photo via millvalleylibrary.net

Now that the sun is shining, get yourself and the family out of the house and into the world by seeing a great art exhibit at your local museum. It stimulates the mind and invigorates the soul! Hopefully, it also inspires you to continue building your own art collection at home. If your city or town is not listed below, check out this list of museums by state at art-collecting.com – the site is a great resource for all things art related:

Portrait of Robert Mapplethorpe Francesco Scavullo (United States, New York, 1921 – 2004) 1974 Photograph, Gelatin silver print

LOS ANGELES – LACMA at the J Paul Getty
Robert Mapplethorpe: The Perfect Medium
About 150 photographs, from the early 1970s through the 1990s, and drawn from the artist’s estate, provide a survey of his career.
Now – July 31, 2016

Image: Alice Neel. James Hunter Black Draftee, 1965. Oil on canvas. COMMA Foundation, Belgium, © The Estate of Alice Neel

NEW YORK – The Met Breuer
“Unfinished: Thoughts Left Visible.”
With 190 works, all unfinished, dating from the 15th century to today, this inaugural exhibition of this new outpost of the Met examines works that were never finished by the artists, exposing the creative process, and that in some cases were purposely left incomplete to signify an unresolved meaning.
Now – September 4, 2016

Wool coat by Oscar de la Renta for Elizabeth Arden, fall 1963. Image courtesy of Oscar de la Renta LLC

SAN FRANCISCO – de Young Museum
“Oscar de la Renta: The Retrospective.”
More than 130 couture items designed over five decades, in many cases for well-known personalities, trace the career of this influential designer. Right, a summer caftan by Mr. de la Renta from 1982.
Now – May 30, 2016

Mary Abbott, All Green, about 1954. Oil paint on linen, 49 x 45 1/8 in. Gift of Janis and Tom McCormick, 2013.250. Courtesy of McCormick Gallery, Chicago. © Mary Abbott

DENVER – Denver Art Museum
“Women of Abstract Expressionism.”
With more than 50 works made by Joan Mitchell, Helen Frankenthaler and others in the 1940s and ’50s, this exhibition celebrates the often overlooked female artists of this pivotal American movement.
June 12 – September 25, 2016

Robert Irwin in his studio, 1970. Photo: © 1970 Steve Kahn

WASHINGTON – Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
“Robert Irwin: All the Rules Will Change.”
A survey of the artist’s work from 1958 to 1970, as he turned from small abstract paintings to large acrylic discs and columns, and then his trademark site-specific works of light and space. The exhibition includes a new immersive installation by him.
April 7 – September 5, 2016

ATLANTA – High Museum
Basquiat: The Unknown Notebooks
This exhibit provides an unprecedented opportunity to peek inside an artist’s mind. These eight rare notebooks can be seen up close, sequentially, and in context with some of Basquiat’s major works. Come and experience his extraordinary talent for integrating word and image.
Now – May 29, 2016