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From Renaissance masters and contemporary icons, modern visionaries alongside a major Mexican director, art museums as well as galleries across the US have some dazzling exhibitions on the horizon for 2026.

Roy Lichtenstein

First revealed several years ago in 2023, now just a placeholder listing at a major museum's website, this major retrospective of a pioneering figures of the pop art movement comes with significant expectations. The museum plans to utilize its long-held holdings of close to 500 works by Lichtenstein, in addition to, presumably, numerous borrowed works from collections globally. TBD 2026.

Venetian Visions: From Old Masters to Monet

Bay Area sister institutions, the Legion of Honor along with another, will focus on the Floating City with two linked shows: one location presents a celebration of the city as an engine of artistic inspiration for hundreds of years, while the other zooms in on what impressionist Claude Monet thought of the enchanting city of canals. Monet himself was daunted by the prospect of depicting Venice – a subject that had captivated the world’s most esteemed artists for centuries – but he eventually met the challenge, producing approximately 37 canvases, among them the renowned work *The Grand Canal*. 6 January-2 August and Spring into Summer.

Sueño Perro: a film installation by Alejandro G Iñárritu

Celebrating the quarter-century of his massive debut film, *Amores Perros*, filmmaker Alejandro G Iñárritu returns to more than 1m ft of film that was left out into the final cut, creating an art installation that also serves as a love letter to film. Reportedly the director dug deep into the vaults to create what he described as “a rebirth, not merely a tribute” of a cherished films. Perhaps the exhibit will evoke some of the hope that pervades Iñárritu’s film despite the hardship he simultaneously documents. Late Winter through Summer.

Carol Bove

The Guggenheim will give the multidisciplinary sculptor artist a major career survey, beginning with her initial pieces and progressing through to a fresh series of works fashioned from scrap metal and industrial materials. Drawing from “the 60s” and Minimalist art, Bove frequently takes her components straight from the urban landscape, creating intriguing and unusual sculptures that have appeared in some of the country’s most notable art spots. Having had significant exhibitions at the MoMA and a Parisian institution, her thirty years of work are ripe for a thorough survey. Early Spring to Summer.

Henri Matisse's *Jazz*: A Symphony of Cut Paper

Those familiar with the book *The Body Keeps the Score* may recognize French master Henri Matisse’s cut-out *Icarus* – it’s actually one of 20 paper compositions that he combined with text and published as a volume titled *Jazz* in 1947. This spring, Chicago’s Art Institute exhibits all 20 of Matisse’s cut-paper maquettes – an unprecedented exhibition after the museum acquired the works in 1948 – as well as around 50 additional pieces by the artist. The cut paper works were part of a prolific final chapter for Matisse. 7 March-1 June.

Raphael: Sublime Poetry

The great artist Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino stood alongside Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo as the celebrated titans of the Italian Renaissance – yet he has rarely been honored with a major show on American soil. A premier East Coast institution seeks to change that with this massive exhibition. Raphael is famous for masterpieces like his *Sistine Madonna* and *The School of Athens*. Featuring loans from throughout Europe and over 200 works total, this is poised as a major event. 29 March–28 June.

Shu Lea Cheang's *Lover Love*: An Interactive Vision

A New York Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art will host a significant and immersive film-based work by transmedia artist and film-maker Shu Lea Cheang, a major figure in digital art. As with much of her work, Cheang in this piece explores the daily struggles of trans life. The installation is designed as a very engaging piece, with audience members encouraged to play around with the four moveable screens that display the central film. 2 April–January 2027.

Leilah Babirye: Reclamation and Defiance

The Institute of Contemporary Art Boston showcases new work from this artist, who was forced to flee her native Uganda after being outed as a lesbian in 2015. Babirye is recognized for transforming discarded objects to make intricate, queer-themed sculptures. This exhibition showcases recent pieces based on the concept of same-sex marriage. It extends her longstanding practice of using reclaimed materials as a meaningful gesture of defiance. 27 August–18 January 2027.

Taking Back Our Space: Body Language and Power

Expanding upon the pioneering work of west German feminist photographer Marianne Wex, who analyzed how genders are socialized to inhabit space differently, this exhibition examines how body language influences unspoken interaction. Wex’s research included art as old as ancient sculptures. Here, Wex’s explorations are displayed and juxtaposed with the work of contemporary Black, queer, and feminist artists. 20 September–Spring 2027.

And more …

In February, the Seattle Art Museum showcases the haunting shadow-based work of an emerging artist. Starting 5 March, an art gallery is highlighting the work of up and coming Black artist an innovative creator. During the summer, an Arkansas museum reexamines iconic pop artist Keith Haring through a show of his sculptural works. Come fall, a Michigan museum presents a selection of Georgia O’Keefe’s architecture paintings. And also in September, an Arizona venue displays the colorful work of South Korean painter Kim Chong Hak.