A Victorian Obsession
Leighton House, London
A wonderful collection of the best of Victorian art, brought over from the US and staged in the home of one of the best of Victorian painters. Raymond Burt
Beautiful paintings that made me cry! Now when does a painting ever make a person weep? :) Juliette Hettema
An interesting exhibition in fantastic surroundings. Not only for your eyes and ears, but your nose, too! Extraordinary indeed. Eva Hedberg-Borenstein
A beautiful, uniquely displayed exhibition – especially the room of the scented roses. I went three times. Rosemary Wilmot
I particularly enjoyed the Pérez Simón collection, as I discovered the work of Lawrence Alma-Tadema and the impressive The Roses of Heliogabalus, with the vivid petals dancing in the air. Although his work can seem quite academic and classical, I thought the way he approached the topics of his paintings and how he connected the spectator with his art were extremely well done. Matthieu Beignet
Amazing paintings shown in an atmospheric setting. This exhibition was so wonderful that I travelled from the Midlands to see it. Susan Lupton
Ai Weiwei
Royal Academy, London
A truly stupendous exhibition, grappling with hugely pertinent issues – free speech, the surveillance state and cultural history. As the UK fosters an increasingly close relationship with China, we need to be clear about the nature of our new bedfellows. I was particularly struck by the young Chinese people at the exhibition – there were quite a few of them when I visited, and they were enthralled. This is something they would never see in China, and it was clearly something they connected to and considered important. Johanna K Reades
Such a powerful, moving experience, with wonderful concepts beautifully realised. It was a creative and effective indictment of a state’s abuse of the individual and the community. This is contemporary art at its very, very best, as far as I am concerned. Kyria Conner
I chose to see the Ai Weiwei exhibition because his art was interesting. Then I found out the story behind it, which gives it more power and emotion. It makes you realise how powerful art is when it begins to look like the only thing the Chinese government can do to Ai Weiwei is ignore him – as anything they do directly to him makes him more powerful because of his art. K Turner
The World of Charles and Ray Eames
Barbican, London
Exquisitely researched and presented. A real treat. Eleanor Nairne
Beautiful presentation of the designers in a new light – more than just chairs! Orion Hunt
I simply love chairs! Lisa Smith
Sun Ra
Nottingham Contemporary
His prodigious output of unique music and vision, exemplified by the 70 or so album illustrations and the wondrous 1970s film, Space Is the Place, a psychedelic blaxploitation epic. It sits well in the thoughtfully curated Alien Encounters show. I loved the layout of the exhibits and the interactive nature of the gallery. Top marks. Lee Best
Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
This gets my vote because the exhibition had art, fashion, music, design and creativity, incorporated multimedia and was incredibly displayed. I had no idea how innovative and cutting edge Alexander McQueen’s fashion shows were, or his dark side, which was evident in some of his designs. I came away from the show enlightened and totally blown away. Brilliant! Bozenna Borzyskowska
Dismaland
Weston-super-Mare, Somerset
A bold dystopia concept, interesting installations. Yayu Hu
Goya: The Portraits
National Gallery, London
I didn’t think another exhibition could match the Rembrandt: The Late Works, but this certainly did. Beautifully curated, this exhibition moved me enormously. Lindsay Attree
Leon Underwood
Pallant House Gallery, Chichester
Amazing show by an underrated artist, who should be as well known as his contemporaries. Sonia Wiffen
The first exhibition of his work in more than 40 years. It showed how great his work was – and still is today. Nigel O’Gorman
Joseph Cornell: Wanderlust
Royal Academy, London
A perfectly displayed look into the rather lovely soul of a man with an incredible eye and imagination. Worth seeing in the flesh, as no pictures can do justice to his work. Kalundborg
Sargent: Portraits of Artists and Friends
National Portrait Gallery, London
I was enthralled by the beauty and elegance of the portraits. John Ruescas
Sonia Delaunay
Tate Modern, London
This is someone I knew nothing about until I saw the exhibition. I loved the variation of paintings, fabrics, etc and vibrant colours. Judith Levinson
Anish Kapoor
Versailles
Bold, beautiful, discombobulating pieces that both spoke to and jarred with the classic Versailles gardens. Keith Bacha
Frank Auerbach
Tate Britain, London
I went to art college in 1957. My main subject was painting, and I discovered the work of Francis Bacon and Frank Auerbach – eureka moments. So it is not surprising that I rate this exhibition the best since Bacon in 2008. Mike Dymond
