Through September 13
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/noguchi-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\nIsamu Noguchi with plaster model for Contoured Playground (1941) and model for a jungle gym element for Ala Moana Park (circa 1940). Photo courtesy of the Noguchi Museum Archive, \u00a9INFGM\/ARS.<\/p>\n
Although Isamu Noguchi\u2019s practice bore the influences of an itinerant life\u2014from the bark paper and bamboo constructions he encountered in Gifu, Japan, to the treatment of marble<\/a> he learned in Carrara, Italy\u2014the great sculptor was, ultimately, a New Yorker. Beginning in 1922, the city was Noguchi\u2019s on-and-off home for nearly 70 years and, as an exhibition at the Long Island City museum he established shows, he had a great many ideas for it.<\/p>\n Play Mountain was one such idea: a sloped playground the size of a city block that he dreamed of erecting in the middle of Central Park. He pitched it to the Public Works of Art Project in 1934, but was laughed out of the room by none other than Robert Moses. Later installations planned for the United Nations, Riverside Park, and Bronx Zoo would also be scrapped, stories which are told through the models, archival photographs, and dogged correspondence on display at the exhibition. \u2014Richard Whiddington<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n 2. \u201cRaphael: Sublime Poetry<\/a>\u201d at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Raphael, The Virgin and Child with Infant Saint John the; Baptist in a Landscape (The Alba Madonna) around 1509-11. Loaned from National Gallery of Art, Washington. On view in \u201cRaphael: Sublime Poetry\u201d at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on March 28, 2026 in New York. Photo by Liao Pan\/China News Service\/VCG via Getty Images.<\/p>\n In the 1510s, Michelangelo began openly criticizing the hottest painter in Rome for being derivative and employing dozens of assistants to execute his litany of projects. That man was Raffaello di Giovanni Santi\u2014aka Raphael\u2014a precocious talent who had synthesized painterly styles in the late 1400s to become the Vatican\u2019s darling by the age of 25.<\/p>\n Visitors to the Met\u2019s once-in-a-generation show \u201cRaphael: Sublime Poetry\u201d may not share Michelangelo discontents, but through the more than 170 works amassed in New York, they will certainly leave with a fuller sense of the man the Renaissance chronicler Giorgio Vasari called a \u201cmortal god.\u201d The show traces Raphael\u2019s full life, from growing up in Urbino to a middling stint in Florence to his glorious successes at the papal court. Along the way, there were lovers, rivals, oodles of money, and a tragically premature end that, if rumors are to be believed, had Pope Leo X weeping. \u2014R.W.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n 3. \u201cGothic by Design: The Dawn of Architectural Draftsmanship<\/a>\u201d at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Circle of Erwin von Steinbach, Elevation for the Tower of Freiburg Minster (c. 1300). Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg. Photo courtesy of the Met.<\/p>\n Gothic monuments from the Notre-Dame<\/a> to the Cologne Cathedral<\/a> transformed the European skyline from the 12th century, sending complex spires and towers upward in a sign of divine aspiration. Within, rib vaults and pointed arches ensured these structures were airy and light-filled. These intricate designs called on an exacting process that began at the architects\u2019 drawing boards. Often left unseen and overlooked, these drawings and prints are getting the rare spotlight at the Met, in a show that explores Gothic architecture drawings within an art-historical context.<\/p>\n Here, we\u2019ll get a glimpse of more than 90 works\u2014from blueprints and goldsmith works to architectural elements\u2014to highlight the impact of drawing on the development of the Gothic style from the 13th to 16th century. These graphic pieces, gathered from the museum\u2019s collections and a dozen lenders, will be juxtaposed against objects from the era, drawing out the strategies, collaborations, and thinking behind the Gothic building practice. These are themes, said curator Femke Speelberg, that \u201cresonate across time and culture, including identity and legacy building, artistic development and creative exploration, and ingenuity and wit in design.\u201d \u2014Min Chen<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n 4. \u201cMarcel Duchamp<\/a>\u201d at the Museum of Modern Art Museum display of Marcel Duchamp\u2019s Bo\u00eete-en-valise sets in glass cases, positioned before a large black-and-white photograph of the 1942 \u201cFirst Papers of Surrealism\u201d exhibition. Photo by Ben Davis.<\/p>\n It\u2019s astounding that Duchamp hasn\u2019t had an American retrospective in over half a century, considering the fact that this French avant garde artist might be the most cited name<\/a> of our confounding times. MoMA and the Philadelphia Museum of Art organized the last one\u2014and they\u2019ve joined forces on this one, too.<\/p>\n This show\u2019s nine chronological sections span painting and sculpture (including many readymades), plus film, photography, and engrossing ephemera. Most of Duchamp\u2019s most famous works appear, including all three versions of the scandalous Nude Descending a Staircase (1913), the notorious Fountain (1917)\u2014which he took a decade to claim\u2014as well as the mustachioed Mona Lisa in L.H.O.O.Q. (1919).<\/p>\n But, deeper cuts like Duchamp\u2019s paintings aim to humanize the artist and prove there\u2019s still room for revelations, even when it comes to him. Most of all, though, MoMA and the Philadelphia Museum of Art\u2014which will host a fuller edition of the show come October\u2014have constructed an engaging exhibition. Each space inside offers its own universe. Altogether, this just might be the very type of spectacle we can imagine Duchamp would have wanted. \u2014Vittoria Benzine<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n 5. \u201cHujar:Contact<\/a>\u201d at the Morgan Library and Museum Peter Hujar, Self-portraits at 189 Second Avenue, 1974, job 620. Courtesy of Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco and Ortuzar, New York; \u00a9 The Peter Hujar Archive \/ Artists Rights Society (ARS).<\/p>\n In 1947, at the age of 13, Peter Hujar received his first camera and for the next four decades he was rarely without one. \u201cI can express myself only through photography,\u201d he once said. As visitors to the Morgan Library and Museum will discover, Hujar\u2019s stark and atmospheric black-and-white photographs have rather a lot to express.<\/p>\n The Morgan is the holder of more than 5,700 of Hujar\u2019s contact sheets, which the photographer filed with haphazard organization from 1955 until his death of AIDS-related pneumonia in 1987. More than 100 are on show here, images that trace Hujar\u2019s path from studio assistant to intrepid freelancer of the 1960s to fixture of the East Village scene of the 1970s and 1980s. Many contact sheets are marked with ideas about cropping and printing, offering insight into Hujar\u2019s thought process, an avenue recently explored by a memoir of the photographer and his fickle relationship<\/a> with the artist Paul Thek. \u2014R.W.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n 6. \u201cWhitney Biennial<\/a>\u201d at the Whitney Museum of American Art Two works by Carmen de Monteflores in the 2026 Whitney Biennial. Photo by Ben Davis.<\/p>\n Maybe it doesn\u2019t matter if the Whitney Biennial is good\u2014you just have to see it. At 94 years old, it\u2019s America\u2019s longest running survey of domestic art and the blueprint for numerous such shows, a veritable bellwether. But, the Biennial\u2019s also a mirror. I\u2019m not the first writer to notice how much media attention this event gets. I barely saw the art at the opening while catching up with my colleagues.<\/p>\n Two of the Whitney\u2019s in-house curators organized this latest, untitled edition. Critical response overwhelmingly says their work\u2019s \u201cmeh<\/a>.\u201d I would agree that the show feels \u201croomy<\/a>\u201d, but I\u2019m not sure if it\u2019s scared, complicit, or something else.<\/p>\n The last Biennial, \u201cEven Better Than the Real Thing,\u201d organized by Whitney curator Chrissie Iles and independent curator Meg Onli, sparked spirited, disparate responses that harmonized into a rich conversation. Critics called the presentation visually compelling<\/a>, albeit politically toothless<\/a>, despite its stated aims. America doesn\u2019t know what it wants from art.\u00a0This latest edition has beauty and spectacle, too. Go sit with Zach Blas\u2019s techno rites on the ground floor, or Kelly Akashi\u2019s ghostly fireplace Monument (Altadena) (2026)<\/a> on one terrace. If you can\u2019t make it to New York, check out our photos<\/a>. \u2014V.B.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n 7. \u201cAndy Warhol Family Album<\/a>\u201d at the Whitney Museum of American Art Andy Warhol, Andy Warhol and Archie (1973). \u00a9 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. \/ Licensed by Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York<\/p>\n After acquiring his first Polaroid camera in the mid-1960s, Andy Warhol was almost never without the device. With it, he snapped hundreds of thousands of images\u2014of his friends and collaborators, his travels, visitors to his home, down to the most mundane detail of his everyday life. These photos came to fill six albums, a personal archive of sorts for the Pop artist\u2014one of which is emerging at the Whitney, revealing 732 Polaroid images that he shot between 1972 and 1973.<\/p>\n It offers an intimate peek into the artist\u2019s daily routine, as well as his starry circle. His Superstars like Ultra Violet show up, as does his one-time lover Jed Johnson. There are snapshots of Diane Von Furstenberg, Yves Saint Laurent, and Bianca Jagger, and even more of Warhol\u2019s beloved pooch Archie. \u201cSome are gorgeous photographs in their own right; some are basically outtakes,\u201d said curator Roxanne Smith. \u201cTogether they are an intimate, immersive time capsule of this glamorous world of the early 1970s.\u201d \u2014M.C.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n 8. \u201cRuffles & Ribbons: Fashion Plates from the Time of Marie Antoinette<\/a>\u201d at the Frick Gallerie des modes et costumes fran\u00e7ais. 14e Cahier des Costumes Fran\u00e7ais. 8e Suite d\u2019Habillemens \u00e0 la mode. O.80 (ca. 1778). Designed by Pierre-Thomas Le Clerc; engraved by Charles Emmanuel (Jean Baptiste) Patas. Courtesy of the Frick Collection.<\/p>\n In conjunction with the Gainsborough<\/a> show at the Frick, there is a delightful jewel box exhibition of literal fashion plates from the 18th century in \u201cRuffles & Ribbons.\u201d The 24 hand-colored engravings are sourced from the museum\u2019s impressive 370 collection trove from the\u00a0Galleries des modes, which predated the glossy fashion magazines of today. As the title promises, there are gobs of ruffles and ribbons, but also exquisitely detailed dressing gowns, voluptuous hoop skirts, evening jackets, and every kind of sartorial confection imaginable. Beyond showcasing the garments themselves, the engravings are a window to the culture of the time, and the exhibition is organized into sections that delve into everyday informal wear, court dress, mourning attire, and the styles Marie Antoinette herself wore. Check out the show while Thomas Gainsborough is still on view (through May 25), as it\u2019s particularly fun to see the trends that would have made their way over to England and onto the sitters in the artist\u2019s canvases. \u2014Caroline Goldstein<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n 9. \u201cSarah Lucas\u2014VENUS VICTORIA<\/a>\u201d at New Museum OMA\u2019s new building for the New Museum. Photo by Jason Keen, courtesy of the New Museum, New York.<\/p>\n In 2018, the New Museum granted the provocative British artist Sarah Lucas her first Stateside retrospective<\/a>, \u201cAu Naturel\u201d, which introduced American audiences to her phallic-laden automobiles, cigarette toilets, and saucy stocking chairs known as \u201cBunnies.\u201d The relationship is set to continue with the unveiling this May of Venus Victoria, a large-scale work installed in the museum\u2019s new outdoor public plaza. Lucas is the first of five women artists who will receive the $400,000 sculpture prize over the next decade and was chosen by an illustrious all-artist jury comprised of Teresita Fern\u00e1ndez, Joan Jonas, Julie Mehretu, Cindy Sherman, and Kiki Smith.<\/p>\n Venus Victoria opens at the newly expanded<\/a> New Museum, where a renovation led by the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) doubled museum\u2019s footprint to 120,000 square feet. The museum inaugurated its new space with \u201cNew Humans<\/a>,\u201d a dizzying and encyclopedic look at the relationship between technology and the body. \u2014R.W.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n 10. \u201cIris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses<\/a>\u201d at the Brooklyn Museum Iris van Herpen, Labyrinthine Kimono Dress, from the Sensory Seas collection (2020) Photo: David Uzochukwu courtesy of the Brooklyn Museum<\/p>\n This exhibition has traveled from France to Australia, Singapore, and the Netherlands since 2023. What better place for it to land in America than at the Brooklyn Museum, which has demonstrated time and again a distinct capacity for staging bang-up fashion shows<\/a>? Indeed, the institution has chosen a truly exciting candidate for its latest sartorial extravaganza\u2014the 41-year-old Dutch talent Iris van Herpen, who the museum will honor at its annual Brooklyn artists ball the same day this show opens.<\/p>\n Van Herpen has dressed stars like Beyonc\u00e9 and Rosal\u00eda in her signature sculptural silhouettes. These are sometimes flowing, sometimes spiny, but always dramatic\u2014informed by the designer\u2019s foundational years as a dancer. Van Herpen\u2019s clothes draw from nature, too, while also pioneering fashion\u2019s use of high-tech synthetic materials like 3D-printed polyamide, laser cut acrylic, and molded silicone, all of which contribute to her dynamic, futuristic designs.<\/p>\n Some 140 compelling, one-of-a-kind haute couture ensembles anchor this exhibition. Contemporary artworks, high design, and scientific specimens accompany them. The ,useum will contribute fresh pieces from its collection for this engagement, by artists like Japanese ceramicist Fujikasa Satoko and American sculptor Tara Donovan, two of van Herpen\u2019s creative contemporaries. \u2014V.B.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n 11. \u201cYves Saint Laurent and Photography<\/a>\u201d at the International Center of Photography Helmut Newton, Rue Aubriot. Pantsuit worn by Vibeke Knudsen, Fall\/Winter 1975 haute couture collection. Published in Vogue Paris, September 1975 \u00a9 Helmut Newton Foundation, courtesy Helmut Newton Foundation and Fondation Pierre Berg\u00e9 \u2013 Yves Saint Laurent.<\/p>\n Much of how we see the house of Yves Saint Laurent today is down to the designer\u2019s modern imagination\u2014as much as the photographers who immortalized that vision. This show, making its New York debut after opening at the Mus\u00e9e Yves Saint Laurent Paris last year, surveys how photography became central to forging the French label\u2019s image and identity. More than 300 objects created by celebrated photographers are on view, bearing out Saint Laurent\u2019s long and rich relationship with the medium.<\/p>\n The exhibition\u2019s first section brings together a host of fashion photographs by the likes of Guy Bourdin, Cecil Beaton, Richard Avedon, Annie Leibovitz, Helmut Newton, and Andy Warhol, led by a portrait of the designer lensed by Irving Penn in 1957. Some of these images are experimental, others documentary, but all are bold in pushing the bounds of the medium. The second chapter unearths a hoard of archival material from the Mus\u00e9e Yves Saint Laurent Paris, including notebooks, magazines, press clippings, and personal snapshots, that underscore how Saint Laurent used photography to fix even the most ephemeral. \u2014M.C.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n 12. \u201cGreater New York 2026<\/a>\u201d at MoMA PS1 Installation view of Louis Osmosis and Ta\u00edna Cruz in \u201cGreater New York\u201d. Photo by Kris Graves, courtesy of MoMA PS1<\/p>\n American artist Josh Kline\u2019s recent plea<\/a> to diversify America\u2019s art scene beyond New York inadvertently placed an increased emphasis on the sixth edition of the recently opened quinquennial, presenting the work of 53 New York area-based artists in Queens.<\/p>\n At last week\u2019s opening, thrumming with artists, I got the sense that Greater New York offers what the Whitney Biennial promises. Perhaps this has something to do with the show\u2019s unique site\u2014an original 1892 Romanesque Revival building that housed the First Ward School before becoming a warehouse. I believe art and education go together\u2014check out the School<\/a>, or, even better, the Campus<\/a>, both in upstate New York, for further evidence. At MoMA PS1, Greater New York populates small classrooms and huge halls alike, underscoring each portion uniquely, from intimate nooks foregrounding Louis Osmosis\u2019s collaged sculptures before a looming Ta\u00edna Cruz drawing to more traditional \u201cennial\u201d rooms alive with large paintings, sculptures, and more.<\/p>\n Art isn\u2019t entirely mired in an identity crisis. There\u2019s plenty of artists, like the emerging ones here, who live the spirit of their work by embracing community, exploring boldly, and engaging devotedly with sensuality. After all, if you can make it here, you\u2019ll make it anywhere. \u2014V.B.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n
Through June 28
\n![\"Raphael,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2268893292.jpg\")
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Through July 19
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Through August 22
\n![\"Museum](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/marcel-duchamp-valises-1024x768.jpeg\")
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May 22\u2013October 25
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Through August 23
\n![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/carmen-de-monteflores-whitney-biennial-1024x768.jpeg\")
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April 30\u2013October 19
\n![\"Polaroid](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/warhol-polaroid-whitney-833x1024.jpg\")
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Through August 3, 2026\u00a0
\n![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Fashion_Plates_008-715x1024.jpg\")
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May 12\u2013Ongoing
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May 16\u2013December 6
\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/iris-van-herpen-brooklyn-1024x767.png\")
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June 11\u2013September 28
\n![\"Black-and-white](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Helmut-Newton_1975-807x1024.jpg\")
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Through August 17
\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/cruz-osmosis-greater-ny-1024x768.jpg\")
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![\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Kane_John-Kane-and-His-Wife-998x1024.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"an](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Carol-Bove-exh_ph053-LARGE-JPG-1024x759.jpg\")
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