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As another sweltering New York City summer descends upon us, it can often feel like the best place to be is inside. Inside a museum , that is. Fortunately, the art exhibits NYC has to offer right now are not only plentiful and diverse but also mercifully, air-conditioned. Making it that much better to transport yourself to the Paris of John Singer Sargent's youth at the Met, or to the cool climes of Moominvalley, the fictional world of the Moomins, within the Brooklyn Public Library.
No matter what style, period, or place interests you, there's an exhibit to immerse yourself in that's worth your time. Read on for our picks of the best art exhibits NYC currently commands.
Read our complete New York City travel guide here , including our roundup of the best museums in New York City . This article has been updated with new information since its original publish date.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Through August 3, Sargent and Paris , is a blissful exploration of John Singer Sargent's early years in Paris, from his arrival in 1774 through the scandalous unveiling of Madame X. That painting hangs here—it is a darling of the Met's permanent collection, after all—alongside an in-depth look at its preparatory sketches as well as other Parisienne portraits. Also running this summer are The New Art: American Photography, 1839-1910 and this year's Costume Institute extravaganza Superfine: Tailoring Black Style —an epic exploration of Black fashion, dandyism, and its continued influence on how we all dress.
Sargent and Paris on view through August 3
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The Morgan Library & Museum
Jane Austen has come to Manhattan by way of the Morgan, which has launched A Lively Mind: Jane Austen at 250 in celebration of what would have been a big birthday for the beloved writer had she escaped death (she actually, famously and sadly, died young.) Here, find artifacts from her Chawton, England house alongside the Morgan's own manuscripts, books, and artworks for your perusal, as well as a robust schedule of readings and screenings (including Clueless , based on Austen's Emma , come August.)
On view through September 14
Scandinavia House
If you're in the mood for some domestic travel pegged to diasporic craft traditions, but don't have the time for an actual journey out of the city, consider Nordic Echoes—Tradition in Contemporary Art . This traveling exhibition showcases contemporary Nordic folk arts and cultural traditions as they've developed in the Upper Midwest (North and South Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan). A total of 55 works by 24 artists look at a variety of traditions, from painting and textiles to wood and metalwork. Accompanying artist talks will run all summer.
On view through August 2
The Frick Collection
Not technically an “exhibition” so much as a full-blown museum, The Frick Collection makes this list because, for now, its entire collection—and the building its housed in—has become novel. After reopening in its original location, a Gilded Age mansion once inhabited by its namesake family, The Frick has become a must-visit not only for its European paintings but also because of the beautiful restoration and expansion work done on the property. There are exhibits here, to be sure: currently, Highlights of Drawings From the Frick Collection and Porcelain Garden: Vladimir Kanevsky at the Frick Collection .
Both on view through August 31, 2025
Neue Galerie
Next up at the Neue? German Masterworks from the Neue Galerie , which will pull from the museum's vast stores of German art from the period 1890 to 1940. As Austria enjoyed the Expressionist movement, Germany during this time saw major developments in color and form from the Brücke (Bridge) and Blaue Reiter (Blue Rider) groups. Expect unexpected colors from Vasily Kandinsky, August Macke, and more.
On view from June 26, 2025 through May 4, 2026
Guggenheim
Filling this wondrous museum's rotunda through January of next year are 90 works by Rashid Johnson. A Poem for Deep Thinkers brings the contemporary artist's black-soap paintings, large-scale sculptures, film installations, and more to the Upper East Side, continuing the museum's 2025 trend toward vibrant and colorfully optimistic artwork. It's more than welcome.
On view through January 18, 2026
The Jewish Museum
Rembrandt van Rijn was inspired heavily during his time by the biblical Book of Esther, and The Book of Esther in the Age of Rembrandt explores that point of interest for the artist. Immigrant Jewish communities lived in relative freedom in 17th century Amsterdam, where Rembrandt lived and worked, and the celebration of heroic Esther during Purim led to her becoming a symbol of Dutch national identity. Pieces by Rembrandt show here alongside those of his contemporaries, as well as Jewish ceremonial art related to Purim from the period. Opening May 23 is Ben Shahn, On Nonconformity , a retrospective on the titular social-realist artist and activist's work in paintings, mural, printmaking, and photography. The title comes from Shahn's conviction that nonconformity is “an indispensable precondition for both significant artistic production and all great societal change. This philosophy is centered in the exhibition as the foundational thread that runs through the artist’s oeuvre.” An exhibit for the times, to be sure.
The Book of Esther in the Age of Rembrandt on view through August 10, 2025
New York Historical Society
With Real Clothes, Real Lives , meanwhile, New Yorkers and visitors are treated to the most extensive repertoire of women’s clothing to be housed under one roof—two centuries’ worth, in fact. Originally the title of a book by artist Kiki Smith—who helped curate this exhibition—it is aimed at celebrating the kind of everyday clothing that rarely finds museum attention: the hardworking house dresses, Girls Scout uniforms, and the tailored suits of urban office-goers. But it isn’t just a celebration of form and function. It is a sociological scrutiny of how women’s role have shifted in society, and how race and class have played a role in these changes. Each piece holds colorful stories about the woman who wore it, as well as those who made it, and their context in place and time.
Real Clothes, Real Lives on view through June 22, 2025.
Museum of Modern Art
Midtown's Museum of Modern Art is looking at design's fundamental impact on our daily lives in Pirouette: Turning Points of Design . From Spanx and Post-it notes to symbols like the Accessible icon and the I ♥️ NY logo , you'll learn what it takes to create an object that changes the world in ways large and small. Altogether, this is a celebration of designers and their power to transform society through their creativity and inventiveness. There's also the cinematic Rosa Barba: The Ocean of One's Pause installation, which melds Barba's film and sound design with a series of performances , which Barba describes as “explosive poems"—keep an eye on that schedule. In an on-the-nose (wonderfully so) piece of springtime programming, Hilma af Klimt: What Stands Behind the Flowers opens May 11 with Klimt's massive portfolio of drawings depicting Sweden's flora. There's not just beautiful blossoms here but also precise diagrams. Whimsy meets workmanship.
Pirouette: Turning Points of Design on view through October 18, 2025. Hilma af Klimt: What Stands Behind the Flowers on view through September 27, 2025.
Whitney Museum of American Art
Christine Sun Kim: All Day All Night gives its titular artist her first major museum survey with drawings, site-specific murals, sculpture, and more. Kim is preoccupied with musical notation, which features here both in her native American Sign Language and written English. Amy Sherald: American Sublime , which will have around 50 of Sherald's paintings ranging from that beloved Michelle Obama portrait to earlier, contextualizing pieces.
Christine Sun Kim: All Day All Night on view through July 6, 2025. Amy Sherald: American Sublime on view through August 10, 2025.
Gagosian
New York's galleries are often overlooked in favor of its museums, but they often have (free!) art shows that are well worth checking out. Such is the case right now at Gagosian's newly renovated location at 555 West 24th Street (that's Chelsea, if you're unsure), which currently has a fabulous Willem de Kooning showcase called Endless Painting . Cecilia Alemani will give a talk on her expressive curation of paintings and two sculptures on May 15.
On view through June 14, 2025
Museum of the Moving Image
Ahead of the franchise's eighth entry—allegedly, also, Tom Cruise's last—Museum of the Moving Image is going deep on the Mission: Impossible movies. Mission: Impossible—Story and Spectacle is a spotlight not just on Cruise's bright, bright star but also on the craft and work that's gone into these films behind the camera. See costume pieces, intricate breakdowns of stunt sequences, and more before plopping down in MoMI's premiere theater for a marathon of the existing films.
On view through December 14, 2025
Brooklyn Museum
Breaking the Mold: Brooklyn Museum at 200 is almost simply what it sounds like. When it opens February 28 and runs all the way through February 22, 2026, this exhibition will retrospect not only on two centuries of its own history as an institution but also on the wider borough's artistic practices and legacies as established since the 17th century. This is a story of Brooklyn, its museum, and the Beaux-Arts building that has long housed it. Other fleeting fare includes the 200-plus-photograph strong Consuelo Kanaga: Catch the Spirit and Nancy Elizabeth Prophet: I Will Not Bend an Inch wherein the titular Afro-Indigenous sculptor gets her first solo look in a major museum.
Breaking the Mold: Brooklyn Museum at 200 on view through February 22, 2026.
Brooklyn Public Library
This is not said lightly considering the wealth of what's on offer, but this writer's most anticipated exhibit of the summer has got to be Tove Jansson and the Moomins: The Door Is Always Open . That titular Finnish writer, also responsible for literature like The Summer Book , and her enduring Moominvalley creation will take visitors from the first-ever Moomin story and 1940s original publications from around the globes to rare artifacts pulled from theatre and television adaptations. It may seem like something that's just for kids, but this is something everybody and their grandmother should be able to enjoy so long as their hearts are open to whimsy.
On view from June 28 through September 30
Coney Island History
There's more to Coney Island than its boardwalk and beach—although both certainly warrant visits during your time down there—and there's no better way to learn exactly what else is going on than by paying a visit to the Coney Island History Project (beneath the Wonder Wheel!). There's Coney Island Streets: Photographs by Charles Denson: 1965-1975 , with some cold hard evidence of what this neighborhood was like during that period; and Brooklyn Wilds: Cyanotypes and Poetry by Amanda Deutch for a look at native plants via prints made (mostly) at Coney Island Creek.
Both on view through September 1
New York Transit Museum
Whether they love it or hold it in contempt, the New York subway is an essential part of a New Yorker's daily life. If you're visiting the city, you should take it at least once to understand how the people that live here get around—it's what makes the city so accessible. And why not take that subway to Brooklyn's New York Transit Museum, located conveniently off the 4 and 5 trains at Borough Hall and A, C, and F trains at Jay Street-MetroTech, for The Subway Is… in celebration of our metro's 120th birthday. It does this with several artifacts, photographs, and multimedia installations that highlight the subway's long life since its opening October 27, 1904. Through October 26, there is also Commentary on the Commute: A Century of The New Yorker’ s Transportation Cartoons in tandem with that magazine's 100th anniversary. This selection of cartoons and covers features the work of 57 artists who have contributed to the magazine over the past century who have found inspiration in the city's public transportation.
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