From Copenhagen to Porquerolles: summer art events across Europe, held in major museums, foundations set within the landscape and city-wide festivals
An exhibition can be a good reason to change plans, extend a weekend or choose one city over another - especially when the museum, foundation or surrounding landscape becomes as much a part of the experience as the works themselves. From Copenhagen to Porquerolles, via London, Basel, Arles, Bilbao and Venice, we have selected ten events worth making a detour for this summer, not least for the way they engage with the places that host them.
LONDON
At Tate Modern, the retrospective Tracey Emin: A Second Life brings together more than ninety works spanning almost forty years of the artist’s career, from the installations that made her famous to paintings, sculptures and more recent pieces. At the same museum, Frida: The Making of an Icon explores how Frida Kahlo became one of the most influential figures in contemporary visual culture. Two very different exhibitions, both offering a compelling reason to return to London.
COPENHAGEN
Overlooking the Øresund and set within a sculpture park, the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art is a destination worth travelling to in any season. Until September, it hosts Lucian Freud: Drawing into Painting, an exhibition exploring the relationship between drawing and painting through works on paper, paintings and archival material, offering a fresh perspective on the British artist’s creative process.
Lucian Freud: Drawing into Painting
BASEL
In Riehen, just outside Basel, Fondation Beyeler, designed by Renzo Piano and set within Berower Park, hosts Pierre Huyghe’s first solo exhibition in a Swiss museum. Conceived specifically for these spaces, the exhibition brings together new pieces and key works from recent years, interweaving images, technologies, living organisms and autonomous systems. An exploration of the increasingly blurred boundary between the natural and the artificial, presented in a place where architecture, art and landscape form part of the same experience.
SAINT-PAUL-DE-VENCE
Fondation Maeght, surrounded by the greenery of the French Riviera and designed by Josep Lluís Sert, is an essential destination for lovers of modern art. The exhibition Ellsworth Kelly: At the Edge of Water brings together paintings, drawings and sculptures devoted to the theme of water, offering a new perspective on the American artist’s work in a setting that also houses permanent works by Miró, Giacometti, Calder and Braque.
Ellsworth Kelly: At the Edge of Water
PARIS
At Fondation Louis Vuitton, Calder. Rêver en Équilibre spans fifty years of Alexander Calder’s work, from the early experiments of the Cirque Calder to the monumental sculptures that redefined the relationship between art and public space. Within Frank Gehry’s architecture, furniture, sculptures and drawings enter into dialogue with works by Jean Arp, Barbara Hepworth, Piet Mondrian, Paul Klee and Pablo Picasso, while thirty-four photographs by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Man Ray, Irving Penn and Agnès Varda portray the artist in his studio and in everyday life.
PORQUEROLLES
A short ferry ride from the French Riviera, Fondation Carmignac is one of Europe’s most surprising art destinations. Hidden among pine trees and Mediterranean scrub on the island of Porquerolles, it hosts Sea, Pop & Sun, an exhibition celebrating the energy of Pop Art and the free-spirited atmosphere of the 1960s and 1970s through paintings, sculptures, photographs and installations. An experience immersed in nature, where art, architecture and landscape exist in perfect balance.
ARLES
From 6 July to 4 October, Les Rencontres d’Arles place photography at the centre of the international stage with more than forty exhibitions spread across former industrial sites, churches and historic monuments throughout the city. Alongside retrospectives devoted to major figures such as William Klein and Ming Smith, this edition looks above all to the future, giving considerable space to young artists and new visual languages across photography, video and installation. A festival that remains one of the best places to take the pulse of contemporary photography, and more than enough reason to plan a trip to Provence.
GIBELLINA
The first Italian city to be named Italian Capital of Contemporary Art, Gibellina is a destination where art extends beyond exhibition spaces, permeating museums, squares, architecture and the landscape. The summer programme of Portami il futuro includes the group exhibition Domestic Displacement, featuring works by William Kentridge, Shirin Neshat and Regina José Galindo; the city-wide exhibition Prisenti; and the tenth edition of Gibellina Photoroad, dedicated to the relationship between photography, memory and urban space. An opportunity to discover a city reborn after the Belìce earthquake as a vast open-air museum, from Burri’s Cretto to works by some of the leading figures in Italian contemporary art.
Gibellina 2026
LINZ
In Linz, the Ars Electronica Center is the main reason to discover a city that still lies beyond the usual tourist trail. Widely regarded as one of the world’s leading institutions exploring the intersection of art, technology, and society, the museum features a permanent exhibition programme spanning artificial intelligence, neuroscience, robotics, biotechnology, and media art, presented through immersive installations, interactive labs, and the renowned Deep Space 8K experience. It is a constantly evolving destination, where every visit offers fresh perspectives on the future and the role of technology in our everyday lives. Until 26 July, visitors can also explore TIME OUT .14, a temporary exhibition bringing together some of the latest experiments in contemporary media art.
BILBAO
Designed by Frank Gehry, the Guggenheim Bilbao brings together two major retrospectives this summer devoted to leading figures of post-war American art. Ruth Asawa, best known for her delicate suspended sculptures made from woven metal wire, is presented through six decades of work. Jasper Johns, the painter, sculptor and printmaker who transformed everyday symbols such as flags, targets, letters and numbers into now-iconic images, is the subject of Night Driver, an exhibition of around 140 works ranging from the 1950s to his most recent pieces. Two compelling reasons to return to a museum that remains one of contemporary architecture’s defining landmarks.
VENEZIA
With the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, titled In Minor Keys, Venice once again becomes a centre of international debate on contemporary art. Alongside the main exhibition and the national pavilions, the city comes alive with installations, private foundations and exhibitions spread throughout Venice, turning each sestiere into part of a vast city-wide cultural programme.
Biennale Arte 2026
© DSL Studio
Tag: lifestyle Mostre Fuorisalone tips Fotografia Art Biennale di Venezia
© Fuorisalone.it — All rights reserved. — Published on 16 July 2026
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