The Tate has announced the highlights of its 2018 programme, and there are some juicy major exhibitions coming up in Tates Modern, Britain, Liverpool and St Ives, with major retrospectives of the work of Anni Albers, Edward Burne-Jones, Egon Schiele and Patrick Heron; an overview of currents in painting the human figure by 20th century artists living in Britain; and a look at just one annis mirabilis in Picasso's life: 1932, when his output dramatically increased.

The first of these is All Too Human: Bacon, Freud and a Century of Painting (Tate Britain, Wed 28 Feb–Mon 27 Aug 2018), which reviews the work of artists living in Britain who found new ways of depicting people. The biggest names among these are, of course, Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud, both known for their highly distinctive takes on flesh and mortality. But the show also looks at their eminent peers: Freud's good friend Frank Auerbach, at 86 still one of the most vital painters in Britain; Michael Andrews; the late RB Kitaj, and Paula Rego, among others. It also takes in important predecessors such as Walter Sickert and David Bomberg.

Professional services giant EY (formerly known as Ernst & Young) are one of the Tate's big sponsors, and this years' EY exhibition is Picasso 1932–Love, Fame, Tragedy. 1932 was a year in which Picasso's always impressive inventiveness was in full-flood, and in which he made some of his best-loved pictures, such as The Dream, which depicts the sleeping form of his then-mistress Marie-Thérèse Walter. It runs at Tate Modern from Thu 8 Mar–Sun 9 Sep 2018.

Over the summer, Tate Liverpool has an exhibition of rarely-seen drawings by Egon Schiele, one of the greatest draughtsmen of all time. Drawing was fundamental to Schiele's work, but so was the nude human figure, which is worth bearing in mind if you're thinking of booking for the whole family. Thu 24 May–Sun 23 Sep 2018.

Tate St Ives is reviewing the work of Cornwall artist Patrick Heron, who over the course of his long career developed his own distinctive brand of abstraction. Sat 26 May–Sun 9 Sep 2018.

In October, Tate Modern looks at the work of Anni Albers. As a young art student in Weimar the 20s, Albers managed to get into the ultra-avant-garde Bauhaus, but the only subject they allowed her to study was weaving. Under the great Gunta Stölzl, she blossomed into one of the greatest textile artists of the 20th century. This show looks at the wide variety of her work, from small creations to large wall-hangings, as well as her interest in design, new technologies and synthetic fibres. Fri 12 Oct 2018–Sun 13 Jan 2019.

Finally, Tate Britain features the first major London show in 40 years for the last of the Pre-Raphaelites, Edward Burne-Jones, one of the most imaginative and influential painters of his times. It runs from Wed 24 Oct 2018–Sun 24 Feb 2019.

Tickets for these are likely to go quickly, so book now.