15 Must-See Fall Museum Exhibitions Around the World

Wes Anderson and Juman Malouf in the Picture Gallery, Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna. Photo: © khm-museumsverband

1. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
“The Spitzmaus Mummy in a Coffin and Other Treasures from the Kunsthistorisches Museum”
November 6–April 8, 2019

Film director Wes Anderson is bringing his unique aesthetic to a historic Austrian museum in an unconventional curatorial series started by artist Ed Ruscha in 2012. Together with his partner, illustrator Juman Malouf, Anderson has been given full access to the museum’s picture gallery and its vast collection of Egyptian, Greek, and Roman antiquities, arms and armor, and historical musical instruments, for what is sure to be a one-of-a-kind show. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Maria-Theresien-Platz, 1010 Vienna

El Anatsui, Many Came Back, 2005. Photo: Richard Goodbody, Collection of Newark Museum

2. Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
“Common Threads, Weaving Stories Across Time”
October 4–January 13, 2019

Drawing on the museum’s incredible collection of historic textiles, this group exhibition reveals the exciting ways in which the medium is being redefined by current artists, from El Anatsui, who weaves discarded cans and bottle tops into magnificent shimmering tapestries, to Lee Mingwei’s participatory artworks of colored thread. Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 25 Evans Way, Boston

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Dorothea Tanning and Max Ernst with his sculpture Capricorn, 1947. Photo: John Kasnetsis

3. Barbican Centre, London
“Modern Couples: Art, Intimacy, and the Avant-Garde”
October 10–January 27, 2019

Some of the most iconic pieces of art and literature were made not by individual talents but by those who were partners in their personal and creative lives. This exhibition celebrates the power of collaboration—both romantic and artistic—in the early 20th century with examples by couples such as Sophie Taeuber-Arp and Hans Arp, Lee Miller and Man Ray, and Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West. Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London

Hilma af Klint, Group IV, The Ten Largest, No. 7, Adulthood (Grupp IV, De tio största, nr 7, Mannaåldern), 1907. Photo: Albin Dahlström, the Moderna Museet, Stockholm

4. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
“Paintings for the Future: Hilma af Klint”
October 12–February 3, 2019

A pioneer of abstract art, predating the likes of Wasily Kandinsky and Piet Mondrian, Swedish artist Hilma af Klint—like so many female artists—remained largely unrecognized during her lifetime. Adding to her contemporary allure, these bold-colored canvases, inspired by Spiritism, remained hidden for 20 years after her death. This show marks the artist’s first U.S. survey. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 1071 Fifth Avenue, New York

Hall d’entrée, Casa Borletti, designed by Gio Ponti. Photo: © Gio Ponti Archives, Milan

5. Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris
“Tutto Ponti, Gio Ponti Archi-Designer”
October 19–February 10, 2019

A concise retrospective of Gio Ponti is no small feat. One of the most influential Italian architects and designers of the 20th century, Ponti was prolific, and his work was unusually diverse. (Along with architecture, he was also an academic, made poetry and paintings, and edited some 600 publications.) This show features around 500 items, including architectural designs, ceramics, furniture, and magazines, in a brilliant setting designed by French architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte. Musée des Arts Décoratifs, 107 rue de Rivoli, Paris

Sister Gertrude Morgan, Revelation 7. chap, circa 1970, Photo: © Todd-White Art Photography, Courtesy of The Museum of Everything, London

6. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles
“Outliers and American Vanguard Art”
November 18–March 17, 2019

Outsider art has long been a misunderstood genre; this thoughtful exhibition sheds light on the overlooked intersections between avant-garde talents, folk artists, and others from the early 19th century through today. Expect to find works by beloved self-taught masters Henry Darger and Lonnie Holley alongside those of celebrated artists such as Cindy Sherman and Kara Walker. LACMA, 5905 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles

Pen case and inkwell, Deccan plateau or North India, 1575–1600. Photo: Prudence Cuming Associates Ltd, © The Al Thani Collection, Image courtesy of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

7. Legion of Honor Museum, San Francisco
“East Meets West: Jewels of the Maharajas from the Al Thani Collection”
November 3–February 24, 2019

Jewelry and precious objects ranging from the 17th century to the reveal the fascinating and rich cultural and material exchanges between India and Europe. Viewers will find more than 150 pieces worn by the maharajas and the European courts, from ceremonial jewelry, weapons, and precious artworks to precious works of art for display or use. Legion of Honor Museum, 100 34th Avenue, San Francisco

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Hans Holbein the Younger, Portrait of Henry VIII, 1540. Photo: Courtesy of the Museum of Fine Arts Houston

8. Museum of Fine Arts Houston
“Tudors to Windsors: British Royal Portraits from Holbein to Warhol”

This sweeping survey features portraits of British royalty spanning half a millennia by artists from Hans Holbein and Sir Joshua Reynolds to Annie Leibovitz and Andy Warhol. Visitors can expect to find 150 masterworks of painting, sculpture, and photography, some of which have never left England. Museum of Fine Arts Houston, 1001 Bissonnet, Houston

Jean (Hans) Arp, Human Concentration, 1934. Photo: © 2018 Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn

9. Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas
“The Nature of Arp”
September 15–January 6, 2019

This fall, the Renzo Piano–designed exhibition space will spotlight the long-overdue look at the achievements of Jean Arp (1886-1966), one of the principle members of the Dada movement during World War I. His curved, organic forms are displayed throughout the building and the gardens, which were designed by Peter Walker. Nasher Sculpture Center, 2001 Flora Street, Dallas

Bruce Nauman, One hundred Live and Die, 1984. Photo: Courtesy of the artist and Museum of Modern Art

10. Museum of Modern Art, New York
“Bruce Nauman: Disappearing Acts”
October 21–February 25, 2019

Bruce Nauman, arguably the most important living American artist, is taking over the sixth floor of MoMA and the entirety of MoMA PS1 in Queens. The exhibition includes a wide range of his investigations created since the 1960s from provocative sculptures and videos to drawings, neon works, and installations. Museum of Modern Art, 11 West 53 Street, New York

Sarah Lucas, Au Naturel, 1994. Photo: © Sarah Lucas. Courtesy Sadie Coles HQ, London

11. New Museum, New York
“Sarah Lucas: Au Naturel”
26 September–20 January 2019

While perhaps not as known as her Young British Artist counterparts, including Tracey Emin, Sarah Lucas is poised to change that with her first U.S. retrospective, which takes place across all three floors of the New Museum. The title of the exhibition comes from a seminal early work in which she depicts a couple in bed via two melons and a pail next to a cucumber and two oranges, hinting at what would become her satirical, Duchamp-like take on culture, sexuality, and gender stereotypes. New Museum, 235 Bowery, New York

Barkley L. Hendricks, Blood (Donald Formey), 1975. Photo: Jonathan Dorado, Brooklyn Museum, Courtesy of Dr. Kenneth Montague | Wedge Collection, Toronto. © Estate of Barkley L. Hendricks, Courtesy of the artist's estate and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York

12. Brooklyn Museum, New York
“Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power”
September 14–February 3, 2019

A landmark exhibition that spotlights the work of black artists created between 1963 and 1983, beginning at the start of the Civil Rights movement. Expect to see works paying homage to major political and celebrity figures, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Angela Davis, and Muhammad Ali. Developed by the Tate Modern in London, the show will then make its final U.S. stop at The Broad in Los Angeles early next year. Brooklyn Museum, 200 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn

Ikeda Manabu, Rebirth, 2013-2016. Photo: Collection of Saga Prefectural Art Museum, Mizuma Art Gallery, Tokyo / Singapore

13. Mori Art Museum, Tokyo
“Catastrophe and the Power of Art”
October 6–January 2019

The power of art in tumultuous times and how it can assist in recovery is one the themes of this provocative exhibition. Artists include big names such as Yoko Ono, Shiva Ahmadi, Ban Shigeru, Chim ↑ Pom, Thomas Demand, Mona Hatoum, Hirakawa Kota, Thomas Hirschhorn, and Isaac Julien. Mori Art Museum, 52F/53F, Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, 6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo

Isamu Noguchi (United States, 1904–1988), Black and Blue (Interior Landscape), 1958–59 (fabricated 1979–80). Photo: © The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, New York / ARS

14. Portland Museum of Art, Maine 
“Beyond the Pedestal: Isamu Noguchi and the Borders of Sculpture”
October 5–January 6, 2019

Pushing the boundaries of what sculpture can entail, this exhibition of Japanese artist Isamu Noguchi’s reveals how he dabbled in everything from landscape architecture and play structures to monuments, stage sets, interior design, and furniture. Portland Museum of Art, 7 Congress Square, Portland, Maine

Gianfranco Ferré, Robe Hellébore, Dior Collection Haute Couture, Spring 1995 (detail). Photo: ©Paolo Roversi/Art + Commerce

15. Denver Art Museum, Colorado
“Dior: From Paris to the World”
November 19–March 3, 2019

150 couture dresses, as well as accessories, costume jewelry, and archival material will go on display at this Colorado museum. Denver Art Museum, 100 W 14th Ave Pkwy, Denver