6 enthralling US museum exhibitions to view this spring

A fresh perspective on Marilyn Monroe, a celebration of Edmonia Lewis’ intricate marble sculptures and a first-of-its-kind Raphael retrospective are a small sampling of the absorbing museum exhibitions opening across the U.S. this spring. Here are six not to miss.

‘Cursed! The Power of Magic in the Ancient World,’ Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio

Bronze sculptures, amulets, wands, gems, curse tablets and other artifacts on display in “Cursed! The Power of Magic in the Ancient World” offer fascinating insights into the supernatural technologies and rituals of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece and Rome between 2000 BCE and 300 CE. About 75 objects are part of the exhibition, including items on loan from the Louvre, British Museum and The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Visitors can expect to learn more about the “remarkable similarities between the magical practices of the ancient world and perceptions of magic today,” said guest curator Dr. Jeffrey Spier. “Magicians, witches and ghosts like those in our fairy tales and movies have roots in the ancient world.” (March 21 through July 5)

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‘Edmonia Lewis: Said in Stone,’ Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts

Edmonia Lewis, a Black and Indigenous sculptor from New York, “achieved improbable mobility and international fame” during the 19th century, said The New York Times. Her neoclassical marble sculptures of “emancipated African Americans” and “powerful historical women like Cleopatra” were displayed around the world. She is finally getting her first — and long overdue — major retrospective at the Peabody Essex Museum, an exhibition a “decade in the making.”

Curators from Peabody Essex and co-organizer Georgia Museum of Art traveled the country to find some of Lewis’ lost treasures, including “Forever Free,” an 1867 depiction of a man and woman with broken shackles. In total, 30 sculptures, “almost half of Lewis’ known output,” are part of the exhibition, which is rounded out by photographs, Indigenous objects, correspondence from friends and artwork by her contemporaries. (through June 7 at Peabody Essex; Aug. 8 through Jan. 3, 2027, at Georgia Museum of Art)

‘Kawai Kanjiro: House to House,’ Japan Society, New York City

Kawai Kanjiro, a co-founder of Japan’s mingei (folk art) movement, had a long and storied career, crafting pottery and poetry until his death in 1966. In this exhibition, Kawai’s first U.S. retrospective, the artist’s story and his contributions to the ceramics world are told through wooden sculptures, masks, calligraphy and poetry. These works are from his personal collection, rarely seen outside the Kawai Kanjiro House museum in Kyoto (March 10 through May 10)

‘Marilyn Monroe: Hollywood Icon,’ Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, Los Angeles

You might think you know Marilyn Monroe, but this exhibition, timed to coincide with what would have been her 100th birthday, promises to give new insight into her life and how she became one of Hollywood’s most enduring stars. The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures invites visitors to examine the “many facets” of Monroe, born Norma Jeane Mortenson, and how she “created and shaped her public image in the context of the classical Hollywood studio system.”

Hundreds of posters, photographs, letters and personal effects will shed light on how Norma became Marilyn, and how Marilyn became a global phenomenon still in the spotlight more than 60 years after her death. The exhibition also features several of her most famous costumes, including the gorgeous (and rarely displayed) fuchsia dress she wore in “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.” (May 31, 2026 through Feb. 28, 2027)

‘Raphael: Sublime Poetry,’ The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City

This “monumental” display of Raphael’s work “reconstructs” the artist’s entire career, with a special emphasis on his “depictions of women” and “mastery across media,” said Artforum. Raphael, born Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, has long been revered as one of the greatest artists in history, and “Sublime Poetry” includes more than 200 of his most renowned drawings, paintings and tapestries from both public and private collections. Works on loan include “The Virgin and Child with Infant Saint John the Baptist in Landscape (The Alba Madonna)” from the National Gallery of Art and “Portrait of Baldassarre Castiglione” from the Louvre. (March 29 through June 28)

‘Timeless Mucha,’ The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri

The striking graphics of Czech painter and illustrator Alphonse Mucha still resonate today, more than a century after his posters for Sarah Bernhardt productions catapulted him to fame. “Timeless Mucha” is a “sprawling revisit” of more than 100 of his “iconic” works that “captured the look and spirit” of French Art Nouveau, said Artnet. Several of his Bernhardt designs will be displayed, along with “Japanese manga, psychedelic rock posters from the 1960s and Marvel comics” that “borrowed and built” on Mucha’s “bold visual language.” (April 18 through Aug. 30)