Where Art Lovers Should Travel This Year

Major cities are staging career-defining retrospectives this year while new cultural spaces open their doors for the first time. From Ruth Asawa’s wire sculptures taking over San Francisco to ancient Roman statues finally crossing the Atlantic, 2025 delivers exhibitions that won’t come around again for decades.

Below are the destinations offering art experiences worth planning a trip around.

New York City

The Whitney Museum opens Christine Sun Kim’s first major solo survey this spring. “All Day All Night” spans over 90 works exploring sound, language, and deaf experience through drawings, murals, paintings, and video installations.

Kim’s work challenges how we communicate beyond spoken words.And the Guggenheim isn’t far behind.

Rashid Johnson’s “A Poem for Deep Thinkers” runs from April through January 2026, filling the iconic spiral with sculptures, paintings, and his signature anxious objects that probe identity and Black experience in America.

Boston

Vincent van Gogh found his most enduring subjects in 1888 when he met the Roulin family in Arles. The postman Joseph, his wife Augustine, and their three children sat for him repeatedly.

“Van Gogh: The Roulin Family Portraits” at the Museum of Fine Arts brings these intimate works together from March through September. Letters between Van Gogh and the family provide glimpses into his process and emotional state during this productive period.

Chicago

The Torlonia Marbles rarely leave Italy. This collection of ancient Roman statues, held privately by one family for generations, made a brief appearance in Rome in 2020 before touring to Milan and Paris.

In March, dozens of these sculptures arrive at the Art Institute of Chicago. From there they head to Fort Worth and Montreal. It’s a rare chance to see Roman art that’s been locked away from public view.

Amsterdam

Two museums tackle Anselm Kiefer and Vincent van Gogh simultaneously. The Van Gogh Museum shows both artists’ works side by side while the Stedelijk displays its entire Kiefer collection plus new pieces created specifically for the exhibition.

Kiefer’s monumental, politically charged paintings cast van Gogh in unexpected light. Both shows run from March through June.

Paris

Wolfgang Tillmans stages the Centre Pompidou’s final exhibition before its multi-year renovation. Not in the galleries—in the vast library where no artist has ever shown before.

The German photographer known for his explorations of queer identity, political urgency, and abstract beauty gets the entire space to himself this June. After this, the Pompidou goes dark for years.

Madrid

Andy Warhol and Jackson Pollock seem like opposites. The Museo Thyssen’s year-end exhibition explores what actually connected them: repetition, seriality, abstraction, camouflage, the relationship between figure and ground.

Through their work and pieces by contemporaries, the show examines how both artists sought their place in society through different approaches to similar concerns.

Singapore

Art SG kicks off the global art fair calendar in January. Now in its third year, the fair pulls major galleries like Gagosian, White Cube, and Thaddaeus Ropac to Marina Bay Sands.

Singapore positions itself as Asia’s art hub, and this fair reinforces that claim with strong sales and serious collectors. The timing works too—escaping winter for tropical heat and world-class contemporary art makes sense.

Setouchi Islands, Japan

The Setouchi Triennale transforms islands scattered across Japan’s Seto Inland Sea into contemporary art venues. Artworks appear among peaceful landscapes and traditional villages.

The festival happens only every three years, making 2025 a key moment. Artists create site-specific installations that respond to island environments and histories.

Getting between islands by ferry becomes part of the experience.

Aichi Prefecture, Japan

The Aichi Triennale embraces a multidisciplinary approach—visual art, theater, dance, performance all converge. This year’s theme “A Time Between Ashes and Roses” asks whether flowers bloom on dead trees, pushing reflection on nature, destruction, renewal, and commercial exploitation.

Workshops, lectures, and guided tours run alongside exhibitions. The prefecture’s industrial reputation contrasts with its vibrant cultural programming.

Les Baux-de-Provence, France

Carrières des Lumières occupies a former limestone quarry from the 1800s. Digital projections transform the rocky walls into immersive art experiences. The 2025 program includes Monet, Henri Rousseau, and surprisingly, Tintin.

Classical art meets cutting-edge technology in a setting that amplifies both. The Val d’Enfer location near Provence makes it easy to combine with wine country touring.

Melbourne

The LUME Melbourne dedicates its space to Leonardo da Vinci. AI and VR elements illuminate his artworks and inventions. Visitors encounter 50 machine replicas and the world’s only 360-degree Mona Lisa reproduction.

Digital and tactile displays blend into an experience that goes beyond typical museum presentations.

It’s immersive tech done thoughtfully rather than gimmicky.