6 captivating new US museum exhibitions to see this summer

School is just about out for summer, but that doesn't mean learning has to end. Expand your mind at one of these six new museum exhibitions, including a look at 1940s design and an unprecedented display of Johannes Vermeer paintings.

'Against Time: The Noguchi Museum 40th Anniversary Reinstallation,' and 'Temitayo Ogunbiyi: You will wonder if we would have been friends,' Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, New York City

Japanese-American designer and artist Isamu Noguchi "found acclaim in everything he did — from sculpture to furniture," Elle Decor said. In celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum in Queens, the second floor installation curated by Noguchi before his death in 1988 is back on display for the first time since 2009. At the same time, the museum is hosting the first U.S. solo exhibition by Nigerian artist Temitayo Ogunbiyi, whose sculptures, paintings and drawings primarily center on the role of play in society. In addition to varied pieces from her career being on display, Ogunbiyi is also creating site-specific interactive installations. ("Against Time" runs through Jan. 11, 2026; "Temitayo Ogunbiyi" runs June 18–Nov. 2, 2025)

'Boom: Art and Design in the 1940s,' Philadelphia Museum of Art

"Boom: Art and Design in the 1940s" tells a "lot of stories" about a "decade that started austere and ended at the Golden Age of Capitalism in the 1950s," WHYY said. On display are 250 photographs, drawings, textiles, sculptures and other artifacts from the museum's permanent collection that examine a "lesser-acknowledged decade for creative innovation." The dresses section is a "showstopper" and includes three by Elsa Schiaparelli. It is fascinating to see World War II-era swimsuits made of maps and a shift to more "opulent" post-war designs, when fabric was no longer rationed. (Through Sept. 1)

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'Gustave Caillebotte: Painting His World,' The Art Institute of Chicago

This special exhibition promises to provide a "fresh look" at some of the French Impressionist artist's "most iconic works," the Chicago Tribune said. Gustave Caillebotte focused his brush on the familiar, painting his family, friends and sports enthusiasts he met while rowing and sailing. The centerpiece of "Painting His World" is Caillebotte's 1877 painting "Paris Street; Rainy Day," a "favorite for Art Institute visitors." (June 29-Oct. 5)

'Photography's New Vision: Experiments in Seeing,' High Museum of Art, Atlanta

The New Vision photography movement emerged in the 1920s, a "departure from traditional photographic methods" that instead favored "extreme angles and unusual viewpoints," the High Museum of Art said. "Photography's New Vision: Experiments in Seeing" takes more than 100 photographs, photograms, photomontages and light studies from the museum's collection and displays them in a way that traces the movement from its European beginnings to world renown. Hungarian photographer and Bauhaus professor László Moholy-Nagy, who gave the New Vision movement its name, is among the featured artists. (June 13-Jan. 4, 2026)

'Vermeer's Love Letters,' The Frick, New York City

After a five-year closure for renovations, The Frick is back open and ready to once again wow visitors. The "deft and elegant" Beaux Arts mansion now boasts larger exhibition spaces and a fresh auditorium "worthy of a museum so beloved by many," Vogue said. "Vermeer's Love Letters" is the first exhibition to open in the new special exhibition galleries and features three works by Johannes Vermeer: "Mistress and Maid," "The Love Letter" and "Woman Writing a Letter, with Her Maid." These pieces, which have never been displayed together before, are a mix of permanent collection items and loans from the Rijksmuseum and National Gallery of Ireland. (June 18 through Aug. 31)