🔗 Share this article The Most Exciting American Gallery Shows Arriving in 2026 Spanning old masters and contemporary icons, contemporary greats alongside a major Mexican film-maker, art museums and institutions throughout the US are preparing a series of dazzling shows on the horizon in 2026. Roy Lichtenstein Announced several years ago in 2023, now merely a mostly empty page on The Whitney’s online schedule, this major retrospective of one of the central creators of the pop art movement carries significant expectations. The institution plans to utilize its long-held holdings of nearly 500 pieces from Lichtenstein, as well as, presumably, numerous loans from collections around the world. Dates to be announced 2026. Drawn to Venice and Monet and Venice Bay Area sister institutions, the Legion of Honor and another, will be centering Venice with two interconnected exhibitions: one location will offer a celebration of the city as a source of artistic inspiration throughout the centuries, while the other will focus on what the Impressionist Claude Monet made of the romantic city of canals. Monet himself felt intimidated by the prospect of depicting Venice – a theme that had captivated the most revered artists for centuries – yet he ultimately met the challenge, producing some 37 canvases, including the masterpiece *The Grand Canal*. 6 January-2 August and Spring into Summer. Sueño Perro: a film installation by Alejandro G Iñárritu A visual from the artistic project. Courtesy: Example Source Marking the 25th anniversary of his massive first feature, *Amores Perros*, filmmaker Alejandro G Iñárritu revisits over 1m ft of footage that was left out of the final cut, creating an immersive experience that doubles as a homage to celluloid. Accounts suggest Iñárritu delved into the vaults to create what he described as “not a tribute, but a resurrection” of one of his most beloved films. Perhaps the installation will evoke some of the hope that pervades Iñárritu’s film despite the pain he simultaneously documents. 22 February-26 July. The Sculptural World of Carol Bove The Guggenheim is dedicating the multidisciplinary sculpture and installation creator a major career survey, starting with her early works and moving through to a fresh series of works fashioned from scrap metal and industrial materials. Inspired by “the 60s” and Minimalist art, Bove often takes her components straight from the urban landscape, creating intriguing and unusual constructions that have been displayed in some of the country’s most notable venues. With major shows in Museum of Modern Art and a Parisian institution, her thirty years of work are ready for a thorough overview. Early Spring to Summer. Matisse’s Jazz: Rhythms in Color The artist - *Horse, Rider, and Clown* from *Jazz*, 1947. Image Source: Museum Collection Anyone who know a certain publication *The Body Keeps the Score* may recognize French master Henri Matisse’s papercut *Icarus* – it’s actually one of 20 paper compositions that he paired with text and bound into a volume titled *Jazz* in 1947. In the coming season, a Midwestern museum will display the complete set of Matisse’s preparatory models – an unprecedented exhibition after the museum acquired the works in 1948 – as well as around 50 additional pieces by the artist. These creations represented a late stage flowering for Matisse. 7 March-1 June. Raphael: Master of the Renaissance Italian master artist Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino stood alongside Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo as the renowned masters of the Italian Renaissance – but he has seldom been honored with a major show on US soil. A premier East Coast institution seeks to change that with this massive exhibition. Raphael is well-known for masterpieces like his *Sistine Madonna* and *The School of Athens*. With loans from all across Europe and more than 200 works in all, this promises to be a blockbuster show. 29 March–28 June. Shu Lea Cheang: Lover Love *SadeX tableaux* by the artist. Credit: Gallery NYC’s queer art museum presents a major, large-scale film-based work by Taiwanese-American artist and director Shu Lea Cheang, a major figure in digital art. As with much of her work, Cheang in this piece investigates the everyday realities of transgender existence. Lover Love is designed as a very engaging experience, with audience members invited to play around with the four moveable screens that display the core footage. Spring 2026 through early 2027. Leilah Babirye: Reclamation and Defiance A Boston contemporary art center showcases new work from this artist, who was forced to flee her home country of Uganda when her identity was revealed as a lesbian in 2015. Babirye is known for transforming discarded objects to make elaborate, queer-themed assemblages. This exhibition showcases new work based on the concept of queer weddings. It extends her ongoing project of employing found items as a symbolic act of resistance. Late Summer 2026 into early 2027. Taking Back Our Space: Body Language and Power Study from the artist's seminal work. Credit: Example Museum Expanding upon the foundational research of west German feminist photographer Marianne Wex, who studied how men and women are socialized to inhabit space differently, this exhibition investigates how body language influences unspoken interaction. Wex’s studies spanned art dating back to ancient sculptures. Here, Wex’s explorations are displayed and put into conversation with the work of contemporary diverse artists. 20 September–Spring 2027. Additional Highlights for 2026 Early in the year, a Pacific Northwest institution celebrates the haunting silhouette art of an emerging artist. Beginning 5 March, an art gallery is featuring the work of up and coming Black artist Kwamé Azure Gomez. During the summer, an Arkansas museum reexamines 80s graffiti artist Keith Haring with a show of his sculptural works. Come fall, a Michigan museum will show a selection of the artist's architectural studies. And also in September, the Phoenix Art Museum exhibits the vibrant work of artist Kim Chong Hak.