The upcoming New York art season is set to highlight a range of exhibitions encompassing both landmark retrospectives and socially engaged works. At the Whitney Museum of American Art, a major retrospective titled “Roy Lichtenstein: Like New” opens on October 11, offering a comprehensive survey of the artist’s career. Lichtenstein, a key figure in the Pop art movement who died in 1997, drew inspiration from commercial advertising, comic strips, and film. His work evolved over time to incorporate more painterly techniques while maintaining critical engagement with cultural and political issues of his era, including the Vietnam War and feminist movements. Alongside this career overview, a smaller show focusing on the artist’s final works is currently on view.

European Modernism will be another notable highlight, with “Brancusi: The Artist and His Studio” opening at the Museum of Modern Art on October 25 and running through February 27. The exhibition centers on the Romanian-born sculptor Constantin Brancusi, whose innovative work in early 20th-century Paris reshaped modern sculpture. The show features selections from Brancusi’s Paris studio collection, on loan from Centre Pompidou, as that institution undergoes renovation.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s “Krasner and Pollock: Past Continuous” (October 4–January 31) aims to broaden traditional narratives about Modernism by examining the intertwined careers of Lee Krasner and Jackson Pollock. The couple, who met in the 1940s and married, were central figures in postwar American art, though Krasner’s contributions long remained overshadowed by Pollock’s fame. The exhibition intends to highlight their shared stylistic influences and Krasner’s distinct artistic voice, challenging prevailing assumptions about their creative partnership.

Themes of social justice and activism emerge prominently this season amid ongoing debates over cultural representation. The New Museum’s retrospective “Arthur Jafa: I Am Tony” (now through January 31) showcases the Los Angeles-based filmmaker and artist whose work has become synonymous with the visual language of the Black Lives Matter movement. Jafa’s films, beginning with the acclaimed 2016 piece “Love Is the Message, The Message Is Death,” explore African American identity through powerful aesthetic, political, and existential lenses.

At the Art Institute of Chicago, the exhibition “Beatriz González: In Series and Full Color” (November 14–March 1) honors the late Colombian artist, who passed earlier this year at age 93. González’s work, rooted in mass media imagery, reflects her lifelong engagement with Colombia’s turbulent realities of military conflict and civilian suffering. While a 1998 retrospective at El Museo del Barrio highlighted her painting and sculpture, the Chicago show will focus on her drawings and prints, noted for their sharp wit and poignant emotional resonance.

Also addressing narratives of resistance and historical memory, the Museum of Modern Art will present “Nilima Sheikh: Fractured Skies” (September 27–June 13), a U.S. survey of the Indian artist’s work. Sheikh’s vibrant, large-scale narrative paintings document the fraught history of Kashmir, portraying themes of rebellion and repression through intricate visual storytelling.

Looking ahead, spring exhibits will further explore personal and political histories. The Detroit Institute of Arts will mount “Caravaggio’s Models: Friends, Lovers, Rivals” (March 21–July 18), presenting one of the largest U.S. selections of portraits associated with the turbulent Baroque master known for his dramatic life and work. Meanwhile, the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery will debut “Wendy Red Star: Whispering Spirit” in April, featuring new portrait-based works by the Apisáalooke artist engaging with Indigenous histories, following her contribution to a recent memorial on the National Mall.

This fall also marks the launch of “Halumii Ktapihna: Lenape Legacies and Futures” at the Museum of the City of New York, a multimedia exploration of the Lenape people’s history and enduring presence in the region. Opening concurrently is “Raise Your Voice: New York Activism,” a showcase of cultural institutions’ roles in preserving historical memory and resisting erasure. Both shows will inaugurate the museum’s newly renovated Puffin Foundation Center for Social Activism.

Meanwhile, after significant delays, Los Angeles will welcome the opening of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art on Tuesday. Founded by filmmaker George Lucas and Mellody Hobson, the institution aims to present visual storytelling in its many contemporary forms—including film, comics, and fine art—drawing on its extensive media-spanning collection. As cultural institutions grapple with contested narratives in an era of deep political polarization, questions persist about which stories will be represented and how.