This will be a big downfall for museum lovers. Major exhibitions open on legendary tapestries, unusual handicrafts created by American schoolgirls, and bejeweled Islamic art, each featuring priceless objects from around the world. Take a look at these six outstanding people.
Bayeux Tapestry, British Museum, London.
Illustration from the Bayeux Tapestry depicting the coronation of King Harold II.
(Image credit: Print Collector/Getty Images)
One of the most important works in European history is the Bayeux Tapestry, a nearly 230-foot-long embroidered piece of cloth that tells the story of the Norman conquest of England in 1066. The remarkable work of art is almost 1,000 years old and is on display at the British Museum thanks to a historic agreement with France. Filled with “visual thrills, horror and humor,” the tapestry is “stunning and delightful” and is displayed in a glass case that fills the entire gallery, The Guardian reports.
The Tapestry is London’s hottest ticket, and if you can’t secure entry through traditional channels, there is another way. Until the end of the year, One Aldwych is offering an exclusive Bayeux Tapestry package, which includes an overnight stay at this luxury Covent Garden hotel, plus two tickets to visit the Bayeux Tapestry, two themed cocktails, an English breakfast in the morning and a carefully selected in-room minibar. (until July 11, 2027)
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‘Broken. The Power of the Fragment”, Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, Italy.
Giovanni Pisano (Pisa, c. 1248 – Siena, c. 1315), “Fragments of the funerary monument of Margaret of Brabant (Elevatio animae) 1312–1314”, Apuan marble, 78 × 118, 2 × 33.8 cm, Genoa, Museum of Sant’Agostino, MSA 258
(Image credit: Photo Scala/Firenze)
These remains tell the story, piece by piece. “Broken. The Power of the Fragment” explores “the reasons and circumstances that led to the destruction or damage of sculptures,” from war to natural disasters and vandalism, Palazzo Strozzi said. This comprehensive exhibition presents the works of Michelangelo and Auguste Rodin alongside contemporary art by Louise Bourgeois and Huma Bhabha, who “took this fragment as a starting point for new expressive possibilities.” (September 25, 2026 – January 24, 2027)
“From the Louvre: Masterpieces of Islamic Art”, National Asian Art Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC.
Pool known as the “Baptistery of Saint Louis”, Mamluk dynasty, c. 1325-40, Egypt or Syria. Engraved and inlaid with copper alloy, silver, gold and black compound.
(Image credit: Louvre, Grand Palais Rmn/Hughes Dubois)
This groundbreaking exhibition of 26 objects from the Louvre’s permanent collection of Islamic art marks the first time the museum has loaned the collection to another institution. Among the “treasures” are the Baptistery of Saint Louis, a 14th-century brass basin from Syria or Egypt, and two ivory pencil cases “encrusted with precious stones” believed to have been commissioned by the 17th-century Mughal emperor Jahangir, Artforum reports. All objects – paintings, jade, ceramics, glass and metalwork – date back to the 7th-19th centuries. (September 26, 2026 – January 18, 2027)
“Discovering Girlhood: Place and Identity in Early American Schoolgirl Art,” Museum of American Folk Art, New York.
Mary B. Danforth (1807–1848), “Memorial to Enoch H. Long.” Probably Manchester, Massachusetts, 1823. Silk and watercolor on silk, ink on paper, gold on leather. 16 1/4 x 19 3/8 inches.
(Image credit: Jane and Gerald Katcher Collection)
“Impressive” works by American girls from the 18th and 19th centuries will be on display at the exhibition “for several years,” Emelie Gewalt, associate director of the American Folk Art Museum, told Antiques and the Arts Weekly. Comprised of more than 100 examples of needlework and other decorative arts from dozens of museums and private collections, the collection is one of the most “significant” presentations on the topic in recent years and “sheds new light on a rich but understudied genre.” (October 9, 2026 – February 28, 2027)
“Getting Lost Together: The Art of Bobby Anspach”, Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio.
Installation view of “A Place for Constant Eye Contact” at the opening of the Bobby Anspach Foundation, 2024.
(Image credit: Gabrielle Beaumont)
The Toledo Museum of Art invites you to plunge into the world of Bobby Anspach. The late Toledo-born artist created sculptural installations, and “Getting Lost Together” is “anchored” by his immersive “eye machines” that use “light, sound and carefully constructed optical effects” to alter your sense of “time and space,” the museum said. At the end of your visit, stop in the reflection room, a space for “contemplation and relaxation.” (October 17, 2026 – March 14, 2027)
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“Escher’s Mathematics and Art”, National Museum of Mathematics, New York.
M. C. Escher (1898-1972), Convex and Concave, 1955, lithograph, 10 7/8 x 13 1/4 inches
Dutch graphic artist M.K. Escher specialized in “mind-blowing images” of “impossible architecture, mosaics and visual paradoxes,” which made him “a beloved figure in both the worlds of art and mathematics,” the National Museum of Mathematics said. This exhibition focuses on his works, which feature “elegant mathematical structures”, including more than 60 woodcuts, drawings, lithographs and three-dimensional objects. (October 1, 2026 – February 8, 2027)
