6 Art Exhibitions to Discover This Fall

While some travelers prioritize sightseeing tours or dining reservations, art lovers often dive into museum schedules searching for Matisse or Michelangelo. Here, we've curated six exciting exhibits from around the globe, covering themes like the parallels between Joan Mitchell and Claude Monet, as well as Korean contemporary art in a postcolonial context.

1. "Upcoming Highlights: The John Waters Collection"

• Location: Baltimore, Maryland
• Admission: free access

It’s been four years since John Waters last showcased an art exhibit at the Baltimore Museum of Art, where the acclaimed filmmaker presented his humorous yet insightful collection of photographs, prints, videos, and sculptures. This fall, the Baltimore native will unveil his personal art collection, featuring 90 works—including paintings, sculptures, prints, and photos—by renowned artists such as Andy Warhol, Cindy Sherman, and Tadashi Kawamata, many of whom are his friends. Upcoming Highlights runs from November 20 to April 16, 2023, presenting a selection from Waters’s nearly 400 artworks that he gifted to the BMA, where he serves as a trustee, all on display for the first time.

2. “Van Gogh in America”

• Location: Detroit, Michigan
• Admission: $7 to $29, free for members

A wave of immersive art exhibitions worldwide celebrating Vincent van Gogh underscores the public's lasting fascination with the Dutch post-Impressionist, 122 years after his passing. The latest showcase, Van Gogh in America, at the Detroit Institute of Art, presents 74 of his masterpieces (this is not an immersive light experience) and marks the centennial of the museum's first van Gogh acquisition. The exhibit unfolds across nine galleries, featuring iconic pieces like Starry Night, created during his time in an asylum in Provence, and The Bedroom, which portrays the artist's own sleeping quarters in Arles. This exhibition began on October 2 and will be open until January 22, 2023.

3. “Monet-Mitchell”

• Location: Paris, France
• Admission: 5 to 16 euros, free for journalists, critics, and individuals with disabilities; 32 euros for a family of two adults and up to four children; reservations required

American artist Joan Mitchell, born in 1925—just a year before the death of French impressionist Claude Monet—shared a deep interest in the interplay of light and color in French landscapes. This theme is central to the Monet-Mitchell exhibition, which runs until February 27, 2023, at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris. Featuring 60 pieces from both artists, the show showcases their abstract interpretations reflecting their emotions and memories of the natural world. Additionally, a retrospective of Joan Mitchell’s work, showcasing 50 pieces, is touted as the largest of its kind in Europe in over 30 years.

4. “Jean-Michel Basquiat: King Pleasure”

• Location: New York City
• Admission: $32 for adults, $30 for seniors, and $25 for children (ages 3–13); timed entry tickets required

Interest in the late neo-expressionist artist Jean-Michel Basquiat has surged in popular culture. A play and a film currently in the works, The Collaboration, portrays his friendship with pop artist Andy Warhol, while the Gap features T-shirts showcasing his street art-inspired works. For a closer look at his artistry, fans can visit an exhibit in Chelsea displaying 200 rarely or never-before-seen paintings, drawings, and multimedia works. Organized by Basquiat’s family, King Pleasure is named after one of his paintings and a jazz vocalist who was once a bartender. The exhibit runs through January 1, 2023.

5. “The Space Between: The Modern in Korean Art”

• Location: Los Angeles, California
• Admission: prices range from $10 to $25; free for members and children in Los Angeles County

Focusing on the resilience of Korean modern art amidst colonial oppression and the Korean War, The Space Between launched on September 11 and will be open until February 19, 2023, at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The exhibition is divided into five sections, featuring oil paintings, sculptures, and photographs that start with images from the last Korean dynasty in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and culminate with works from contemporary artists who challenged state-sponsored art events.

6. “What’s Going On”

• Location: Washington, D.C.
• Admission: $15 for adults and $10 for youth and students; valid for the entire day

The renowned Rubell Museum in Miami, celebrated as one of the country’s premier contemporary art venues, will inaugurate a second location on October 29 in Washington, D.C. Situated in a historic former high school registered with the National Register of Historic Places, the D.C. museum will showcase 7,400 artworks, along with a bookstore and café. The opening exhibit, What’s Going On, features nearly 200 artworks by Keith Haring, Rashid Johnson, Carrie Mae Weems, Kennedy Yanko, and others, addressing social and political issues in the U.S. The exhibit’s title pays homage to Marvin Gaye’s influential 1971 album that tackled themes such as the Vietnam War, environmental degradation, and social injustices. While museum officials haven’t set an end date for the exhibit, they indicate it will remain at least through 2022.

Art enthusiasts in D.C. can also explore the Peacock Room, which reopened in September following a three-month conservation effort at the National Museum of Asian Art, located less than a mile from the Rubell. Designed by artist James McNeill Whistler, this room was originally a dining space for British shipping magnate Frederick Leyland and features exquisite Chinese blue and white porcelain.