AGO announces 2026 exhibition line-up featuring Paul McCartney, Monet and Melissa Auf der Maur, and Sunday Best, an exhibition exploring Black style

Rarely seen works by influential Toronto modernist Edna Taçon to go on view 

Construction continues on the Dani Reiss Modern and Contemporary Gallery ahead of Spring 2027 opening 

TORONTO – Today, the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) announces its exhibitions on view in 2026. From Impressionism to the ‘90s Alt-rock scene, the AGO continues to bring together a diverse range of people, places, and ideas by presenting exceptional art experiences. Among the eight new exhibitions premiering in 2026 are Melissa Auf der Maur: My ‘90s Photographs (opening September 2026) and Sunday Best, an exploration of Black style and self-fashioning (opening October 2026). Making their Canadian debuts are The Impressionist Revolution: Monet to Matisse from the Dallas Museum of Art (opening June 2026) and Paul McCartney Photographs 1963-1964: Eyes of the Storm (opening February 2026).  

Great art experiences at the AGO are made possible in part by the support of AGO Members. Members always see special exhibitions first and see them for free. For more information about the benefits of AGO Membership, visit ago.ca/membership. 

“From fin-de-siècle Paris to The Ed Sullivan Show, from the shores of Georgian Bay to New York Fashion Week and Lollapalooza, the artists on view in 2026 are as diverse as Toronto, and yet bound by a common desire to create art that reflects the changing worlds in which they live,” says Julian Cox, AGO Deputy Director & Chief Curator. “Through these artists’ eyes, we see worlds both nostalgic and new, and we welcome visitors to journey with us.”  

“The Art Gallery of Ontario consistently delivers exciting exhibitions that wow visitors with an exciting selection of art and culture, and the line-up for 2026 is no different,” said Stan Cho, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Gaming. “From a rocking photo retrospective from Paul McCartney to a Sunday Best tribute to style in Black culture and the Canadian debut of an impressionist revolution, the beautiful AGO has once again earned its place as one of the finest spaces for people of all ages to experience and enjoy classic, Indigenous, and contemporary art.” 

2026 is also a year of great anticipation at the museum, as construction on the new Dani Reiss Modern and Contemporary Gallery continues. Set to open in spring of 2027, the expansion will significantly increase space for the AGO’s growing collection of modern and contemporary art.  

Admission to the AGO and all special exhibitions is always free for Ontarians under 25, AGO Members, Annual Passholders, and Indigenous peoples. For more details visit ago.ca. 

Exhibitions opening at the AGO in 2026 include: 

Opening February 18, 2026, from Paul McCartney’s personal archive and the National Portrait Gallery, London, England, comes Paul McCartney Photographs 1963-1964: Eyes of the Storm.  Featuring more than 250 intimate and historic photographs, shown alongside video clips and archival materials, the exhibition captures both the intensity of The Beatles’ touring schedule and the energy of the era, as well as more intimate views of his bandmates John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. Curated by Paul McCartney with Sarah Brown for MPL Communications and Rosie Broadley for the National Portrait Gallery, the presentation at the Art Gallery of Ontario is organized by Jim Shedden, AGO Curator, Special Projects & Director, Publishing.  The exhibition will run through June 7, 2026.  

Opening February 28, 2026, Edna Taçon is an exhibition of rarely seen paintings and works on paper by the late Toronto-based artist (1905-1980). Canada’s leading proponent of non-objective art, Taçon was a prominent figure in the Toronto and New York City art world throughout the 1940s, where she had a crucial impact on the development of abstract painting. The exhibition features more than 25 oil paintings, watercolours, and paper collages, shown alongside archival materials. Curated by Renée van der Avoird, AGO Associate Curator of Canadian Art, the exhibition will be accompanied by a hardcover catalogue, co-published by Goose Lane Editions. The exhibition will run through August 31, 2026. 

Opening on March 7, 2026,  Elizabeth Wyn Wood  is a focused presentation of sculptures from the AGO Collection, highlighting the Ontario artist's interest in landscape and figuration. Renowned for her simplified designs, natural forms, and material experimentation, the exhibition features three recent acquisitions, including Sending  and Receiving  (both 1958), full size architectural models for Toronto’s Maclean-Hunter Building. Depicting nude figures floating in celestial landscapes, their carved details are highlighted by sparkling gold leaf inlay. Curated by Renée van der Avoird, AGO Associate Curator of Canadian Art, this installation will be on view through 2027.  

Opening June 5, 2026, Diego Marcon marks the acclaimed Italian artist's Canadian debut. Incorporating CGI, prosthetics, and robotics, Marcon’s cinematic vision draws on Hollywood musicals, horror films, melodrama, and slapstick to present films both unsettling and tender. At the centre of this installation is his newest work, Krapfen (2025). Diego Marcon is organized by the Art Gallery of Ontario and The Vega Foundation. The exhibition is curated by John Zeppetelli, Guest Curator, and Julia Paoli, Director and Curator, at The Vega Foundation, with Kate Whiteway, Assistant Curator. Diego Marcon’s Krapfen is co-commissioned and made possible by Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Lafayette Anticipations, New Museum, the Renaissance Society, and The Vega Foundation with additional support from Sadie Coles HQ, London, and Galerie Buchholz, Berlin/Cologne/New York. The exhibition will run through October 4, 2026. 
 
Opening June 24, 2026, The Impressionist Revolution: Monet to Matisse from the Dallas Museum of Art reveals the sweeping arc of a pivotal movement and its considerable impact on two successive generations of avant-garde painters. Highlighting the unique innovations of its core members, among them Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, and Berthe Morisot, and the many artists who built upon and reacted against their work, from Paul Gauguin and Vincent van Gogh to Piet Mondrian and Henri Matisse, the exhibition is organized by the Dallas Museum of Art and makes its Canadian debut at the AGO. Curated by Dr. Nicole R. Myers, the DMA’s Chief Curatorial and Research Officer and The Barbara Thomas Lemmon Senior Curator of European Art, the AGO presentation will be led by Dr. Caroline Shields, AGO Curator of European Art. The exhibition will be on view through October 18, 2026. 

Opening July 25, 2026, Dawoud Bey presents works from the acclaimed artist’s three landscape-based projects: Night Coming Tenderly, Black; In This Here Place; and Stony the Road. The centrepiece of this focused installation is 350,000 (2023) a two-channel video that reimagines the journey made by 350,000 enslaved Africans along the Richmond Slave Trail between 1830 and 1860. Presented at the AGO in partnership with the Toronto Biennial of Art 2026, this exhibition is curated by Allison Glenn, Curator of the 2026 Toronto Biennial of Art and will be on view through spring 2027.   
 
Opening September 2026, Melissa Auf der Maur: My ‘90s Photographs presents an intimate portrait of the last analogue decade, through the lens of Canadian musician Melissa Auf der Maur. As bass player for iconic 90s alternative rock bands Hole and The Smashing Pumpkins, Auf der Maur toured the world, documenting life backstage, onstage, and in the crowd. Featuring more than 200 photographs, the exhibition is a time capsule of Generation X, co-curated by Sophie Hackett, AGO Curator of Photography and Jim Shedden, AGO Curator, Special Projects & Director, Publishing.  The exhibition will be on view through Spring 2027.  
 
Opening September 12, 2026, Brian Groombridge is the Toronto-based sculptor and printmaker's first AGO solo exhibition. Featuring a selection of new acquisitions, including Two Views of a Past (1992), a print juxtaposing images by Albrecht Dürer and geometry by architect Mies van der Rohe, the exhibition highlights Groombridge’s interest in graphic devices, time, space, measurement, and perception. Curated by Renée van der Avoird, AGO Associate Curator of Canadian Art, this installation will be on view through March 2027. 

Opening October 2026, Sunday Best traces the histories of migration, activism, self-determination, and fashion design, woven into the enduring ritual of dressing in one's “best” clothing. Featuring fashion, visual art, ephemera, and time-based media, this expansive exhibition considers the use of style and self-fashioning in Black diasporic communities, from the 1880s to the present. Making its world debut in Toronto, Sunday Best is conceived and curated by Dr. Julie Crooks (Curator, Arts of Global Africa & the Diaspora, AGO) and Dr. Jason Cyrus (Associate Lecturer, London College of Fashion), with Amanda Bock (The Lynne and Harold Honickman Assistant Curator of Photographs,  Philadelphia Art Museum), and Clare Sauro (Cara Keegan Fry Curator at the Robert and Penny Fox Historic Costume Collection at Drexel University). The exhibition design is in consultation with U.K.-based JA Projects architecture and design firm. Sunday Best is organized by the Art Gallery of Ontario and the Philadelphia Art Museum. The exhibition will be on view through February 2027 in Toronto, before opening at the Philadelphia Art Museum in Spring 2027.  

Opening October 17, 2026, In Plain Sight: Highlights from the AGO’s Collection of Historic Picture Frames presents more than 30 wooden frames from the AGO’s Collection.  Dating from the 16th to 19th centuries and sourced from across Europe, these intricate artworks offer a survey of this often-overlooked artform. Curated by Adam Harris Levine, AGO Associate Curator, European Art, Eric Birkle, Marie Zimmermann Fellow European Art, and Julia Campbell-Such, Assistant Conservator, Frames, the exhibition will run through early 2027.