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The Met Gala, a marquee and one-night-only event held as a fundraiser for the museum of the same name, has come and gone. But the exhibit it fêtes is here to stay through January of next year. Costume Art, the Costume Institute’s 2026 exhibition, is a broad look at the dressed body and how it is depicted in a range of artworks from the Museum’s collection. While all eyes may be on it and it certainly makes a great starting point, this is not the only exhibit on at the Met nor in the wider city—there are many more to explore at museums across the boroughs. Whether it’s the consummate Raphael show just around the corner or The Noguchi Museum in Queens’s own look at its namesake artist’s relationship to New York City, read on for the best art exhibits to keep on your radar.
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
The aforementioned Costume Art is a wide-ranging curation of clothing items and paintings. In addition to rows and rows of clothing donned by mannequins with concave, mirrored faces—thematic alleys include clothing made for pregnant and disabled bodies from antiquity to the present—there are such displays as one of Van Gogh’s Irises juxtaposed beside a feathered garment affixed with a duplication of the image. A mannequin trapped in a tight bodice and endowed with an enormous bustle faces Seurat’s Sunday in the Park. As notable as the exhibit itself is its unveiling in the Costume Institute’s new and dedicated gallery—fashion is no longer relegated to the basement. Elsewhere on the premises is Raphael: Sublime Poetry, a comprehensive survey (more than 170 works!) of the master’s output in myriad mediums: drawings, paintings, tapestries.
Costume Art runs through January 10, 2027. Raphael: Sublime Poetry runs through June 28, 2026.
The Noguchi Museum
One of New York’s great small museums is The Noguchi—it’s a serene and therefore great place to visit whether a special exhibit is on or not. Right now, there’s great reason to go: Noguchi’s New York, organized in celebration of the 40th anniversary of The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum. So how does a museum honor itself? In this case, with more than 50 works by Noguchi ranging from sculptures and project models to photographs and archival materials. There are also hand-painted animated films by Jack Cunningham and Nicolas Ménard of Eastend Western that give us a look at some of Noguchi’s unrealized designs for playgrounds and playground equipment.
