Food for the Soul: Art Exhibitions in 2026
By Nina Heyn
Similar to last year, I’d like to start my Food for the Soul postings in 2026 with a list of some interesting art exhibitions that will take place throughout the year. I describe a few highlights below and also provide a calendar list of selected exhibitions.
Raphael: Sublime Poetry
March 29-June 28 New York – The Met
In the U.S., the most prominent art exhibition of the year will probably be the spring show of Raphael’s works—the first-ever international loan exhibition in America. European museums lending for this exhibition include such titans of the museum world as the Louvre, the Prado, and London’s National Gallery. The Louvre will be lending one of the finest portraits of the Renaissance, Portrait of Baldassare Castiglione, which became a touchstone of portraiture for centuries afterwards. The National Gallery in Washington is sending Raphael’s famous tondo of Madonna in Landscape a.k.a. The Alba Madonna (above). The curators are assembling over 200 of Raphael’s drawings, paintings, and tapestry and decorative arts to tell a story of this Renaissance prodigy who accomplished so much in his short life.
Metamorphoses
Feb. 6-May 25 Amsterdam – Rijksmuseum
June 22-Sept. 10 Rome – Galleria Borghese
A collaboration between the Dutch Rijksmuseum and the Italian Galleria Borghese will result in a theme exhibition called Metamorphoses. Using Ovid’s classical text as a starting point, the show will assemble artworks ranging from Caravaggio’s Narcissus to Arcimboldo’s “vegetable” fantasies. Change, juxtaposition, and reinterpretation of various human conditions—from infatuation to fascination with death—will underlie an assembly of some famous artworks that illustrate the mythology and fantasy themes.
Hilma af Klint
May 6-Aug. 30 Paris – Grand Palais
I am fascinated by Hilma af Klint (1862-1944) as an Abstractionism pioneer who was only discovered in the 1980s, but I have yet to see a big assembly of her works. This year, I am hoping to accomplish this at an exhibition at the newly restored Grand Palais in Paris, which promises to bring the wealth of Klint’s imagination to the wider public. It will be the first exhibition in France of Klint’s metaphysical cycle of “Paintings from the Temple.”
The Bayeux Tapestry
Sept. 2026 – Feb. 2027 London – The British Museum
How do you record an important story when most of your audience cannot read? It has to be visual, but if it is a long story, a painting or a mosaic would be costly, would require a lot of space, and artists might not be available. In about 1077 CE, the court of the Norman bishop Odo solved this dilemma in an ingenious way. He, or someone in his circle, ordered a chronicle of the exploits of William the Conqueror (Odo’s half-brother) to be recorded in fabric, embroidered into a long strip of cloth. The result was something so unique that it does not have any counterparts in Western art. The cloth band, which looks like an enormous comic strip or a Chinese painting scroll, measures 230 feet in length (70 meters). It is believed to have been made in a convent sometime between 1066 (the date of the Battle of Hastings that the tapestry illustrates) and 1080. Having survived almost a millennium of wars and destruction, the tapestry is still in amazingly good shape. It normally resides in a museum in Bayeux, which is now in France but in the 11th century was in the independent land of Normandy—the place from which William the Conqueror embarked on his successful conquest of the British Isles. Until now, the tapestry has remained continuously in French territory, but the governments of France and Great Britain recently agreed to an exchange of exhibitions: In fall 2026, the Bayeux Tapestry will travel to London, while the Sutton Hoo Treasure and Lewis chessmen will visit France. This is a historic event for both nations.
La Biennale di Venezia – International Art Exhibition
May 9-Nov. 22, 2026 Venice
Between May 9 and November 22, a biannual gathering of the art world will take place in Venice. The International Art Exhibition of the Biennale di Venezia alternates with the architectural fair, and in 2026, it’s time for the Art Exhibition’s 61st edition. The curator of the exhibition, Koyo Kouoh, passed away last year, but the event will carry on her vision of the show with her chosen title, In Minor Keys. The final list of participating artists will be announced later this year.
Below is a calendar of some key upcoming art exhibitions. A full calendar of cultural, financial, and political events in 2026 will be included in the 2025 Annual Wrap Up for Solari Report subscribers.
Selected Art Exhibitions 2026
Now-Feb. 16 Philadelphia – PFA: Dreamworlds: Surrealism at 100
Now-May 10 London – The National Gallery: Joseph Wright of Derby
Jan. 25-May 25 Basel – Fondation Beyeler: Cézanne
Jan. 30-May 24 Paris – Jeu de Paume: Martin Parr-Global Warning
Feb. 6-May 25 Amsterdam – Rijksmuseum: Metamorphoses
Feb. 12-May 11 New York – The Frick: Gainsborough: The Fashion Portraiture
Feb. 13- May 17 Amsterdam – Van Gogh Museum: Yellow – Beyond van Gogh’s Favorite Color
Feb. 18-July 19 Paris- Musée du Luxembourg: Leonora Carrington
March 10- July 12 Paris – Museum Cluny: Unicorns!
March 12- May 31 London – The National Gallery: Stubbs – Portrait of a Horse
March 14-Aug. 23 Florence – Palazzo Strozzi: Rothko in Florence
March 17-Sept.20 Paris – Quai Branly: Paris 1913-23; The Spirit of Times
March 21- July 26 San Francisco – De Young: Monet & Venice
March 24-July 26 Paris – Grand Palais: Matisse 1941-1954
March 25- July 20 Paris – L’Orangerie/Rousseau: The Ambition of Painting
March 29-June 28 New York – The Met: Raphael
April TBC Los Angeles: LACMA re-opening
April 18 London: V & A East opening
April 3-July26 Paris – Musée d’Art Moderne: Lee Miller
April 9-Sept. 28 Milan – Fondazione Prada: Cao Fei: Dash
April 10-Oct. 18 London – King’s Gallery: Queen Elisabeth II – Her Life in Style
April 18-Aug 23 Basel- Kunstmuseum Neubau: Helen Frankenthaler
May 2-August 23 London – The National Gallery: Zurbaràn
May 6-Aug. 30 Paris – Grand Palais: Hilma af Klint
May 9-Nov. 22 Venice – 61st Biennale of Art
May 20- Sept. 20 San Francisco – Legion of Honor: The Etruscans- From the Heart of Ancient Italy
June 6 Bentonville, AK – Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art – expansion opening
June 14- Oct. 25 Los Angeles – LACMA: Fashioning Chinese Women
June 12-Oct. 4 Melbourne – VGA: Cartier
June 22-Sept. 10 Rome – Galleria Borghese: Metamorphoses
September TBA London – The British Museum: Bayeux Tapestry
September 22 Los Angeles – Lucas Museum of Narrative Art: opening
Oct. 3-Jan. 31, 27 London – The National Gallery: Renoir & Love
Oct. 6-Jan.31,27 Paris – Musée d’Orsay: Mary Cassatt
Oct. 15- Feb. 7 Dublin – National Gallery of Ireland: Hilma af Klint
Nov. 21- April 25, 27 Dublin – National Gallery of Ireland: Jan Steen