NORTHEAST
BOSTON "Chihuly: Through the Looking Glass." Dale Chihuly, the popular glass artist, fills a new courtyard and gallery space with new and historical works, including the 40-foot "Lime Green Icicle Tower" and several chandeliers. April 10 to Aug. 7. Museum of Fine Arts, 465 Huntington Avenue; (617) 367-9300; mfa.org.
PORTLAND, ME. "John Marin: Modernism at Midcentury." After moving to northern Maine in 1933, Marin grew more innovative. Inspired by that coast and Manhattan's architecture, he turned out the modern, often abstract works — 60 on view here — that made his reputation. June 23 to Oct. 10. Portland Museum of Art, 7 Congress Square; (207) 775-6148; portlandmuseum.org.
SALEM, MASS. "Golden: Dutch and Flemish Masterworks From the Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Collection." This internationally acclaimed collection makes its public debut, showing masterworks by the leading artists of the golden age of Dutch paintings: Rembrandt, Frans Hals, Jan Brueghel and others. The works are set amid 17th-century Dutch and Flemish decorative arts. Through June 19. Peabody Essex Museum, 161 Essex Street; (978) 745-9500; pem.org.
WILLIAMSTOWN, MASS. "Pissarro's People." Never mind Camille Pissarro's pleasant Impressionist landscapes. In these 50 paintings and 36 works on paper are a less-explored aspect of his works: portrayals of his family, his artist friends and his acquaintances. June 12 to Oct. 2. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 225 South Street; (413) 458-2303; clarkart.edu.
MID-ATLANTIC
NEWARK "Tsongkhapa — The Life of a Tibetan Visionary." Part of a "Tibet Collection Centennial," this show features a complete set, one of only three known to exist, of biographical paintings of Tsongkhapa (1357-1419), the founder of the Gelug religious order, whose most notable member is the Dalai Lama. This set is shown in its entirety for the first time. Through Aug. 14. Newark Museum, 49 Washington Street; (973) 596-6550; newarkmuseum.org.
NEW YORK "Lyonel Feininger: At the Edge of the World." In his first American retrospective in more than 40 years, Feininger will be shown in his full breadth: romantic landscapes and seascapes, expressionist compositions, photographs, hand-carved wooden figures, even newspaper comic strips. June 30 to Oct. 23. Whitney Museum, 945 Madison Avenue; (212) 570-3600; whitney.org.
PHILADELPHIA "Rembrandt and the Face of Jesus." This fascinating exhibition aims to show how Rembrandt gave Christ a Jewish appearance for the first time in history. The show includes 23 paintings, 29 drawings and 9 prints, including 7 panel paintings of the head of Jesus by the master and his followers that have never before been shown together. Aug. 3 to Oct. 30. Philadelphia Museum of Art, Benjamin Franklin Parkway at 26th Street; (215) 763-8100; philamuseum.org.
WASHINGTON "Gauguin: Maker of Myth." Some 100 pictures shed new light on Gauguin's career by viewing him as a teller of tall tales, creator of archetypal females and seeker of an earthly paradise. Through June 11. National Gallery of Art, National Mall between Third and Seventh Streets at Constitution Avenue NW; (202) 737-4215; nga.gov.
WASHINGTON "Philip Guston, Roma." Rome was magical for Guston: he drank in the landscape and meditated on the works of Renaissance and modernist masters. With some 40 paintings made in 1970-71, this exhibition shows Guston developing the pared-down forms and narrative threads that led him to new directions in his late paintings. Through May 15. Phillips Collection, 1600 21st Street NW; (202) 387-2151; phillipscollection.org.
MIDWEST
CHICAGO "Susan Philipsz: We Shall Be All." Ms. Philipsz, the 2010 Turner Prize winner, explores Chicago's political history through a sound-based installation. Visitors move through a space hearing voices, sometimes in a radically different and physically disorienting manner. Through June 12. Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 East Chicago Avenue; (312) 280-2660; mcachicago.org.
CHICAGO "Kings, Queens, and Courtiers: Art in Early Renaissance France." A sumptuous array of 120 objects, this exhibition demonstrates the glorious results that occurred when French 16th-century kings invaded Italy and brought back Renaissance styles. The fusion with gothic art produced elegant altarpieces, tapestries, stained-glass windows and more. Through May 30. Art Institute of Chicago, 111 South Michigan Avenue; (312) 443-3600; artic.edu/aic.
CLEVELAND "The Art of Daily Life: Portable Objects From Southeast Africa." Some 75 objects created by the Ndebele, Nguni, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga and Zulu peoples in the 19th and 20th centuries will be on view. Beer vessels, beadwork, pipes, headrests and staffs made of wood, ivory, horn, cloth, glass beads and clay signify status, gender and age — or play a role in religious practices. April 16 through Feb. 26, 2012. Cleveland Museum of Art, 11150 East Boulevard; (216) 421-7350; clevelandart.org.
KANSAS CITY, MO. "Revelation: Major Paintings by Jules Olitski." At Olitski's death in 2007, opinion about him was split: did he advance abstraction and foreshadow minimalism, or simply create decorative works? This exhibition of 30 works presents an overview of his career, allowing a new assessment. May 20 through Aug. 21. Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, 4420 Warwick Boulevard; (816) 753-5784; kemperart.org.
MILWAUKEE "Frank Lloyd Wright: Organic Architecture for the 21st Century." In celebration of the centennial of Wright's home and school, Taliesin, this show will use rare drawings, models, photos and home movies to examine what Wright's designs can teach today's architects. Through May 15. Milwaukee Art Museum, 700 North Art Museum Drive; (414) 224-3200; mam.org.
MINNEAPOLIS "Exposed: Voyeurism, Surveillance and the Camera Since 1870." By examining the shifting boundaries between seeing and spying, this show of more than 200 photographs, videos and installations reveals the ways photography has disclosed forbidden practices. "Exposed" is meant to provoke discussion on the tensions among the camera, art and society. Walker Art Center, 1750 Hennepin Avenue; (612) 375-7600; walkerart.org.
SOUTH
ATLANTA "Modern by Design." With loans from the design collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, this exhibition employs about 150 objects by 120 artists and designers to illustrate three groundbreaking moments in the 20th century. "High Design" will show 30 contemporary works from the museum's collection. June 4 to Aug. 14. High Museum, 1280 Peachtree Street NE; (404) 733-4444; high.org.
RICHMOND, VA. "Picasso: Masterpieces From the Musée National Picasso, Paris." This exhibition showcases 176 works produced during every major artistic period of Picasso's eight-decade career, drawn from the works that Picasso saved for his personal collection and thus to shape his legacy. Through May 15. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 200 North Boulevard; (804) 340-1400; http://vmfa.museum.
MIAMI "The Wilderness." This thematic exhibition, including works by David Brooks and Tacita Dean, explores "tamed versus untamed nature" in a selection of installations and presents competing definitions of the wilderness. The centerpiece is by Allan McCollum. March 27 to June 26. Miami Art Museum, 101 West Flagler Street; (305) 375-3000; miamiartmuseum.org.
NASHVILLE "Vishnu: Hinduism's Blue-Skinned Savior." The first major exhibition to focus on Vishnu, one of Hinduism's major gods, presents paintings, sculptures and ritual objects made in India from the fourth to the 20th centuries. Through May 29. Frist Center for the Visual Arts, 919 Broadway; (615) 244-3340; fristcenter.org.
HOUSTON "Helmut Newton: White Women, Sleepless Nights, Big Nudes." With more than 200 photographs, this show unites for the first time all of the works published in his groundbreaking books of 1976, 1978 and 1981. It is the first large-scale United States exhibition of his work. Often risqué, these life-size photos explore female identity through the naked female body, fashion and bondage. July 3 to Sept. 25. Museum of Fine Arts, 1001 Bissonnet; (713) 639-7300; mfah.org.
WEST
DENVER "Marvelous Mud: Adventures in Clay." A series of exhibitions celebrate the medium, including contemporary clay installations by Kim Dickey, Jeanne Quinn and Martha Russo, and displays of pre-Columbian vessels, African pots, Asian blue-on-white ceramics and high-tech ceramics. June 12 to Sept. 10. Denver Art Museum, 100 West 14th Avenue Parkway; (720) 865-5000; denverartmuseum.org.
LOS ANGELES "Paris: Life and Luxury" Drop in on 18th-century European society in this recreation of life in the elegant world of Rococo Paris. With its display of rarely seen furniture, fashion, silver, paintings, sculpture, musical instruments, clocks and books, this exhibition shows off quotidian activities from dressing to letter-writing to dining. April 26 to Aug. 7. Getty Museum, 1200 Getty Center Drive; (310) 440-7300; getty.edu.
LOS ANGELES "Gifts of the Sultan: The Arts of Giving at the Islamic Courts." Showcasing carpets, costumes, jewelry, illuminated books, carved and inlaid wood furnishings and other works from the eighth to the 19th centuries, this exhibit is the first to examine the widespread practice of gift-giving, a sign of power and piety, on the development of Islamic art. June 5 to Sept. 5. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 5905 Wilshire Boulevard; (323) 857-6000; lacma.org.
SAN FRANCISCO "The Steins Collect: Matisse, Picasso and the Parisian Avant-Garde." Some 200 works reunite the early 20th-century collections of Gertrude Stein, her brothers Leo and Michael, and sister-in-law Sarah, with an eye to demonstrating how important this family was in developing the taste for Picasso, Matisse Pierre Bonnard, Paul Cézanne, Juan Gris, Francis Picabia and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. May 21 to Sept. 6. Museum of Modern Art, 151 Third Street; (415) 357-4000; sfmoma.org.
SANTA FE, N.M. "Shared Intelligence: American Painting and the Photograph." This show, a look at the fraught relationship between 20th-century painting and photography, pairs photographs and paintings by artists including Chuck Close, Thomas Eakins, David Hockney, Georgia O'Keeffe and Charles Sheeler. It aims to show that the camera has often reinvigorated painting, even as photography has been informed by painting. May 20 to Sept. 11. Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, 217 Johnson Street; (505) 946-1000; okeeffemuseum.org.
SEATTLE "Beauty and Bounty: American Art in an Age of Exploration." America's great outdoors, captured by the most prominent 19th-century American landscape painters, is on view in more than 45 paintings and 60 large-plate photographs, drawn mainly from private collections. Albert Bierstadt's huge "Puget Sound on the Pacific Coast," with a narrative of the Northwest Coast peoples "who are the real subject of this painting," merits a special theaterlike gallery. June 30 to Sept. 11. Seattle Art Museum, 1300 First Avenue; (206) 654-3100; seattleartmuseum.org.