It was worth the wait … Alice: Curiouser And Curiouser at the Victoria & Albert Museum will make you grin like a Cheshire Cat
Alice: More curious and curious Victoria & Albert Museum, London
Until December 31st (reservation essential)
David Hockney: The Arrival of Spring, Normandy, 2020
royal academy Until September 26th
Rating: 
This exhibition – dedicated to the classic books by Lewis Carroll – was supposed to take place 12 months ago. But every trip to the rabbit hole has been postponed because of Covid.
The wait was worth it. In this audiovisual extravaganza, you can hear Jefferson Airplane’s 1967 song White Rabbit in a minute and watch it in the next Disney’s 1951 animated film Alice in Wonderland.
There is a brief opening section about how Carroll came up with the idea for his books, but most of the exhibition is devoted to Alice’s cultural impact.
Of more than 300 exhibits (Alice Follow The White Rabbit, above, by Chris Riddell), the highlights include a selection of surrealist works of art by artists such as Max Ernst and Salvador DalÃ
The highlights of more than 300 exhibits include a selection of surrealist works of art by artists such as Max Ernst and Salvador DalÃ. The Surrealists were inspired by Alice’s dreamy escapades.
Carroll’s books never went out of style. The curators here suspect this is due to Alice’s intellectual curiosity and courage to speak out. Agree or not, this will still keep you grinning like a Cheshire Cat.
None of the recent floods of exhibition openings are better known than David Hockney: The Arrival of Spring, Normandy, 2020 at the Royal Academy.
It comprises 116 works that were created in and around the artist’s French farmhouse. They are all landscapes – but with a twist. Hockney made them with a painting app on his iPad and printed them out on paper.
The 83 year old’s theme is the beauty of spring. His works are presented chronologically, from early pear, quince and cherry trees with bare branches to later in full bloom.
Hockney said these “paintings” that were made at the start of the pandemic were intended as a joyful antidote to the coronavirus. The problem is that the iPad is nowhere near the fullness that can be achieved with paint and brushes.