This year, Europe’s leading museums have a standout slate of exhibitions reexamining some of art history’s most influential figures. From Renaissance masters to modern and contemporary icons, these ten shows are defined by rare works, ambitious scholarship, and cultural significance.
1. Cézanne
25 January–25 May at Fondation Beyeler in Basel, Switzerland
Cézanne is Fondation Beyeler’s first-ever exhibition devoted to the modern art pioneer Paul Cézanne. Bringing together approximately 80 oil paintings and watercolors—including still lifes, portraits, landscapes, and bather scenes—the exhibition focuses on the artist’s final years, and how his work helped bridge the gap from Impressionism to Cubism.
2. Yellow. Beyond Van Gogh’s Color
13 February–17 May at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, Netherlands
Centering on the artist’s iconic sunflower still life, Yellow. Beyond Van Gogh’s Color is “the first exhibition to explore what the color yellow meant to Vincent van Gogh and his contemporaries.” Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum uses art, fashion, music, and literature to contextualize the artist’s favorite color. The exhibition also features an immersive yellow light installation by Olafur Eliasson.
3. Tracey Emin
27 February–31 August at Tate Modern in London, UK
This retrospective traces 40 years of contemporary British artist Tracey Emin‘s practice. A multidisciplinary and confessional array of paintings, video, neon, textiles, sculpture, and installation—including the much-discussed and Turner Prize-nominated My Bed—comes together to challenge the boundaries of art.
4. Rothko in Florence
14 March–23 August at Palazzo Strozzi in Florence, Italy
Billed as “one of the most significant exhibitions ever devoted to Mark Rothko,” this showcase was produced specifically for the Palazzo Strozzi. It brings together over 70 works from major international museums and private collections to explore the New York artist’s lesser-known love of Florence.
5. Matisse. 1941–1954
24 March–26 July at Grand Palais in Paris, France
Henri Matisse was nearly 80 years old when he created his first cut-out gouache composition. Matisse. 1941-1954 explores the final years of the iconic modern artist’s career through over 230 works from the Centre Pompidou collection and major international loans, bringing together a significant grouping of these cut-outs, among other multidisciplinary works.
6. Helen Frankenthaler
18 April–23 August at Kunstmuseum Basel in Basel, Switzerland
Bringing together more than 50 works, Helen Frankenthaler is the largest European presentation of the artist’s work to date. Frankenthaler was among he most influential American artists of Abstract Expressionism. She developed a distinctive large-format painting technique, applying diluted paint to absorbent, unprimed canvases laid out on the floor, using sponges, scrapers, bristle brushes, and other tools.
7. Venice Biennale 2026
9 May–22 November in Venice, Italy
The 61st International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale (La Biennale di Venezia) features national pavilions in the Giardini and Arsenale, as well as collateral events across Venice. The event typically features up to 90 countries, represented by national pavilions, for art and architecture exhibitions. The 2026 headline exhibition, In Minor Keys, was conceived by the event’s late artistic director, Koyo Kouoh.
8. James McNeill Whistler
21 May–27 September at Tate Britain in London, UK
The first major European exhibition of James McNeill Whistler‘s work in three decades brings together the artist’s most famous paintings alongside rarely-seen works. It traces the Aesthetic Movement provocateur’s long career, from his teenage years in St. Petersburg to his late London self-portraits.
9. Mary Cassatt: The Choice of Independence
6 October 2026–31 January 2027 at Musée d’Orsay in Paris, France
Marking the 100th anniversary of Mary Cassatt‘s death, this exhibition is the first major showcase of the artist’s work at one of France’s national museums. The Musée d’Orsay explains that Cassatt’s centenary “offers an opportunity to examine the central role of this prominent artist, who, through talent and determination, forged a unique identity in late 19th- and early 20th-century art history.”
10. Van Eyck: The Portraits
21 November 2026–11 April 2027 at the National Gallery in London, UK
For the first time in history, all nine of Jan van Eyck‘s known painted portraits will be exhibited together. The 15th-century Flemish artist, hailed as “the inventor of oil painting,” captured extraordinarily lifelike details and textures, like the minuscule mirror reflection in the Arnolfini Portrait.
Europe’s Must-See Art Exhibitions in 2026
| Exhibition | Dates | Location | Why it’s a must-see |
| Cézanne | 25 Jan–25 May | Fondation Beyeler, Basel | Explores how Cézanne’s late works directly shaped Cubism and modern abstraction |
| Yellow. Beyond Van Gogh’s Color | 13 Feb–17 May | Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam | The first exhibition devoted entirely to Van Gogh’s use of yellow |
| Tracy Emin | 27 Feb–31 Aug | Tate Modern, London | A full career retrospective, including the landmark work My Bed |
| Rothko in Florence | 14 Mar–23 Aug | Palazzo Strozzi, Florence | Places Rothko’s color fields in dialogue with Renaissance Florence |
| Matisse. 1941–1954 | 24 Mar–26 Jul | Grand Palais, Paris | Focuses on the late cut-outs that reinvented Matisse’s art |
| Helen Frankenthaler | 18 Apr–23 Aug | Kunstmuseum Basel, Basel | The largest European exhibition of Frankenthaler’s work to date |
| Venice Biennale 2026 | 9 May–22 Nov | Giardini & Arsenale, Venice | The world’s oldest and most impactful exhibition of global contemporary art |
| James McNeill Whistler | 21 May–27 Sep | Tate Britain, London | The first major European Whistler retrospective in 30 years |
| Mary Cassatt: The Choice of Independence | 6 Oct 2026–31 Jan 2027 | Musée d’Orsay, Paris | Cassatt’s first major exhibition at a French national museum |
| Van Eyck: The Portraits | 21 Nov 2026–11 Apr 2027 | National Gallery, London | A once-in-a-lifetime reunion of all nine surviving Van Eyck portraits |
