The beginning of the year, when many of us make travel plans for the upcoming months, is a perfect moment to think of European destinations in terms of art-related experiences. Let’s have a look at the list of the most appealing museum exhibitions we are looking forward to in 2025. Our choice here is guided by the idea to curate a list of popular destinations that can be enhanced by temporary, not-to-be-missed opportunities to see outstanding art exhibitions.
From long-awaited retrospectives to cutting-edge installations, here are some of the top exhibitions to check out across Europe in 2025:
Goya to Impressionism. Masterpieces from the Oskar Reinhart Collection
Courtauld Gallery, London, now through 26 May
If you, like us, enjoy a carefully curated collection of some of the world’s greatest paintings conveniently displayed in one place, you’ll want to see this show.
Oskar Reinhart was the scion of a wealth trading family who spent his life collecting. That collection – from Old Masters to Impressionists – ended up as The Oskar Reinhart Collection ‘Am Römerholz’ in Winterthur, Switzerland. For the next few weeks, some of the Swiss museum’s most important pieces will be hanging out in London. They include works by Toulouse-Lautrec, Géricault, Courbet, Goya, Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh, Picasso and Cezanne and more.
Entry to the museum is 12 pounds, but you get a refund if you join the museum as a friend. Schedule your visit here.
Louvre Couture
The Louvre Museum, Paris, now through 21 July
Is fashion art? The world’s most famous museum in the world’s capital of fashion is dedicating about 100,000 square feet of exhibition space to the first exhibition to focus on fashion in the museum’s 231-year history.
So, we’re taking that as a “yes.”
“Art and fashion: statement pieces” is, according the museum website, a mega-exhibition. This special event is more than just a bunch of pretty smocks. The curators have done their homework on how fashion trends ebb and flow, and how the connect to their respective historical periods. Designers including Karl Lagerfeld, John Galliano for Dior, Jean Paul Gaultier, Alexander McQueen and Hubert de Givenchy are “curated in conversation with objects such as a suit of armour made for King Henry III of France, a 16th-century reliquary bust of Saint Ferdinand and a cabinet from around 1700 by the celebrated craftsman André-Charles Boulle,” according to Christie’s auction house.
The entry fee to the museum is 22 euros and you should definitely pre-book your visit, which you can do here.
From Rembrandt to Vermeer, Masterpieces from The Leiden Collection
9 April thru 24 August, H’Aart Museum, Amsterdam
Where to start with this ….
First of all, if you haven’t heard of this museum, it’s because it used to be a satellite of the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, hosting lots of shows of Russian arts and jewels. But with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Dutch museum severed ties with the Hermitage and changed the name.
Second, with the previous collections returning to Russia, the Dutch museum doesn’t actually have a permanent collection, but “borrows” shows from other museums. This show, “From Rembrandt to Vermeer” is from the Leiden Collection in New York, one of the world’s great private collections of Dutch masters.
To celebrate Amsterdam’s 750th birthday, 18 works by Rembrandt – seventeen paintings and one drawing – are in this show. Other artists in the exhibition include Frans Hals, Jan Steen, Ferdinand Bol, Gerard Dou, Frans van Mieris and Maria Schalcken. Then there is one very rare Johannes Vermeer, restored especially for this occasion. Together, these artists take us back to daily life in 17th century Netherlands.
This is a pretty ambitious show and is going to cost you. Tickets are 27 euros and you can get them here.
Painting the Sky: 50 Years of Fundació Miró Stories
Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, 11 June to 29 March, 2026
In Barcelona, most art lovers head straight to the Picasso Museum, and it is amazing. But you don’t want to miss the Fundació Joan Miró, dedicated to native son Miró. This is actually two simultaneous exhibits … one exploring the development of Fundació Joan Miro and creation of the Centre for Contemporary Art Studies in Barcelona, and an exhibition of the works of the artist himself.
Miró had a complicated identity – a Catalan whose family likely was descended from Marranos, Jews who converted to Christanity. A hard-working anti-bohemian without the charisma or public profile of Picasso, he was just as radical, working to upend the idea of what we think of as “painting.” And let’s face it … without Miró, there’s no Cy Twombly or Julian Schnabel.
There’s actually a Miró Art Trail that retraces his life through Barcelona, Madrid and Mallorca.
Cézanne at Musée Granet
Aix-en-Provence, France , 28 June to 12 October
This year Aix-en-Provence is celebrating one of its most prominent residents, the post-impressionist Paul Cézanne. Opening early summer at Musée Granet, the exhibition will offer a comprehensive look at Cézanne’s evolution as an artist, allowing us to appreciate his genius within the very region that inspired much of his work.
The exhibition will feature around 100 pieces, some of them loaned by world renowned museums in Paris, New York, Tokyo and London. These include iconic works, such as “The Four Seasons: Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter,” “Bather and the Rocks,” “Self-Portrait in Front of a Pink Background” and “The Card Players.”
To complete the experience, the exhibition can be accompanied by a visit to Cezanne’s studio in Les Lauves and The Bibémus Quarries that inspired a lot of artists’ work. See more details here. And you can get tickets here.
American Photography at the Rijksmuseum
Amsterdam, now thru 9 June
Over the past decades The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam has been building up a photography collection. Part of it, alongside loaned works, will be shown at the first ever photography exhibition in the history of the institution.
American Photography, an exhibition exploring the rich history and diverse styles of American photographers from the 19th century to the present day, is on show from February. Featuring more than 200 works by some of the most influential figures in the medium including Ansel Adams, Dorothea Lange, Richard Avedon and Cindy Sherman, the show will delve into the way American photographers have documented the nation’s culture, history, and identity.
In Situ: Refik Anadol
Guggenheim Bilbao. 7 March to 19 October
For those seeking an immersive, futuristic experience (and a must for those who haven’t been to the Basque Country), the Guggenheim Bilbao is the place to be. The Turkish American digital artist Refik Anadol’s in situ will transform the iconic museum’s architecture with an impressive display of data-driven installations and AI-powered projections. Anadol is known for his ability to blend technology with art, creating large-scale works that challenge our perception of space and time.
At the Guggenheim, his installation will blend into the museum’s curvilinear architecture, blurring the boundaries between physical and digital realms. This exhibition promises to be an awe-inspiring experience that pushes the limits of what we think of as art.
You can get your tickets here.
Siena: The Rise of Painting, 1300-1350
National Gallery, London, 8 March thru 22 June
The National Gallery takes us to an inflection point in the history of European painting – the early 1300s. Artists Duccio, Simone Martini and the brothers Pietro and Ambrogio Lorenzetti are forging a new way of painting that includes – gasp! – human emotion, and not just the perfunctory rendering of Bible stories and religious characters.
The exhibition is a collaboration by National Gallery and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Three of Duccio’s “Maestà” altarpiece’s surviving panels held in the gallery’s own collection are reunited with others from the National Gallery in Washington, D.C., and the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid. A number of panels from triptychs and polyptychs — loaned by the Louvre, the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp and the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin, among others — illustrate the work of Duccio’s three most important followers: Simone Martini and the brothers Pietro and Ambrogio Lorenzetti.
Entry to the show is 20 pounds and you can book your visit here.
David Hockney 25
Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris, 4 April to 1 September
David Hockney, one of the most iconic and versatile British artists of our time, is planning a major exhibition at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris. David Hockney 25, the largest exhibition in the artist’s long career, will take over the whole building to celebrate 25 years of the artist’s work with the foundation, showcasing his ongoing experimentation with new techniques and mediums.
Hockney, who “has been personally involved in every aspect of the exhibition” wanted to highlight key periods and approaches, including renowned landscape paintings, celebrated portraits, and the most recent works created through digital platforms.
The most impressive exhibition space within the building, Gallery 10, will be devoted to Hockney’s set designs and provide an immersive experience combining musical and visual pieces.
You can get tickets here, but this is going to be a very popular exhibition.
Paula Rego and Adriana Varejão: Between Your Teeth
Centro de Arte Moderna Gulbenkian, Lisbon, 11 April to 15 September
In 2025, Lisbon is still one of the hottest travel destinations in Europe. If you happen to be there, don’t hesitate to visit the city’s new architectural gem, Gulbenkian Modern Art Centre (CAM), reopened last year after a profound reformulation by the renowned Japanese architect Kengo Kuma. From April, CAM will host a fascinating exhibition, “Paula Rego and Adriana Varejão: Between Your Teeth.”
This show will juxtapose the works of two powerful women artists from different cultural backgrounds—Rego from Portugal and Varejão from Brazil.
Rego’s iconic figurative style and Varejão’s provocative use of symbolism will create a compelling dialogue that delves into the complex intersection of culture, mythology, and the human body. The surrounding garden with its shadowy lanes and running streams guarantees a calming post-exhibition moment.
Looking ahead:
Turner and Constable
Tate Britain in London, 27 November to 12 April 2026
In November, Tate Britain will open “Turner and Constable,” a major exhibition that will compare the works of two of Britain’s most famous landscape painters. J.M.W. Turner and John Constable are often seen as polar opposites in British art history – Turner’s dramatic, atmospheric works contrasting with Constable’s more serene and idealized rural scenes. And as you might expect, they were rivals who loathed one another.
Yet, this exhibition aims to demonstrate how both artists explored the natural world in deeply personal ways, each seeking to capture its fleeting beauty and raw power. The show will explore their shared fascination with light, weather, and the effects of the changing British landscape, giving visitors an opportunity to appreciate the similarities and differences in their respective artistic approaches.
Whether you are interested in classic masterpieces, contemporary digital art, or powerful cross-cultural dialogues, Europe’s leading museums are sure to offer something for every taste.
Tickets aren’t yet available.
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See more about art exhibitions here in Dispatches’ archives.
Nina Danilova is an art writer and contemporary art curator. She is about to finish her PhD
in Culture Studies. She grew up in Russia and lived in Germany, Estonia, Italy and
Portugal, where she is currently based. She is passionate about history, languages, food,
and dancing.
