peter zumthor's LACMA david geffen galleries to open in april 2026

lacma announces opening of peter zumthor-designed galleries

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is set to open the David Geffen Galleries on April 19th, 2026, marking the completion of a two-decade transformation of its campus. Designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Peter Zumthor, the new building becomes LACMA’s primary home for its permanent collection, introducing 10,220 square meters of exhibition space within a 274-meter-long structure that spans Wilshire Boulevard.

Set on elevated piers, the fluid concrete form of the David Geffen Galleries redefines the presence of the museum in Los Angeles. A network of floating staircases and elevators provides access to the building from both the north and south sides of Wilshire Boulevard. The north wing of the structure, named the Elaine Wynn Wing in recognition of a $50 million donation, anchors the project, while the south wing remains open for future naming.

Rather than organizing works by medium or chronology, the inaugural installation uses the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic Oceans, along with the Mediterranean Sea, as its framework. The approach foregrounds exchange, migration, and commerce across centuries, allowing works from different cultures and eras to coexist without prescribed hierarchies or routes. Approximately 2,500 to 3,000 objects from LACMA’s collection will be on view at any one time.

David Geffen Galleries at LACMA; exterior view from East West Bank Commons southeast toward Wilshire Boulevard with Tony Smith’s Smoke (1967) in foreground, © Tony Smith Estate/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York | image by Iwan Baan

an oceanic framework for the inaugural installation

Forty-five curators have collaborated on the opening installation of the LA-based museum, bringing together works that span 6,000 years of art history. Among the highlights are Georges de La Tour’s The Magdalen with the Smoking Flame (1640), Henri Matisse’s La Gerbe (1953), Antonio de Arellano and Manuel de Arellano’s Virgin of Guadalupe (Virgen de Guadalupe) (1691), Francis Bacon’s Three Studies of Lucian Freud (1969), and Vincent van Gogh’s Tarascon Stagecoach (1888).

The presentation is further expanded through new commissions by Todd Gray, Lauren Halsey, Sarah Rosalena, Do Ho Suh, and Diana Thater, among others. On April 22nd, 2026, Peter Zumthor will join LACMA CEO and Wallis Annenberg Director Michael Govan in conversation on the East West Bank Commons as part of The Genesis Talks. ‘We are excited to be so close to completing the upgrade of the museum campus to increase gallery space and enhance the visitor experience. None of this would have been possible without the generosity and commitment of the County of Los Angeles, our board of trustees, donors, members, neighbors, and artists. We look forward to sharing this reimagined museum experience both with Angelenos and visitors from around the world,’ states Michael Govan, CEO of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Visitors in the David Geffen Galleries with Todd Gray’s Octavia’s Gaze, 2025, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, gift of the 2024 Collectors Committee, © Todd Gray | image © Museum Associates/LACMA, by Jonathan Urban

reconnecting with hancock park

Beyond the galleries, the project extends into 14,164 square meters of newly accessible outdoor space integrated with Hancock Park. The plaza level will host public art installations and educational programming, with works by Mariana Castillo Deball, Pedro Reyes, Sarah Rosalena, Diana Thater, and Shio Kusaka unfolding across spring and summer. Jeff Koons’s Split-Rocker (2000), composed of living plants and flowers, will be installed in the spring.

The reopening also brings back works closely associated with LACMA’s identity, including Tony Smith’s Smoke (1967) and Alexander Calder’s Three Quintains (Hello Girls) (1964), originally commissioned for the Wilshire Boulevard site museum. A 743-square-meter garden along the north side of Wilshire Boulevard will feature Auguste Rodin’s sculptures alongside works by Los Angeles-based artist Liz Glynn.

Amenities on the plaza level will open in phases, with the LACMA Store and LACMA Café debuting in April and the W.M. Keck Education Center launching on May 3rd, 2026, during the NexGenLA celebration.

visitors in the David Geffen Galleries, photo © Museum Associates/LACMA

concluding a twenty-year campus transformation

The April 2026 opening completes a long-term expansion strategy aimed at increasing gallery space while maintaining public access throughout construction. Earlier phases included the Broad Contemporary Art Museum in 2008 and the Lynda and Stewart Resnick Exhibition Pavilion in 2010, together adding approximately 9,290 square meters of space. With the David Geffen Galleries, LACMA’s total exhibition area reaches approximately 20,440 square meters, up from about 12,080 square meters in 2007.

Located at 5905 Wilshire Boulevard, LACMA holds more than 150,000 objects and remains the largest art museum in the western United States. The David Geffen Galleries reposition the institution physically and conceptually, framing Los Angeles not only as a site of display but as a lens through which global art histories intersect.

set on elevated piers | image by Iwan Baan