Exhibitions to visit in Europe in 2026

Eight of the most exciting art exhibitions organized in Europe in 2026 center on names like Paul Cézanne at the Fondation Beyeler, Henri Matisse at the Grand Palais and Mark Rothko in Florence.

Cézanne, Bayler Foundation

Some 80 oil paintings and watercolors by Paul Cézanne from private and institutional collections are on display from January 25 to May 25 at the Fondation Bayler in Basel.

After the exhibition “EY: Cezanne” at the Tate Modern, which opened in 2022, and “Cézanne at the Jas de Bouffan”, which opened in summer 2025 in the artist’s hometown of Aix-en-Provence, the Fondation Beyeler in Basel is organizing a monographic exhibition dedicated to the French master in 2026.

The exhibition focuses on the last phase of Cézanne’s career, when his artistic power reached its peak in the works created in his studio in the south of France, including landscapes of Provence and the Montagne Sainte-Victoire.

“Yellow. Beyond Van Gogh’s Favourite Color” at the Van Gogh Museum

“Yellow. Beyond Van Gogh’s Favourite Colour” can be seen at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam from February 13 to May 17.

The color yellow has a special place in late 19th-century aesthetics. Vincent van Gogh developed his own obsession with it. His sunflower series celebrates its varied appearance in nature. The painter captured the sharp, celestial flowers in shades of gold and mustard because, according to his artist friend Emile Bernard, yellow was his favorite color, “the symbol of light that he sought in people’s hearts as well as in works of art”.

The exhibition uses Van Gogh’s sunflowers as a starting point to explore the essence of yellow, explores art, fashion, music and literature around 1900, and includes a light installation by contemporary artist Olafur Eliasson.

“The First Homosexuals”, Kunstmuseum Basel

Adapted after the 2025 exhibition at Wrightwood 659 in Chicago, “The First Homosexuals: The Birth of a New Identity, 1869 – 1939″ in Basel will feature about 100 works – including paintings, sculptures, works on paper and photographs – tracing the period between the 1860s, when the term “homosexual” first appeared in the German-speaking world, and the 1930s, when the vibrant queer subcultures of Weimar Germany were eliminated by the Third Reich.

The exhibition in Basel runs from March 7 to August 2, 2026.

“Rothko in Florence”, Palazzo Strozzi

Abstract expressionist artist Mark Rothko’s intimate relationship with Florence and the influence of Italian artistic traditions on his practice are highlighted in the exhibition “Rothko in Florence” at Palazzo Strozzi from March 14 to August 23.

Curated by his son, Christopher Rothko, and Elena Geuna, the retrospective traces Rothko’s career through more than 70 works from the 1930s to the 1960s, examining the influence of Italian art in different periods – from the Renaissance spatial construction and figurative approaches of his early works to ethereal paintings in fields of color that evoke a sense of transcendence reminiscent of the divine representations of the Italian masters.

In 1950, Mark Rothko first arrived in Florence with his wife Mell on a trip to Italy. There, he discovered Fra Angelico’s frescoes in San Marco and Michelangelo’s vestibule of the Laurentian Medici Library. Rothko was fascinated by these masterpieces, the latter inspiring him to create the “Seagram” murals in the late 1950s. He returned to Florence for a second time in 1966.

The exhibition includes two satellite projects at the Museo di San Marco and the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana.

“Matisse: 1941 – 1954”, Grand Palais

The Grand Palais, in collaboration with the Pompidou Center, is exhibiting more than 230 of Henri Matisse’s works from 1941 to 1954, when the artist was undergoing surgery for cancer.

Matisse died in 1954, aged over 80, and left behind a legacy that included paintings, drawings, illustrated books, textiles and stained-glass windows.

Among the remarkable works on display are monumental panels, ink and ink drawings, Matisse’s artist’s book “Jazz” and some of his exceptional cut-outs: “La Tristesse du roi”, “Zulma”, “La Danseuse créole” and “Nus bleus”.

The exhibition runs from March 24 to July 26.

“Maria Lassnig and Edvard Munch: Painting Flow = Life Flow”, Hamburger Kunsthalle

An exhibition focusing on artists Maria Lassnig and Edvard Munch is hosted by the Hamburg Art Museum from March 27 to August 30.

The two were born more than half a century apart – Lassnig in Germany in 1919, working in Austria, and Munch in Norway in 1863 – but they are united by their expressive approach to their medium. Munch’s best-known images are depictions of loneliness and existential anxiety, while Lassnig’s figures often suggest a deep discomfort with his own body. Both artists manipulated color to convey feeling and privileged the representation of sensation over any kind of realism.

The title of the exhibition, “The flow of painting = the flow of life”, comes from a painting by Lassnig and, according to the presentation, indicates “the inseparable link between art and life”. The museum thus aims to integrate the dramatic biographies of these artists. None of them ever married, and their practices demonstrate both a deep, introspective reflection and a tension between independence and a desire to connect.

Lee Miller, Museum of Modern Art Paris

An exhibition of works by photographer Lee Miller is on show from April 3 to June 26 at the Museum of Modern Art in Paris.

Throughout her life, she accepted new challenges. Her years at Vogue were replaced by surreal explorations of the body in collaboration with her then-boyfriend Man Ray. Miller continued to shoot street photography in Paris and documented the timeless beauty of Egypt and Syria. Just as she was beginning to be recognized as an acclaimed artist, defying gender expectations, she became a leading photojournalist during World War II. Her images from Nazi concentration camps remain crucial historical documents.

This retrospective opened at Tate Britain, before moving on to the Musée d’Art Moderne in Paris.

“Van Eyck: The Portraits”, National Gallery London

All the portraits painted by Jan van Eyck (c. 1390 – 1441) will be exhibited together for the first time in history at the National Gallery in London, starting in the fall of 2026.

Portraiture as we know it today begins with Jan van Eyck, say experts. His vision and talent launched painting into a new era of unparalleled realism.

The 2026 exhibition, entitled ‘Van Eyck: The Portraits’, brings together all nine known portraits painted by the artist from all over Europe, representing half of his works from around the world.

The Brukenthal National Museum in Sibiu is in discussions with the National Gallery in London regarding the loan of the work “The Man in the Blue Beret” (ca. 1430). In a curatorial response, Raluca Maria Teodorescu, interim manager of the museum, said: “We are currently discussing the possibility of the requested loan. The related procedures are being carried out according to international regulations and standards on inter-museum loans”.

As for insurance for the transport and exhibition of the cultural asset, this will be paid for by the organizers, Teodorescu added. “The value of this insurance is confidential, in accordance with internal procedures and heritage security regulations.”

The exhibition will run from November 21, 2026 to April 11, 2027.