SOME OF THE YEAR’S MOST NOTABLE OFFERINGS INCLUDE SHOWS DEVOTED TO ROMAN SCULPTURE, INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIAN ART AND AMERICAN ARTIST RUTH ASAWA
By Andrew Nodell
The beginning of each new year offers an opportunity for growth and discovery. What better way to enhance your worldview than through the eyes of artists and museum curators across an array of cultures and eras? Much-anticipated exhibitions will open this year around the globe, offering curious minds the opportunity to experience the groundbreaking nude portraits of French painter Suzanne Valadon, a century of Black figuration through the lens of Cameroonian-born curator Koyo Kouoh and rarely seen Roman-era marbles on display in North America, to name a few. Here we highlight some of the many thought-provoking exhibitions opening around the world in 2025, so mark your calendars and expand your mind.
Anselm Kiefer, ‘Innenraum,’ 1981. Oil, acrylic and paper on canvas, the artist, 287.5 × 311 cm. Collection Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam.
Anselm Kiefer: Sag mir wo die blumen sind
Stedelijk Museum and Van Gogh Museum
Amsterdam
For the first time, these Dutch institutions are teaming up to present works by contemporary German painter Anselm Kiefer (b. 1945). Titled Sag mir wo die blumen sind – and inspired by the 1955 Pete Seeger protest song “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” – the exhibition presents never-before-seen works alongside other highlights from the artist’s 60-year career and includes a 24-meter-long spatial work that encompasses the Stedelijk’s grand staircase. Kiefer has been influenced by the work of Vincent van Gogh since childhood, and this exhibition juxtaposes works by both artists. Visitors to the exhibition will have access to both museums under one ticket. March 7-June 9; stedelijk.nl
Ruth Asawa, Untitled (S.046a-d, Hanging Group of Four, Two-Lobed Forms), 1961. Collection of Diana Nelson and John Atwater, promised gift to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. © 2025 Ruth Asawa Lanier, Inc./Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, courtesy David Zwirner. Photo: Laurence Cuneo.
Ruth Asawa: Retrospective
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Beginning in April, SFMOMA will present the first posthumous and first major national and international museum retrospective of Ruth Asawa (1926-2013). With more than 300 works arranged chronologically, the exhibition will offer an in-depth look at the California-born artist, whose groundbreaking output stretched across disciplines, including sculptures, design objects and paintings. From her signature hanging looped-wire sculptures to a gallery devoted to her Noe Valley home and studio, the expansive exhibition offers organic forms inspired by Asawa’s affinity for nature along with works by artists she admired, from Josef Albers and Ray Johnson to Peggy Tolk-Watkins and Marguerite Wildenhain. April 5-September 2; sfmoma.org
Kerry James Marshall, ‘School of Beauty, School of Culture,’ 2012. Acrylic and glitter on unstretched canvas, 274.3 x 401.3 cm. Collection of the Birmingham Museum of Art, Alabama. © Kerry James Marshall. Photo: Sean Pathasema. Image courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.
Kerry James Marshall: The Histories
Royal Academy of Arts
London
This 70-work survey of the American painter Kerry James Marshall (b. 1955), whose canvases play on Western art movements and are filled with allegorical Black figuration, is the largest in the UK to date. The grouping of works was inspired by the artist and professor’s own experiences, art historical styles and current culture. Organized by theme, the exhibition includes works made specially for the show alongside Marshall’s 2003 sculpture Wake, which evolves each time it is presented. September 20-January 18, 2026; royalacademy.org.uk
Mick Wallangkarri Tjakamarra (Kukatja/Ngalia), ‘Old Man’s Dreaming on Death or Destiny,’ 1972. Synthetic polymer paint on composition board. Overall: 60.9 x 45.7 cm (24 x 18 in.). National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, purchased through The Art Foundation of Victoria with the assistance of North Broken Hill Ltd, Fellow, 1987. © The Estate of Mick Wallangkarri Tjakamarra, licensed by Aboriginal Artists Agency/Copyright Agency, Australia.
The Stars We Do Not See: Australian Indigenous Art
National Gallery of Art
Washington, D.C.
Encompassing more than 200 works by more than 130 Indigenous Australian artists, The Stars We Do Not See is poised to be the largest international exhibition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art ever presented. Curated by the National Gallery of Victoria specifically for North American audiences, the exhibition features multigenerational works that explore key moments in the development of Indigenous Australian art dating from pre-British colonization to artists of today. October 18-March 1, 2026; nga.gov
Suzanne Valadon, ‘La Chambre bleue,’ 1923. Huile sur toile, 90 × 116 cm. Don Joseph Duveen, 1926. Paris, Centre Pompidou, Musée national d’art moderne, LUX.1506 P, en dépôt au musée des Beaux-Arts de Limoges. Photo: Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI/Jacqueline Hyde/Dist. GrandPalaisRmn.
Suzanne Valadon
Centre Pompidou
Paris
Born Marie-Clémentine Valadon (1865-1938), the self-taught artist started her career as a model for Impressionist masters including Berthe Morisot, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, who nicknamed her “Suzanne” after the biblical story Susanna and the Elders because of her propensity to pose for older artists. Not settling to spend her career as simply a muse for her male counterparts, Valadon became an acclaimed painter in her own time and was the first European woman to present a full-length male nude portrait at exhibition. This monograph showcases nearly 200 works from various national collections and features both male and female nudes in a straightforward way that illustrates the artist’s pioneering and free-natured vision of reality. Through May 26; centrepompidou.fr
Portrait of Hadrian, about 130 CE. Roman, Imperial Period. Torlonia Collection. © Torlonia Foundation. Photo by Lorenzo De Masi.
Myth and Marble: Ancient Roman Sculpture from the Torlonia Collection
Art Institute of Chicago, Kimbell Art Museum and Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
For the first time, a grouping of 58 rarely seen Italian marbles from the Torlonia Collection are hopping across the pond for a tour of North America beginning in March. Many of the statues, which depict gods and goddesses alongside portraits of emperors, date from the 5th century BC to the early 4th century AD and have not been seen publicly for more than 70 years. Assembled in the 19th century by Prince Giovanni Torlonia (1754-1829) and his son Prince Alessandro (1800-1886) and dubbed “the collection of collections,” these newly cleaned, conserved and studied works offer a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for North American audiences to have a face-to-face interaction with these impressive examples from antiquity. The North American tour begins at the Art Institute of Chicago before venturing to the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, and on to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts next year. March 15-June 29; artic.edu. September 14-January 25, 2026; kimbellart.org. March 14, 2026-July 19, 2026; mbam.qc.ca
Still from ARoS Exhibition Programme 2025 launch. Photo: Mads Smidstrup © ARoS, 2024.
The Dome, a Skyspace by James Turrell
ARoS
Aarhus, Denmark
As part of a major reimagining, ARoS, the oldest Danish art museum outside of Copenhagen, is launching a permanent installation by American artist James Turrell (b. 1943), who is best known for his work in the Light and Space movement. After 10 years of development, this year will see the opening of The Dome, a Skyspace, an unparalleled visual experience that extends 16 meters in height and 40 meters in diameter and allows visitors to explore their relationship to the sky above seen through a central aperture. ARoS describes the installation as “a collective experience driven by light and the poetry of seasons,” with the sky and natural light offering a continually changing sensory event throughout the year. Permanent installation; aros.dk
Zéh Palito, ‘Que Se Chama Amor,’ 2022. Acrylic on canvas. Courtesy the artist, Simões de Assis. © Courtesy of the artist.
When We See Us: A Century of Black Figuration in Painting
Bozar
Brussels
Assembled by Koyo Kouoh and her team at the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa in Cape Town, When We See Us centers on themes such as sensuality, joy, spirituality and emancipation as seen through the eyes of artists from Africa and its diaspora over the course of the past century. Inspired by Ava DuVernay’s 2019 Netflix series When They See Us, which centers on the 1989 Central Park jogger case, Kouoh – who was recently named curator of the 2026 Venice Biennale – has gathered approximately 150 works by 120 artists. Here DuVernay’s title has been changed to reflect Black self-representation through figuration from the 1920s to the present day. February 7-August 10; bozar.be
In-progress installation of Arts of the Ancient Americas Galleries in the Michael C. Rockefeller Wing, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Image by Paula Lobo.
Reopening of the Michael C. Rockefeller Wing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
New York City
The Met’s collection of art from the peoples of sub-Saharan Africa, Oceania and the ancient Americas is getting a new home after being off view since 2021. Opening this spring, the newly reimagined galleries designed by architect Kulapat Yantrasast will showcase more than 1,800 works spanning five continents and a multitude of cultures. Highlights include monumental artworks from the island of New Guinea, a 12th-century fired-clay figure shaped in Mali’s Inner Niger Delta and a new gallery devoted to ancient American textiles and featherwork. Opening May 2025; metmuseum.org
Header images, from left:
1. Ruth Asawa and Bruce Sherman, Untitled (S.100, Hanging Tied-Wire, Double-Sided, Open-Center, Six-Petaled Form with Stained Glass), ca. 1978. Private collection. © 2025 Ruth Asawa Lanier, Inc./Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, courtesy David Zwirner; photo courtesy Ruth Asawa Lanier, Inc.
2. Ruth Asawa, Untitled (S.427, Hanging Single-Lobed, Five-Layered Continuous Form within a Form), 1953. Collection of Don Kaul and Barbara Bluhm-Kaul, Chicago. © 2025 Ruth Asawa Lanier, Inc./Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, courtesy David Zwirner. Photo: Maris Hutchinson, courtesy David Zwirner.
3. Ruth Asawa, Untitled (S.451, Wall-Mounted Tied-Wire, Open-Center, Six-Branched Form Based on Nature), ca. 1965. Private collection. © 2025 Ruth Asawa Lanier, Inc./Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, courtesy David Zwirner; photo courtesy David Zwirner.
ANDREW NODELL is a contributor to Intelligent Collector.