David Hockney’s Model with Unfinished Self-Portrait, 1977. Photograph: Private collection

Tate Britain’s 2017 programme will open with the first UK show to focus exclusively on queer British art, marking the 50 year anniversary of the decriminalisation of male homosexuality in England. With paintings, drawings, personal photographs and film from artists such as John Singer Sargent to Dora Carrington the diversity of queer British art will be  honoured as never before. It’s quite a coup for the newly-appointed director Alex Farquharson.

Featuring works from Francis Bacon to David Hockney, the exhibition will explore how artists expressed themselves in a time when forbidden sexuality and established assumptions about gender were transitioning towards more freedom.

The works will span a remarkable range of themes and stories, from the playful to the political and from the erotic to the domestic.