Best in Show
A cheat sheet to the blockbuster art exhibitions and events worth going the distance for this year.
(© Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI/Georges Meguerditchian/Dist. GrandPalaisRmn)
Matisse 1941-1954
The artist’s later years, when some of his most vibrant and celebrated pieces were created, are carefully examined through over 300 artworks, including highlights such as Jérusalem Céleste (pictured) and Nus Bleus at Paris’s Grand Palais. Until 26 July. 
(© 1998 by Kate Rothko Prizel and Christopher Rothko / Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York / SIAE, Rome)
Rothko in Florence
This comprehensive exhibition at Palazzo Strozzi and two further venues in Florence presents the full breadth of the legendary abstract painter’s oeuvre, featuring some of the larger pieces never previously shown in Italy, a place the artist knew well and from which he took great inspiration. Until 23 August.
(© Yasumasa Morimura. Courtesy of the artist, Luhring Augustine, New York and Yoshiko Isshiki Office, Tokyo)
Frida: The Making of an Icon
Alongside over 30 preeminent works by one of the most important artists of the 20th century, this hotly anticipated exhibition at London’s Tate Modern also comprises 200 works by contemporaries and artists she would go on to inspire. 25 June – 3 January 2027. 
(© Marcel Duchamp, Philadelphia Art Museum)
Marcel Duchamp
This major show at NYC’s MoMA brings together some 300 works by the visionary French-American artist, reexamining the profound impact his practice has had on the art world since his groundbreaking readymade Fountain (pictured) was first presented in New York more than a century ago. Until 22 August.
(© Sun Yuan & Peng Yu/ Courtesy of Bangkok Art Biennale)
Angels & Mara
The fifth edition of the Bangkok Art Biennale – fast becoming one of Southeast Asia’s most important art events – is focused on polarities, with participating artists such as conceptual duo Sun Yuan & Peng Yu (pictured), Yasumasa Morimura and other leading contemporaries. 29 October – 28 February 2027.
(© Yu Jieyu)
Marina Abramović: Transforming Energy
Coinciding with the 61st Venice Biennale, this first-of-its-kind exhibition at the prestigious Gallerie dell’Accademia invites visitors to interact with the art, as well as offering projections of earlier performances, plus new pieces. 6 May – 19 October.
(© Mariko Mori, Photo: Richard Learoyd)
Mariko Mori
The first solo exhibition of this scale for the influential Japanese multimedia artist in nearly 25 years, this homecoming retrospective at Tokyo’s Mori Art Museum will present 80 works from three decades of Mori’s genre-defying practice. 31 October – 28 March 2027.
(© Rijksmuseum/Albertine Dijkema)
Metamorphoses
With Ovid’s epic poem Metamorphoses as its leitmotif, this ambitious exhibition at Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum (until 25 May) and Rome’s Galleria Borghese (22 June - 20 September) brings together more than 80 works of great classic and modern masters, including Caravaggio, Bernini, Rodin and many more.
(© Jesús Rafael Soto)
Jesús Soto
A leading figure in kinetic and optical art, the late Venezuelan artist, who spent much of his career in France, gets a much-deserved close-up at the São Paulo Museum of Art , which focuses on pieces that blurred the boundary between spectator and artwork. 27 November – 4 April 2027.
Header photo: Rijksmuseum/Kelly Schenk
