12 Must-See Exhibitions Around the World this Winter

United States

Museum of the City of New York, New York
“Art in the Open: 50 Years of Public Art in New York”
November 10, 2017–May 13, 2018

Presenting sketches, models, and photos, this survey explores New York’s best-known public-art projects, from Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s 2005 Gates in Central Park to Kara Walker’s 2014 sugar-coated sphinx in Brooklyn. mcny.org

Kara E. Walker’s A Subtlety, or the Marvelous Sugar Baby, at the Domino Sugar Refining Plant in Brooklyn, New York, 2014. Photo: Jason Wyche. Courtesy of Sikkema Jenkins & Co., New York. © 2014 Kara Walker

Museum of Modern Art, New York
“Stephen Shore”
November 19, 2017–May 28, 2018

The first U.S. retrospective of the celebrated American photographer’s career reveals the unique way he looked at and documented the world. Highlights include his iconic “American Surfaces” series from the 1970s. moma.org

Stephen Shore, Merced River, Yosemite National Park, California, August 13, 1979. Photo: Courtesy of the Museum of Modern Art, New York. © 2017 Stephen Shore

Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia
“Kiefer Rodin”
November 17, 2017–March 12, 2018

German artist Anselm Kiefer casts Auguste Rodin in a new light with works that use discarded molds and debris from the studio of the French sculptor, who’s represented by pieces never shown in the U.S. barnesfoundation.org

Left: Anselm Kiefer, Auguste Rodin : The Cathedrals of France, 2016. Right: Auguste Rodin, Meditation Without Arms, but with Left Knee, large version, circa 1900. Photo: Left: Georges Poncet. Right: Christian Baraja .Courtesy of the Musée Rodin

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
“Michelangelo: Divine Draftsman & Designer”
November 13, 2017–February 12, 2018

Offering rare insight into the master draftsman’s creative process, this blockbuster brings together 133 drawings, his first known painting, and a monumental cartoon for his last fresco in the Vatican. metmuseum.org

Michelangelo, The Archers, 1530-33. Photo: Courtesy of the Royal Trust Collection/ Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale, Florida
“Frank Stella: Experiment and Change”
November 12, 2017–July 8, 2018

Some 300 artworks trace Stella’s boundary-pushing 60-year trajectory, from his iconic 1950s black paintings to his massive, vividly hued wall sculptures of today. nsuartmuseum.org

Frank Stella, WWRL, 1967. Photo: Jason Wyche. Courtesy of Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. © 2017 Frank Stella

Peabody Essex Museum, Massachusetts
“Georgia O’Keeffe: Art, Image, Style”
December 16, 2017–April 1, 2018

This exhibition explores how O’Keeffe’s approach to fashion and interiors was as bold as her artmaking, presenting her handmade garments and husband Alfred Stieglitz’s intimate photographs of her alongside her paintings. pem.org

Tony Vaccaro, Georgia O’Keeffe with “Pelvis Series, Red with Yellow” and the desert, 1960. Photo: Tony Vaccaro studio. Courtesy of Georgia O’Keeffe Museum

Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minnesota
“Power and Beauty in China’s Last Dynasty”
February 1, 2018–May 27, 2018

Avant-garde stage designer Robert Wilson re-creates the opulence and drama of the Qing court (1644–1912) in this special installation of the museum’s impressive collection of rare jades, lacquer works, paintings, and costumes. artsmia.org

Jade Mountain Illustrating the Gathering of Scholars at the Lanting Pavilion Qing dynasty, Qianlong period, dated 1790, green jade. Photo: Courtesy of the Minneapolis Institute of Art

Europe

Musée Picasso, Paris
“Picasso 1932”
October 10, 2017–February 11, 2018

This focused exhibition dives deep into Picasso’s most prolific year, when he painted a sensual series of bathers as well as voluptuous, color-saturated portraits of his mistress, Marie-Thérèse Walter. The highly anticipated show travels to London’s Tate Modern in the spring. museepicassoparis.fr

Pablo Picasso, Nude in a Black Armchair (Nu au fauteuil noir), 1932. Photo: Courtesy of Succession Picasso/DACS London 2017

Tate Modern, London
“Modigliani”
November 23, 2017–April 2, 2018

The full range of Amedeo Modigliani’s brief career is represented by more than 100 works—including 12 of his iconic nudes (some from his first solo show, in 1917, which was shuttered for indecency). A novel virtual-reality component immerses visitors in early-20th-century Paris. tate.org.uk

Amedeo Modigliani, Jeanne Hébuterne, 1919. Photo: Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Tate Modern

Other regions

ArtScience Museum, Singapore
“Treasures of the Natural World”
November 25, 2017–April 29, 2018

Some 200 fascinating objects hand-selected from London’s Natural History Museum are artfully arrayed in ten floating galleries at this lotus-inspired museum. marinabaysands.com

The ‘cursed’ amethyst originally owned by Edward Heron Allen is one of the treasures on display at the museum in Singapore. Photo: Courtesy of the Natural History Museum, London

Mori Art Museum, Tokyo
“Leandro Erlich: Seeing and Believing”
November 18, 2017–April 1, 2018

The Argentine artist known for his brilliant, visually confounding illusions is the subject of this 40-work exhibition. mori.art.museum

Leandro Erlich, Swimming Pool, 1999. Photo: Courtesy of the Mori Art Museum

The Latin American Art Museum of Buenos Aires, Argentina
“Modern Mexico: Avant-Garde and Revolution”
November 3, 2017–February 19, 2018

This show of more than 170 pieces explores Mexico’s progressive modernism through the work of such celebrated
artists as Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, and José Clemente Orozco. malba.org.ar

Frida Kahlo’s two-part work, Fulang Chang and I, 1937. Photo: Courtesy of D.F. / ARS, New York / SAVA, Buenos Aires. © 2017 Banco de México Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust.