From Barbie to Warhol, the must-visit major cultural exhibitions

Across the Atlantic

You’ve conquered London, now let’s take New York by storm. An eye-catching exhibition due to open on November 8 (until March 9) at the spiral-shaped Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is Harmony and Dissonance: Orphism in Paris, 1910-1930.

If Orphism has thus far eluded you, take heart that you’re not alone. Expect to encounter a vibrant abstract art movement dating back to the early 1910s “when the innovations brought about by modern life were radically altering conceptions of time and space”, according to the Guggenheim’s definition.

With artists such as Sonia and Robert Delaunay on the bill, it will be colourful. (The pair co-founded the Orphism art movement, noted for its use of strong colours and geometric shapes.)

Still in New York, make a diary note to drop by the Käthe Kollwitz exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, running until July 20. This is the much-loved German artist’s first major retrospective at a New York museum, and Kollwitz (1867-1945) deserves the attention she’s getting for her compassionate drawings, prints and sculptures.

“Focusing on themes of motherhood, grief, and resistance, she brought visibility to the working class and asserted the female point of view as a necessary and powerful agent for change,” MoMA says in its exhibition notes.

If you like a good art fair, the Armory Show takes place in New York from September 6-8.

Finally, don’t miss the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Siena: the Rise of Painting, 1300-50 from October 13 until January 26. The Met is a bottomless cup of art treasures, so be selective, or risk ending up swamped.

Heading south for a spot of bleisure and sun, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) has Simone Leigh on show from May 26 until January 20 – the first major retrospective for the 1967-born artist from Chicago who now works in New York.

It features about 20 years of Leigh’s production in ceramic, bronze, video and installation, as well as works from her 2022 Venice Biennale presentation.

Leigh’s work is concerned with the marginalisation of women of colour, and she was named as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2023.

At the Getty in LA, the exhibition Ultra-Violet: New Light on Van Gogh’s Irises (October 1 until January 19) examines this masterpiece from the perspective of modern science, including how light has irrevocably changed some of the colours in Irises.

Europe’s great cities

Heading over to the European continent, maybe you’re in Paris for some Olympic corporate hospitality or the fashion shows. If you’re flying soon, you’ll have time to catch the Centre Pompidou’s exhibition Brâncuși (on until July 1). The Romanian-born sculptor Constantin Brâncuși worked in Paris and this exhibition features his artworks as well as a meticulous recreation of his studio.

From May 29 to November 4, the Pompidou is also offering an exhibition exploring the French love of comic books titled Bande Dessinée: 1964-2024, which includes Hergé’s beloved Tintin series. Overlapping that show is Surrealism: the Centenary Exhibition, from September 4 to January 13.

The Fondation Louis Vuitton is another must-see museum in Paris with its newly opened twin exhibitions on show until September 9.

Matisse, The Red Studio features the titular artwork by French artist Henri Matisse, alongside the surviving six paintings, three sculptures and one ceramic depicted in it.

The other Louis Vuitton exhibition, Ellsworth Kelly: Shapes and Colours, 1949-2015, features more than 100 works by the great American abstract artist including paintings, drawings, photographs and collage.

And of course there’s the Louvre, with its 500,000 cultural artefacts. Across the Seine, the Musée d’Orsay is devoting an exhibition to a famous 19th-century French painter, with Gustave Caillebotte Painting Men showing from October 8 to January 19.

Finally, visit Paris+ par Art Basel, a modern and contemporary art fair in the splendid Grand Palais from October 18-20.

If you’re starting to wilt, please, stay strong. Germany is the economic powerhouse of Europe, so we must touch down briefly in Berlin where Andy Warhol: Velvet Rage and Beauty is on at the Neue Nationalgalerie from June 9 to October 6.

In Frankfurt – one of Europe’s busiest airports – you’ll find the City of Women Photographers on at the Historisches Museum from May 29 until September 22. Featured photographers include Ella Bergmann-Michel, Gisèle Freund, Ilse Bing and Abisag Tüllmann.

Finally, the Venice Biennale is on until November 24, but true to its title there will be Foreigners Everywhere.

En route back home, if you’re stopping over in Hong Kong, the city’s enormous M+ museum is a major drawcard. Its forthcoming exhibition I.M. Pei: Life is Architecture (June 29 to January 31) celebrates the man behind such flights of the imagination as the Louvre Pyramid and the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar.

The National Museum of Korea, Seoul, is holding the 15th Gwangju Biennale from September 7 until December 1. In Bangkok, the Bangkok Art Biennale will be on from October 24 until February 25. So you might require a few sneaky side-trips across Asia before touching down finally in Australia and returning to routine in the C-Suite.