Exhibitions in Europe that's on my list in 2024
The long list of exhibitions and collection spectacles I'm dying to experience in 2024 (Europe edition) and that you should maybe add to your list of potential activities in 2024.
So many beautiful exhibitions, so few months. And this is “just” for Europe - that’s mad. I am making one for North-, South- America, Asia etc., as well, but for today, we only have Europe. And uuufff, isn’t that lovely on it’s own. I think, for me, the exhibitions I’m most excited about is Tate Modern in London, and Albertina in Vienna. I would love to experience the Impressionist in Paris, but there’s no way I’ll go during OL in Paris this summer. Unfortunately. Also, I think a Venice Biennale trip with a girlfriend and our boyfriends is in the works as well. Cannot. Wait. Anything I’ve missed? Any exhibitions you would be excited to experience in Europe 2024?
Frank Auerbach: The Charcoal Heads The Courtauld, London
9 February to 27 May 2024
A remarkable series of hauntingly beautiful, large-scale drawings by Frank Auerbach (born 1931), will be presented together for the first time at The Courtauld Gallery in Spring 2024.
During his early years as a young artist in post-war London, Frank Auerbach produced one of his most remarkable bodies of work: a series of large-scale portrait heads made in charcoal. Auerbach spent months on each drawing, working and reworking them during numerous sessions with his sitters.
The marks of this prolonged and vigorous process of creation are evident in the finished drawings, which are richly textured and layered. Sometimes, he would even break through the paper and patch it up before carrying on. Auerbach’s heads emerge from the darkness of the charcoal as vital and alive, having come through a lengthy period of struggle – the image repeatedly created and destroyed. The character of the drawings speaks profoundly of their times as people were remaking their lives after the destructions and upending of war.
Frans Hals Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
16 February to 9 June 2024

Following celebrated solo exhibitions of Vermeer and Rembrandt, in 2024 the Rijksmuseum presents Frans Hals, an exhibition of some 50 of the Dutch master’s greatest paintings, many on loan from top international collections. The exhibition runs from 16 February to 9 June 2024. Frans Hals is regarded as one of the most innovative artists of the 17th century, for his brisk, impressionistic painting style. With unparalleled boldness and talent, he captured the vitality of his subjects – from stately regents to cheerful musicians and children – and made them live and breathe on the canvas.
Frans Hals’s original style and technique earned him a reputation in his own time as a virtuoso, a status equalled only by the likes of Rembrandt in the Netherlands and Velázquez in Spain. He was an in-demand portraitist among the wealthy citizenry of Haarlem and other cities in the region. Over the course of the 18th century, however, Hals’s work gradually fell into obscurity. It wasn’t until the 19th century that French art critic and journalist Théophile Thoré-Bürger (1807–1869) rediscovered his work, as well as that of Vermeer. Until the 1960s, Frans Hals was regarded as one of the ‘big three’ of 17th-century Dutch painting, alongside Rembrandt and Vermeer. Later, however, interest in the artist waned significantly – reason enough for the Rijksmuseum, The National Gallery, London, and Gemäldegalerie, Berlin, to place him on the highest possible pedestal and to show how truly boundary-breaking he was as an artist. The artist’s expressive, gestural brushwork has always been seen as the most distinctive quality of his art, and he can justifiably be described as the forerunner of Impressionism. Hals’s virtuosic style influenced fellow artists Gustave Courbet, Édouard Manet, James McNeil Whistler, Claude Monet, Max Liebermann, Vincent van Gogh, John Singer Sargent and others. Almost all of them visited Haarlem to admire his portraits of individuals and civil militia groups.
Roy Lichtenstein: A Centennial Exhibition The Albertina, Vienna
8 March to 14 July 2024
Roy Lichtenstein, the master of pop art, just turned 100—and the ALBERTINA Museum is celebrating the artist with a sweeping retrospective set to feature over 90 paintings, sculptures, and graphic works.
The most important creations from Lichtenstein’s wide-ranging oeuvre will be coming to Vienna from all over the world thanks to the generosity of international institutions including New York’s Museum of Modern Art and Whitney Museum, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, the Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven, Museum Ludwig in Cologne, the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Humlebæk, the Moderna Museet in Stockholm, and the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid as well as thanks to private collectors.
The idea for this exhibition arose from dialog between the Albertina Museum and the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation upon the latter’s generous donation of around 100 works.
Roy Lichtenstein is known for his stereotyped blondes, war heroes, and comic book figures with speech balloons. His cartoon-like aesthetic, employing brashly luminous colors, clear lines, and characteristic Ben Day dots in imitation of cheap comic book printing techniques, was hugely influential in the American art scene of the 1960s.
Anselm Kiefer: Fallen AngelsPalazzo Strozzi, Florence
22 March to 28 July 2024
Palazzo Strozzi hosts a major exhibition dedicated to one of the greatest masters of the 20th and 21st century art, Anselm Kiefer. Renowned for his impactful works that explore themes of memory, myth, war, and existence through painting, sculpture, and installation, Kiefer presents historical works and new productions at Palazzo Strozzi, engaging in a unique dialogue with the Renaissance architecture.
Each work by Kiefer always expresses a rejection of limits, in its monumentality and the power of materiality, but above all in the infinite richness of resources with which he delves into the depths of memory and the past. He made his debut on the German art scene in the late 1960s with works that reflected on the history of the Second World War and the emotional and cultural legacy of Germany. This marked the beginning of an artistic pursuit in which history, myth, religion, mysticism, poetry, and philosophy merge and blur with one another.
Curated by Arturo Galansino, the exhibition at Palazzo Strozzi aims to convey the vital complexity of Kiefer’s art, celebrating the interweaving of figure and abstraction, nature and artificiality, creation and destruction in a deeply engaging project, both in the physical and conceptual space of his works.
Paris 1874: Inventing Impressionism Musée d’Orsay, Paris
26 March to 14 July 2024

150 years ago, on April 15, 1874, the first impressionist exhibition opened in Paris. “Hungry for independence”, Monet, Renoir, Degas, Morisot, Pissarro, Sisley and Cézanne finally decided to free themselves from the rules by holding their own exhibition, outside official channels: impressionism was born. To celebrate this anniversary, Musée d’Orsay is presenting some 130 works and bringing a fresh eye to bear on this key date, regarded as the day that launched the avant-gardes.
What exactly happened in Paris in that spring of 1874, and what sense should we make today of an exhibition that has become legendary? “Paris 1874. The Impressionist Moment” seeks to trace the advent of an artistic movement that emerged in a rapidly changing world.
“Paris 1874” reviews the circumstances that led these 31 artists (only seven of whom are well-known across the world today) to join forces and exhibit their works together. The period in question had a post-war climate, following two conflicts: the Franco-German War of 1870, and then a violent civil war. In this context of crisis, artists began to rethink their art and explore new directions. A little “clan of rebels” painted scenes of modern life, and landscapes sketched in the open air, in pale hues and with the lightest of touches. As one observer noted, “What they seem above all to be aiming at is an impression”.
In “Paris 1874”, a selection of works that featured in the 1874 impressionist exhibition is put into perspective with paintings and sculptures displayed at the official Salon the same year. This unprecedented confrontation will help recreate the visual shock caused by the works exhibited by the impressionists, as well as nuance it by unexpected parallels and overlaps between the first impressionist exhibition and the Salon.
The exhibition at Musée d’Orsay evidences the contradictions and infinite variety of contemporary creation in that spring of 1874, while highlighting the radical modernity of those young artists. “Good luck!” one critic encouraged them, “Innovations always lead to something.”
Willem de Kooning and Italy Galleria dell’Accademia, Venice
16 April to 15 September 2024

For the 2024 season, the Gallerie dell’Accademia announce the exhibition Willem de Kooning and Italy, dedicated to one of the most influential artists of the 20th century and one of those who contributed significantly to the historic shift of the artistic avant-garde from Paris to New York in the post-war period. The exhibition will primarily highlight the impact that the artist’s stays in Italy had on his art, periods during which – in the words of the curators Gary Garrels and Mario Codognato – de Kooning enriched his language and reworked a new modus operandi. The opening is scheduled for April 16, 2024, in conjunction with the 60th International Art Exhibition of the Biennale.
The exhibition, titled Willem de Kooning and Italy, will be the first to investigate the significance of de Kooning’s stays in Italy, dating from 1959 and 1969. The curators, Gary Garrels and Mario Codognato, will explore, for the first time, the influence the trips to Italy had on the artist’s subsequent paintings, drawings and sculptures in America. The lasting effect of these two creative periods will be illustrated through a selection of works ranging from the late 1950s to the 1980s from important private and museum collections in Europe and the United States. The exhibition, designed in collaboration with the UNA/FWR Associati studio directed by architect Giulia Foscari, will bring together some 75 works, including paintings, sculptures and drawings, spanning four decades of de Kooning’s art, from the 1950s to the 1980s, creating the largest exhibition of the artist’s work ever organized in Italy.
Caspar David Friedrich: Infinite Landscapes Nationalgalerie, Berlin
19 April to 4 August 2024

On the occasion of the 250th anniversary of Caspar David Friedrich's birth, the Alte Nationalgalerie is showing the exhibition "Infinite Landscapes" with 60 paintings and 50 drawings from Germany and abroad, including world-famous works.
The Alte Nationalgalerie is presenting the exhibition in cooperation with the Kupferstichkabinett of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. It is the first major exhibition of the works of Caspar David Friedrich, the most important painter of German Romanticism.
Caspar David Friedrich: A Pioneer of Modernity: The role of the National Gallery in the rediscovery of Friedrich's art at the beginning of the 20th century is a central theme of the exhibition. After the painter had fallen into oblivion in the second half of the 19th century, the National Gallery paid tribute to the artist more comprehensively than ever before with the legendary "German Century Exhibition" in 1906, featuring 93 paintings and drawings. Friedrich was celebrated as an outstanding painter of light and atmosphere and as a pioneer of modernism.
"Monk by the Sea" and "Abbey in the Oak Forest" on View in Berlin: Another focus of the exhibition lies on Friedrich's pairs of paintings, with which the artist expressed different perspectives as well as the idea of change. Probably the most famous pair of paintings - "Monk by the Sea" and "Abbey in the Oak Forest" - represents the uniqueness of the National Gallery's collection. Finally, the third exhibition chapter presents the latest research results on Friedrich's painting technique.
Expressionists: Kandinsky, Münter and the Blue RiderTate Modern, London
25 April to 20 October 2024

Explore the groundbreaking work of a circle of friends and close collaborators known as The Blue Rider. In the early 20th century they came together to form, in their own words, ‘a union of various countries to serve one purpose’ – to transform modern art. The artists rallied around Wassily Kandinsky and Gabriele Münter to experiment with colour, sound and light, creating bold and vibrant art.
Expressionists is a story of friendships told through art. It examines the highly individual creatives that made up The Blue Rider, from Franz Marc’s interest in colour to Alexander Sacharoff’s freestyle performance. The women artists played a central role in the movement. Discover experimental photographs by Gabriele Münter alongside the dramatic paintings of Marianne Werefkin.
Experience a collection of masterpieces from paintings, sculpture, and photography to performance and sound. This landmark exhibition is possible due to a collaboration with Lenbachhaus, Munich, who have offered Tate unprecedented access to their collection. It features over 130 works – brought together in the UK for the first time in 80 years.
Fragile Beauty: Photographs from the Sir Elton John and David Furnish CollectionV&A South Kensington, London
18 May 2024 to 5 January 2025


An unparalleled selection of the world's leading photographers, telling the story of modern and contemporary photography. Discover iconic images across subjects such as fashion, celebrity, reportage and the male body.
The story goes that while sitting beside Cindy Sherman at a New York fundraiser, Sir Elton John complained that her work never came up for auction. Sherman promptly sold him six artist prints from her breakthrough series “Untitled Film Stills.” Her motive? She was in need of a new house.
The anecdote is indicative of how fame, connections, and no little money, has made John a preeminent collector of photography. He lists it as his second passion, after music, and together with his husband David Furnish, the couple has purchased more than 7,000 photographs that present many of the great photographers, events, and celebrities of the 20th century.
A selection of more than 300 photographs from this sprawling collection is set to be shown at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum from May 18, 2024, to January 5, 2025. It will be the largest photography show the museum has staged to date.
When We See Us: A Century of Black Figuration in PaintingKunstmuseum Basel
25 May to 27 October 2024

In what ways have artists from the African continent and its far-flung diaspora processed the experience of the quotidian in their painting over the last 100 years? Koyo Kouoh, Director and Chief Curator of the Zeitz MOCAA in Cape Town, South Africa, and her team undertook extensive research to find out. The result is a comprehensive show that brings together works by 156 artists: a kaleidoscope of Black figurative painting over the last 100 years. Also scheduled to be on show at the Kunstmuseum Basel, Zeitz MOCAA has created a groundbreaking exhibition that demands to be seen.
The exhibition’s title is inspired by the 2019 Netflix miniseries When They See Us by African-American director Ava DuVernay, which focuses on how Black youth are seen as potential criminals and thus as a threat. Replacing “they” with “we” in the title indicates the crucial perspectival shift: The works on show bring into focus the artists’ lived realities as subject of their own art. Amounting to over 200 pieces, the artworks are grouped into five distinct thematic categories entitled “The Everyday,” “Joy & Revelry,” ”Repose,” “Sensuality,” and “Triumph and Emancipation.”
This multifaceted special exhibition at the Kunstmuseum Basel | Gegenwart introduces viewers to figurative painting by Black artists from Africa and the African Diaspora dating from the 1920s through to the present. Sound stations and atmospheric staging provide complementary contextual elements as aids to interpretation. A multilayered series of public programmes designed in collaboration with external partners provides additional approaches to the exhibition.
La Biennale di Venezia. The 60th International Art Exhibition, curated by Adriano Pedrosa, will be held from 20 April to 24 November 2024.

The 60th International Art Exhibition will take place from Saturday 20 April to Sunday 24 November, 2024 (pre-opening on April 17, 18 and 19), curated by Adriano Pedrosa. “I am honored and humbled by this prestigious appointment, especially as the first Latin American to curate the International Art Exhibition, and in fact the first one based in the Southern Hemisphere”, Pedrosa commented.
Adriano Pedrosa (Brazil) is currently the artistic director of the Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand – MASP, where he has curated many exhibitions, including Histories of Dance (2020) and Brazilian Histories (2022). He has recently been appointed the 2023 recipient of the Audrey Irmas Award for Curatorial Excellence, that was presented to him by the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College, New York.