Celebrated as one of the greatest modern artists, Joan Miró (1893–1983) developed a visual language that reflected his vision and energy in a variety of styles across many media. On view at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, Joan Miró: The Ladder of Escape reveals the politically engaged side of Miró through some 120 paintings and works on paper that span his entire career.

The Frick Collection (New York, U.S.), exhibits works by Pier Jacopo Alari de Bonacolsi, known as Antico. Works by Antico are rare, and this exhibition — the first of its kind in the United States — presents more than three-fourths of his extant oeuvre, assembled from American and European collections.

The MoMA (New York, USA) presents the U.S. premiere of Taryn Simon's (b. 1975, New York) photographic project A Living Man Declared Dead and Other Chapters. The work was produced over a four-year period (2008–11), during which the artist travelled around the world researching and documenting bloodlines and their related stories.

The Smithsonian American Art Museum (Washington, USA) presents African American Art: Harlem Renaissance, Civil Rights Era and Beyond, a show with a selection of works by 43 black artists who lived through the tremendous changes of the 20th century. In paintings, sculpture, prints and photographs, the featured artists embrace themes both universal and specific to the African American experience, including the exploration of identity, the struggle for equality, the power of music and the beauties and hardships of life in rural and urban America.

The Carnavalet Museum (Paris, France) presents the Parisian work of one of the most famous photographers of the 20th century, Eugène Atget (Libourne, 1857 - Paris, 1927).