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ver the past several months, we've seen our world change exponentially. But throughout the turmoil, the value of art and the mission of museums remained paramount. Now, select museums around the world are once again welcoming visitors to experience in-person exhibitions safely. Highlights include an exhibition on the legacy and impact of contemporary artist Yayoi Kusama's genius, presented by the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, a retrospective on Andy Warhol at Tate Modern and artist Elizabeth Peyton's inaugural solo exhibition in China.
There are some changes in place to ensure safety; in many locations, visitors are asked to wear masks and follow regional health guidelines. Please note that the exhibition dates and visitor guidelines may be subject to change.
Beijing
Elizabeth Peyton, Irises and Klara, Commerce St., 2012, Oil on panel, 61.5 × 46 cm, Roman Family Collection. Courtesy of UCCA.
On 15 August, UCCA Beijing opens Elizabeth Peyton: Practice. This exhibition, the artist’s first solo show in China, features drawings and paintings from her thirty-year career, with a particular focus on new work from the past decade.
William Kentridge: KABOOM! opens in November at the ICA, and Virgil Abloh: "Figures of Speech," in July 2021. "Figures of Speech" has travelled to the MCA, Chicago and High Museum as its first stops.
Chicago
Claude Monet. Stacks of Wheat (End of Summer), 1890/91. The Art Institute of Chicago, Gift of Arthur M. Wood, Sr. in memory of Pauline Palmer Wood. painting-easel
Monet and Chicago opens 5 September and closes in January 2021. From the 1880s on, Chicago welcomed the “Father of Impressionism” with open arms; as The Chicago Daily Tribune asked in 1888 “Why go to Paris since Paris has come to Chicago?” (Monet at Sotheby's in 2019 and Monets exhibited @ AIC)
In June 2021, and on loan from the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, The Obama Portraits arrive in Chicago for the first stop of a five-city tour. Included are acclaimed portraits Kehinde Wiley’s painting of President Barack Obama and Amy Sherald’s portrait of First Lady Michelle Obama. The Obama Portraits' second stop will be the Brooklyn Museum, in August 2021.
Denver and Aspen
Norman Rockwell (1894-1978), The Problem We All Live With, 1963. Oil on canvas, 36” x 58”. Illustration for Look, January 14, 1964. Collection of Norman Rockwell Museum.
Dia Bridgehampton, Bridgehampton, New York. Credit: Bill Jacobson Studio, New York, Courtesy of Dia Art Foundation, New York.
Dia Bridgehampton – and the Madoo Conservancy – are open and welcoming visitors. Dia Bridgehampton is open from Saturday and Sunday, 12–6 pm, and Madoo, by appointment for groups of 10 or less. At Dia Bridgehampton, view “Jill Magid,” open since 25 July, a yearlong installation of new work by the conceptual artist, writer and filmmaker, which interrogates structures of power. While in East Hampton, visit Sotheby's East Hampton, a constantly refreshed and evolving edit of works of art, design and luxury, in a gallery open daily from 11 am–6 pm.
London
Michael Clark in Because We Must, 1987. Credit: Photograph by Richard Haughton. Richard Haughton
In London, the National Gallery is open for “Titian: Love, Desire and Death,” which will close on the 17th of January 2021. It has been lauded as: “An unmissable, five-star exhibition.” Later in the year, the National Gallery will present “Artemisia,” a blockbuster show sponsored by Sotheby’s on 17th-century female artist Artemisia Gentileschi, who challenged conventions and defied expectations to become one of the greatest storytellers of her time. This first retrospective of Artemisia’s work in the UK opens on 3 October 2020 and will close on the 24 January 2021.
At Tate Modern, “Andy Warhol,” a major retrospective on the artist who embraced consumerism, celebrity and the counter culture becoming an American icon, is open until the 15th of November. Later on, still at Tate Modern, “Bruce Nauman” will open on 7 October 2020 and will close the 21st of February 2021. And at Tate Britain, “Turner’s Modern World” will open on 28 October 2020 and will close the 7th of March 2021.
At the Barbican, one can look forward to “Michael Clark, Cosmic Dancer.” This first major exhibition of legendary dancer and choreographer Michael Clark, which was commended by the Sotheby’s Prize, will open on 7 October 2020 and will close on 3 January 2021.
At the V&A, “Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk,” an exhibition that presents the kimono as a dynamic, evolving artifact in fashion will open on 27 August 2020 and will close on 25 October 2020.
Paris
Musée de l'Orangerie, Paris
In Paris, Musée Picasso presents “Picasso Poet,” which runs until the 3rd of January 2021. The show examines an unknown aspect of Picasso’s work by showing the importance of his writing in his creative process.
At the Musée de l’Orangerie, one can look forward to the exhibition “Giorgio de Chirico,” featuring the artist’s metaphysical paintings. It will open on 16 September 2020 and will close on 14 December 2020.
Similar to Musée de l’Orangerie, one can mark their calendars for exhibitions at the Musée du Luxembourg and Centre Pompidou. The Musée du Luxembourg will present “Man Ray and Fashion” on 23 September 2020, which will close on the 17th of January 2021. And at the Centre Pompidou, the exhibition “Matisse, Comme un Roman” will open on 21 October 2020 and close on 22 of February 2021.
If you happen to be in the South of France this summer, a myriad of museum exhibitions awaits you. At the Musée Matisse in Nice, “Matisse Métamorphoses” is open until the 20th of September 2020. Also in Nice, MAMAC is presenting a new display of its collections – nearly 200 major works from 1960 and beyond will be on display.
At Château La Coste, Conrad Shawcross’s solo exhibition “Escalations” is on view, featuring works by the artist spread across the museum’s magnificent grounds. To discover more on the exhibition and the artist’s continued relationship with geometry and philosophy, tune into the recent Sotheby's Summer Talk with Conrad Shawcross, Zoé Whitley, Director of the Chisenhal Gallery and Sotheby's specialist Simon Stock.
Lastly, at the Fondation Maeght, “JACQUES MONORY” is currently open until the 22nd of November 2020. This will be the first major solo exhibition of the artist since his passing in October 2018.
Story of an Artistic Style: The Imperial Porcelain with Painted Enamels of Emperor Kangxi is on at the National Palace Museum, open 18 August. Emperor Kangxi's imperial porcelain, and its painted enamel, express distinctive and recognizable features, indicative of it's period of time. Visit the museum, open for visitors, to see the popularized features, including decoration techniques, patterns, and color.
Tokyo
Yayoi Kusama, STARS: Six Contemporary Artists from Japan to the World, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, 2020. Credit: Takayama Kozo. Photo courtesy of Mori Art Museum, Tokyo.
At the Mori Art Museum, STARS: Six Contemporary Artists from Japan to the World presents six artists - Yayoi Kusama, Lee Ufan, Tatsuo Miyajima, Takashi Murakami, Yoshitomo Nara and Hiroshi Sugimoto - whose careers have propelled them beyond the confines of Japan, earning them high acclaim today around the world, and across generations. STARS will trace the journey of these artists from their earliest to the latest works.
Adventures in Monochrome Early Modern Japanese Ink-Wash and Brush-Line Painting at the Nezu Museum will open for visitors. In East Asia, sumi ink, the primary medium for writing, has continued also to be the most important medium for painting, which developed in close association with calligraphy. This exhibition of early modern works from Japan explores the creative potential of sumi ink in fascinating examples of both ink-wash and brush-line paintings. Visit starting 19 September until 3 November. Reserving the entrance tickets in advance is required.
IMPORTANT ART OBJECT, Nagasawa Rosetsu, Red Cliff, Ink and slight color on paper, Pair of six-panel screens, 18th century, Edo period, Japan. Courtesy of the Nezu Museum.
Tri-State Area
Conservatory Pools. Courtesy of the New York Botanical Garden. Marlon Co
At The New York Botanical Garden, hydrangeas, water lilies, lotuses and daylilies can be a welcome respite for New Yorkers. Reopened outdoor areas at NYBG include the Native Plant Garden, Rockefeller Rose Garden, Conservatory Courtyards and more that house the one million plants of NYBG.
One can also look forward to the Hudson Valley MOCA reopening by making an appointment for 15 September 2020.
At the Barnes Foundation just outside of Philly, "Elijah Pierce's America" opens 27 September 2020. It presents the exceptional work of the self-taught woodcarver Elijah Pierce, a first-generation African American born into freedom. His carvings depict remarkable narratives including religious parables, autobiographical scenes and episodes from American politics.
Washington, D.C. and Baltimore
Ryda and Robert H. Levi Sculpture Garden at The Baltimore Museum of Art. Photography by Mitro Hood, Courtesy of the Baltimore Museum of Art.
The Estate, Museum & Gardens at Hillwood is open, and welcoming you back to enjoy the gardens, mansion and special exhibition; plus, the Sculpture Garden at The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) is open though the neighboring galleries aren't. Nestled on nearly three acres, the BMA’s sculpture gardens are home to 33 masterworks of modern and contemporary sculpture ranging from Auguste Rodin’s striding bronze Balzac (1892) to Ellsworth Kelly’s stainless steel arc Untitled (1986).
At the BMA, the highly anticipated exhibition Joan Mitchell is now opening in March 2021. Co-organized with the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), this major retrospective features rarely shown paintings and works on paper from public and private collections in the U.S. and Europe.
Joan Mitchell was well-known during her lifetime as a painter of abstractions, many of them featuring intense bursts of vibrant hues that recall the landscapes upon which they were loosely based. This retrospective will explore the full arc of her artistic practice, from exceptional New York paintings in the early 1950s to majestic, large-scale multi-panel works made in France later in her career. It follows Mitchell's cyclical way of working, in which subjects and gestures appear and resurface years later. Christopher Bedford, the BMA’s director, says Mitchell is “a riveting subject for the present moment.”
The National Museum of Women in the Arts is opened on 1 August, the only major museum in the world solely dedicated to championing women through the arts.