s unbuilt 1960s scheme for Mansion House Square. The exhibition includes models and materials relating to the Mies designs and drawings from the No 1 Poultry archive. More

Vanessa Bell 1879-1961
Dulwich Picture Gallery, London, until 4 June

A radical innovator in the use of abstraction, colour and form, Bell will be presented for fresh consideration in the first major exhibition of her work. Approximately 100 paintings, ceramics, fabrics and photographs arranged thematically will reveal her pioneering work in the genres of portraiture, still life and landscape. (See also Sussex Modernism, below) More

The Japanese House: Architecture and Life after 1945 
Barbican Art Gallery, London, from 23 March to 25 June

How Japanese architects tackled the challenges of post-Second World War reconstruction and changes in society. The exhibition reflects bold experiments in residential architecture and the wider role of the house in Japanese culture (photo above). A must for anyone joining the C20 trip to Japan. More

Josef Frank: Patterns, Furniture, Painting
Fashion and Textile Museum, London, from 28 January to 7 May

The first UK exhibition of textiles by designer and artist Josef Frank (1885–1967), who with Estrid Ericson redefined the Swedish Modern style. Frank’s bold fabric designs for interior design company Svenskt Tenn are featured, as well as his watercolours. More

That Continuous Thing: Artists and the Ceramics Studio, 1920–Today
Tate St Ives, Cornwall, from 31 March to 3 September

This exhibition covers 100 years of developments in ceramics, beginning with Bernard Leach and Shōji Hamada bringing Japanese influences to St Ives in the 1920s. Works by Peter Voulkos, Gillian Lowndes, Richard Slee and Anthea Hamilton reflect the ‘clay revolution’, ‘hand-building’ and the latest radical experiments in clay. More

Meeting Modernism: 20th Century Art in the Russell-Cotes Collection
Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum, Bournemouth, until 24 April

The cliff-top Victorian villa shows off some of its varied collection of landscapes, portraits and war art from the first half of the C20th. Works by John Piper, Graham Sutherland and Stanley Spencer are on display. More

Tadek Beutlich: beyond craft
Ditchling Mueum of Art & Craft, East Sussex, until 16 April

Tapestries and prints by the Polish-born artist, whose weaving experimented with materials like jute, sisal and esparto grass. More

Still showing

Eduardo Paolozzi
Whitechapel Gallery, London, from 16 February to 14 May
A major retrospective of the work of Eduardo Paolozzi, featuring 250 collages, prints and sculptures. As well as early Brutalist sculptures in concrete, visitors can see the large-scale Whitworth Tapestry (1967) and Diana as an Engine (1963). More

Sussex Modernism: Retreat and Rebellion 
Two Temple Place, London, from 28 January to 23 April FREE ENTRY
In the first half of the C20th artistic communities thrived at places like Charleston, Ditchling and Farley Farm House. Borrowing works from 9 Sussex museums and galleries, this show examines the artistic and domestic worlds of Vanessa Bell, Eric Gill, Roland Penrose and others. More

Susannah Straughan