Inventing the Modern World: Decorative Arts at the World’s Fairs, 1851–1939
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
April 14, 2012 – Aug 19, 2012
Inventing the Modern World: Decorative Arts at the World’s Fairs, 1851–1939, a groundbreaking exhibition of extraordinary objects representing the pinnacle of science and artistic ingenuity, opens at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art April 14, 2012, and runs through Aug. 19 of that year. It then travels to Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, from Oct. 13, 2012–Feb. 24, 2013.

Heavens: Photographs of the Sky & Cosmos
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
June 15 – November 13
Humankind has long been fascinated with the realms above us. For more than 150 years, photographers have looked to the heavens for inspiration and personal expression.

James Naismith thumbtacked the freshly typed 13 rules for his new game, Basket Ball, to a gymnasium bulletin board in December 1891. Now nearly 120 years later, the public will have its first chance to see the landmark document that launched a cultural legacy in a display at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. James Naismith’s Original Rules of Basket Ball opens to the public Saturday, March 5, in Kirkwood Hall at the Museum.

Bingham@200
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
March 9 – Oct. 2 2011
To honor the 200th birthday of George Caleb Bingham, the esteemed artist who depicted Missouri frontier life, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art will launch a bicentennial exhibition, Bingham@200

Monet’s Water Lilies
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
April 9 – August 7
For the first time in more than 30 years, all three panels of a remarkable water lily triptych by the preeminent Impressionist Claude Monet will be on view together, from April 9 to Aug. 7, at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. The exhibition reunites the right-hand panel, from the Nelson-Atkins collection, with panels owned by the Saint Louis Art Museum and the Cleveland Museum of Art. The three were last exhibited together in 1979. With the exception of a triptych in New York’s Museum of Modern Art, this is the only Monet triptych in the United States.