{"id":497645,"date":"2026-01-07T00:06:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T00:06:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/497645\/"},"modified":"2026-01-07T00:06:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T00:06:10","slug":"the-most-exciting-us-art-exhibitions-in-2026-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/497645\/","title":{"rendered":"The most exciting US art exhibitions in 2026 | Art"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">From old masters to pop artists, contemporary greats and even a major Mexican film-maker, art museums and galleries across the US have some dazzling shows coming up in 2026.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Roy Lichtenstein<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Announced <a href=\"https:\/\/news.artnet.com\/art-world\/whitney-roy-lichtenstein-retrospective-usps-stamp-2289988\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">all the way back in 2023<\/a>, and currently just a <a href=\"https:\/\/whitney.org\/exhibitions\/lichtenstein\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">mostly empty page<\/a> on The Whitney\u2019s website, this major retrospective of one of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2012\/10\/15\/162807890\/one-dot-at-a-time-lichtenstein-made-art-pop\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">central creators of the pop art movement<\/a> carries some pretty heavy expectations. The Whitney will be drawing on its decades-old collection of nearly 500 pieces from Lichtenstein, as well as, one would imagine, dozens of loans from institutions around the world. TBD 2026<\/p>\n<p><strong>Drawn to Venice and Monet and Venice<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">San Francisco sister institutions the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.famsf.org\/exhibitions\/drawn-to-venice\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Legion of Honor<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.famsf.org\/exhibitions\/monet-venice\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">deYoung<\/a> museums will be centering Venice, with two interconnected exhibitions: the former museum will offer a celebration of the city as an engine of high art throughout the centuries, and the latter will focus on what impressionist Claude Monet made of the romantic city of canals. Monet himself was daunted by the challenge of Venice \u2013 a subject that had captivated the world\u2019s most esteemed artists for hundreds of years \u2013 but he eventually rose to the task, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smithsonianmag.com\/smart-news\/claude-monets-beautiful-paintings-of-venice-are-headlining-an-exhibition-for-the-first-time-in-more-than-a-century-180987500\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">making some 37 paintings<\/a>, including masterpiece <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Le_Grand_Canal\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Grand Canal<\/a>. 6 January-2 August and 21 March-26 July<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sue\u00f1o Perro: <\/strong><strong>a <\/strong><strong>film <\/strong><strong>installation by Alejandro G I\u00f1\u00e1rritu<\/strong> Photograph: Optimum\/Sportsphoto\/Allstar<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Celebrating the 25th anniversary of his massive debut film, Amores Perros, director Alejandro G I\u00f1\u00e1rritu <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lacma.org\/art\/exhibition\/sueno-perro-film-installation-alejandro-g-inarritu\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">revisits over 1m ft of film<\/a> that never made it into the final cut, creating an art installation that doubles as a love letter to celluloid. Reportedly, I\u00f1\u00e1rritu dug deep into the archives to create what he called \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.fondazioneprada.org\/project\/sueno-perro\/?lang=en\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">not a tribute, but a resurrection<\/a>\u201d of one of his most beloved films. Perhaps the exhibit will instil some of the hope that pervades I\u00f1\u00e1rritu\u2019s film in spite of the pain that he also chronicles in his story of difficult love. 22 February-26 July<\/p>\n<p><strong>Carol Bove<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The Guggenheim will give the mixed media sculpture and installation creator <a href=\"https:\/\/www.guggenheim.org\/exhibition\/carol-bove\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a major career survey<\/a>, starting with her early works and moving all the way up to a new collection of pieces made from scrap metal and steel tubing. Inspired by \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sholis.com\/work\/carol-bove\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the 60s<\/a>\u201d and minimalism, Bove often takes her materials directly from the urban landscape, creating fascinating and strange sculptures that have appeared in some of the country\u2019s most notable art spots, including the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.giginyc.net\/2013\/06\/carol-bove-at-high-line.html\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">High Line<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/gagosian.com\/fairs-and-collecting\/installations\/carol-bove-mary-los-angeles\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Gagosian, Beverly Hills<\/a>. With major shows in the MoMA and the Palais de Tokyo, as well as work at the 57th Venice Biennale, among others, Bove\u2019s three decades of creation are ripe for a thorough survey that shows audiences all she\u2019s got. 5 March\u20132 August<\/p>\n<p><strong>Matisse\u2019s Jazz: Rhythms in Color<\/strong>Henri Matisse &#8211; Horse, Rider, and Clown from Jazz, 1947. Photograph: Succession H. Matisse \/ Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Anyone who has read The Body Keeps the Score will be familiar with French master Henri Matisse\u2019s papercut Icarus (it\u2019s right there on the cover) \u2013 it\u2019s actually one of 20 cut-paper works that he combined with text and bound into a book titled Jazz that he published in 1947, at 77 years old. This spring, Chicago\u2019s Art Institute <a href=\"https:\/\/www.artic.edu\/exhibitions\/10557\/matisse-s-jazz-rhythms-in-color\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">exhibits all 20 of Matisse\u2019s cut-paper maquettes<\/a> \u2013 the first such showing since the museum acquired the works in 1948 \u2013 as well as some 50 of Matisse\u2019s other works. The cut paper works were part of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.moma.org\/magazine\/articles\/1156\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a late stage flowering<\/a> for Matisse that saw the artist use the medium for everything from helping design a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.moma.org\/audio\/playlist\/6\/311\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">stained glass window<\/a> to an enormous <a href=\"https:\/\/www.moma.org\/collection\/works\/79462\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">dining room decoration<\/a>. 7 March-1 June<\/p>\n<p><strong>Raphael: Sublime Poetry<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Italian master painter and architect Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino stood alongside Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo as the renowned masters of Renaissance Italy \u2013 yet he has seldom received a major show on US soil \u2013 New York\u2019s Metropolitan Museum aims to rectify that with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.metmuseum.org\/exhibitions\/raphael-sublime-poetry\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">this massive exhibition<\/a>. Raphael is well-known for masterpieces like his <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Sistine_Madonna\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Sistine Madonna<\/a> (you\u2019ve all seen <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onverticality.com\/blog\/the-two-cherubs\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the cherubs<\/a>) and The School of Athens (with <a href=\"https:\/\/core100.columbia.edu\/article\/scuola-di-athene-school-athens\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the famous portrayal of Plato and Aristotle<\/a>). With loans from all across Europe and over 200 works total, this promises to be a blockbuster show, a rare chance to see one of Western art\u2019s most incandescent geniuses in all his glory. 29 March\u201328 June<\/p>\n<p><strong>Shu Lea Cheang: Lover Love<\/strong>SadeX tableaux<strong> <\/strong>by Shu Lea Cheang. Photograph: Quique Garc\u00eda\/EPA<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">NYC\u2019s Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art presents a major, large-scale video installation by Taiwanese-American artist and film-maker Shu Lea Cheang, a major figure in new media art and a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bam.org\/film\/2024\/shu-lea-cheang-fluido\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">fascinating film director<\/a>. As with much of her work, Cheang here <a href=\"https:\/\/spikeartmagazine.com\/articles\/interview-resistance-fish-by-fish-shu-lea-cheang-2024\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">explores the daily struggles of trans life<\/a>, and the increasing threats to the health, safety and autonomy of trans and gender non-conforming individuals under the current US administration. Lover Love promises to be a very engaging piece, as it will be interactive, with visitors encouraged to play around with the four moveable screens that display the central film in this complex installation. 2 April\u2013January 2027<\/p>\n<p><strong>Leilah Babirye<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.icaboston.org\/exhibitions\/leilah-babirye\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Institute of Contemporary Art Boston showcases new work<\/a> from this artist, who was forced to flee her native Uganda after being outed as a lesbian in 2015. Babirye is known for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.famsf.org\/exhibitions\/leilah-babirye\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">deconstructing unconventional materials<\/a> in order to make elaborate, queer-themed sculptures, and here she showcases new work based out of the theme of queer weddings. This continues her ongoing project of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/art-in-america\/interviews\/leilah-babirye-interview-reclaiming-queer-community-stephen-friedman-1234600184\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">using reclaimed materials as a symbolic act of defiance<\/a> against the stigmatization that the LGBTQ+ community has suffered in Uganda, and many other nations worldwide \u2013 including Babirye\u2019s adopted home, the United States. 27 August\u201318 January 2027<\/p>\n<p><strong>Taking Back Our Space<\/strong>Panel from Let\u2019s Take Back Our Space: \u2018Female\u2019 and \u2018Male\u2019 Body Language as a Result of Patriarchal Structures by Marianne Wex Photograph: Jonathan Muzikar\/The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Photo by Jonathan Muzikar<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Building on the pioneering work of west German feminist photographer Marianne Wex, who studied how men and women are socialized to inhabit space differently, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.moma.org\/calendar\/exhibitions\/5678\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">this show<\/a> at the MoMA investigates how body language shapes how men and women unconsciously communicate with the world. Wex\u2019s studies spanned art as old as <a href=\"https:\/\/slate.com\/human-interest\/2017\/02\/a-1979-german-photo-book-traces-manspreading-back-to-ancient-civilizations.html\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">sculptures believed to have been produced around 2000 BC<\/a> and is considered a major work of gender studies. Here, Wex\u2019s explorations are both exhibited and put into conversation with the work of contemporary Black, queer, and feminist artists, including Nona Faustine, K8 Hardy, Yuki Kihara, and Wendy Red Star. 20 September\u2013Spring 2027<\/p>\n<p><strong>And more <\/strong><strong>\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">In February, the Seattle Art Museum celebrates the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.seattleartmuseum.org\/whats-on\/exhibitions\/samantha-yun-wall-2024-betty-bowen-award-winner\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">haunting silhouette art of Samantha Yun Wall<\/a> as she explores the \u201cpersonal narratives of people born to Asian women and US service members during times of military occupation in Asia\u201d. Starting 5 March, Marianne Boesky Gallery is highlighting the work of up and coming Black artist <a href=\"https:\/\/marianneboeskygallery.com\/artists\/553-kwame-azure-gomez\/works\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kwam\u00e9 Azure Gomez<\/a>, exhibiting a new collection of work inspired by queer nightlife, ballroom culture and gospel music, situated somewhere between figuration and abstraction. During the summer, the <a href=\"https:\/\/crystalbridges.org\/calendar\/keith-haring-in-3d\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/crystalbridges.org\/calendar\/keith-haring-in-3d\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">revisits 80s graffiti artist Keith Haring<\/a> with a show of all his \u201c3D\u201d works \u2013 sculptures, masks, skateboards, boomboxes and much more. In September, the Detroit Institute of Arts will <a href=\"https:\/\/dia.org\/events\/exhibitions\/georgia-okeeffe-architecture\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">show a collection of around 35 of Georgia O\u2019Keefe\u2019s architecture paintings<\/a>, showing how her trademark flow-y abstraction worked with the straight, clean lines of architecture. And also in September, the Phoenix Art Museum exhibits <a href=\"https:\/\/phxart.org\/exhibition\/kim-chong-hak-painter-of-seoraksan\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the work of South Korean painter Kim Chong Hak<\/a>, letting audiences see the bright and colorful paintings that he has worked on since the 1970s.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From old masters to pop artists, contemporary greats and even a major Mexican film-maker, art museums and galleries&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":497646,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[171,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-497645","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-united-states","10":"tag-unitedstates","11":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115850902929014541","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=497645"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497645\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/497646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=497645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=497645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=497645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}