Art History in the Making: The Marcel Duchamp Retrospective Opens at the Philadelphia Museum of Art

For anyone serious about modern and contemporary art, the exhibition of the decade has arrived in Philadelphia. Starting October 10, 2026, the Philadelphia Museum of Art will host a monumental Marcel Duchamp retrospective. This marks the first major U.S. survey of the pioneering artist’s work in over 50 years.

If you are planning a trip to Philadelphia this fall or winter, this exhibition is an absolute must-see to add to your itinerary.

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What to Expect at the Exhibition

Occupying the museum's Dorrance Galleries, the exhibition brings together approximately 300 works that span six decades of Duchamp’s revolutionary, multifaceted career. Co-organized with the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the collection arrives in Philadelphia following its spring and summer debut in New York.

The retrospective offers a rare deep dive into the evolution of an artist who completely restructured the philosophical framework of how we understand art, authorship, and aesthetic value. Here are some of the defining highlights you can expect to see:

• The Early Years & Cubism: The exhibit opens chronologically, showcasing Duchamp’s early drawings, cartoons, and paintings. A major highlight here is his legendary Cubist masterpiece, Nude Descending a Staircase (No. 2) (1912).
• The Readymades: Perhaps his most famous contribution to 20th-century art, Duchamp's "readymades" challenged the art world by presenting manufactured objects as works of art. You will see comprehensive replicas of iconic pieces like Bicycle Wheel (1913), Bottle Rack (1914), and the notorious Fountain (1917).
• The Large Glass: A dedicated section explores the exacting process and preparatory materials behind his monumental work on glass, The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even (The Large Glass), which he spent nearly a decade planning and executing.
• Box in a Valise: Visitors will be treated to the most extensive presentation to date of this conceptually rich work—essentially a portable museum folded into a suitcase. It will feature three deluxe examples, a complete set of standard copies, and never-before-seen preparatory materials.
• The Final Secret: The show closes with a look into the works Duchamp created in secret during the last two decades of his life. This section gathers studies that informed his final immersive installation at the PMA, Étant donnés.

Exhibition Details for Your Itinerary

Curated by Matthew Affron of the PMA, alongside MoMA's Ann Temkin and Michelle Kuo, the exhibition is accompanied by a richly illustrated catalogue. Whether you are a lifelong admirer of his feminine alter-ego Rrose Sélavy, or you are just discovering his optical illusions and language games, the depth of this collection is truly unparalleled.

• Location: Dorrance Galleries, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2600 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, PA 19130.
• Dates: October 10, 2026, through January 31, 2027.
• Pricing: General admission is $30 for adults, $28 for seniors, $14 for students with a valid ID, and free for youth 18 and under. The museum also offers Pay What You Wish admission on the first Sunday of every month.
• Website & Tickets: You can learn more and book tickets on the Philadelphia Museum of Art's official website.

Penn Museum Invites Visitors to "Please Touch"

Contributed by Kathy Matheson, AP.

Angel Ayala touches a quartzite likeness of Ramesses II at the Penn Museum in Philadelphia, Monday Nov. 25, 2013. Ayala, 16 and blind since birth, touched ancient Egyptian artifacts at the University of Pennsylvania archaeology museum as part of a special tour for the blind and visually impaired. (AP Photo/Jacqueline Larma)

 Angel Ayala has never been a big fan of museums. Blind since birth, the high school student says the exhibits are so sight-dependent that he can't enjoy them.

But he's making an exception for the Penn Museum, an archaeology and anthropology center that offers touch tours for the blind and visually impaired. Ayala can now feel the eroded limestone of an ancient Egyptian sarcophagus and the intricate hieroglyphs on the statue of a pharaoh.

"When I touch things, it's my version of a sighted person's eyes. It tells me way more than a person describing it would ever," Ayala said.

The institution, which is part of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, began offering the tours last year in an effort to make their extensive collections more accessible. Museums should serve the community at large, and that includes the unsighted as well as the sighted, said program coordinator Trish Maunder.

"Just because a person has low vision or can't see, doesn't mean that they're not completely interested in culture or learning about ancient artifacts," Maunder said.

Most major U.S. metro areas have at least one museum that offers some type of hands-on experience, from touching objects with bare hands or gloves to feeling replicas, according to Art Beyond Sight, a group that makes visual culture accessible to the blind and visually impaired.

Such accommodations began well before the Americans with Disabilities Act and have increased as museums "have transformed from institutions that house objects to institutions that work with audiences," said Nina Levent, executive director of the New York-based art organization.

Museums that don't offer tactile tours often have personal or audio guides for the blind. But Levent contends that developing touch components can benefit a wide range of visitors, including children's groups and students with learning disabilities.

"I'd be hard-pressed to think of an audience that does not want to touch," Levent said.

The Penn Museum has held hands-on tours twice each Monday - when the building is otherwise closed - for the past two fall seasons.

Ayala's recent visit came during a field trip with about a dozen classmates from the Overbrook School for the Blind. The students got to feel a quartzite likeness of Ramesses II, a black basalt statue of the goddess Sakhmet and two stone coffins. Smaller reproductions of the pharaoh and deity were available for those not tall enough to touch the tops of the statues.

Students sanitized their hands before feeling the pieces, which were pre-selected by conservators. Though thousands of years old, the artifacts shouldn't be damaged by clean fingers and a light touch, Maunder said.

The free tours include a classroom lesson on how Egyptians prepared a body for burial. Students jiggled a gelatin mold of the brain - which is removed during the mummification process - and handled facsimiles of relics found in tombs. They also felt ancient linen, smelled scented oils and touched a reproduction of a mummy.

Overall, the museum is engaging with nearly 250 blind or visually impaired people this fall, up about 32 percent from last year, Maunder said. Educators are already planning next season's curriculum on ancient Rome.

The response from participants has been encouraging, said docent Austin Seraphin, who is also blind and helped develop the tour.

"Everyone seems really happy," Seraphin said. "We asked them to fill out surveys and reportedly we've been getting universally positive reaction. The one complaint we get is that students wish it were longer."

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Abandoned Philly Prison Adds Screams For Halloween

Contributed by Kathy Matheson, AP.

In this Friday, Sept. 27, 2013 photo, an actor portraying a zombie guard interacts with a visitor during the Halloween haunted house Terror Behind the Walls, at Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia. The penitentiary took in its first inmate in 1829, closed in 1971 and reopened as a museum in 1994. The haunted house is scheduled to run through Nov. 9. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

 An abandoned prison would seem creepy enough around Halloween. Now add blood-curdling screams and gruesome characters who can reach out and grab you.

That's the formula for "Terror Behind the Walls," the signature scarefest at historic Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, which is billed as the nation's largest haunted house outside an amusement park and staged for several weeks each fall at one of the city's most unusual tourist sites.

With its castle-like walls and decaying cell blocks, the deserted complex already conveys a particularly menacing air. What better place for gory scenes and sinister sound effects?

"The building is abandoned, and it's beautiful, and it's eerie, and it was built to intimidate," said Sean Kelley, director of public programming. "People travel from all over the country to come here for Halloween."

As daring souls slink and cringe their way through the decaying property, deranged prisoners accost them for stepping on the wrong turf; overwhelmed guards scream for help; infirmary patients howl in pain under the care of disturbed doctors. In a psychedelic 3-D room, what looks like a wall ... is not.

For the easily frightened, there has always been some measure of comfort knowing that the actors are not allowed to actually touch them. Yet this year, the bravest visitors can opt for a glow-in-the-dark necklace that indicates their willingness to interact with performers.

City resident Raj Kumar, who wore the so-called zombie bait, said he got squirted with water while his wife was pulled through a secret tunnel.

"It's much more nerve-racking once you have the (necklace) on and you know people are sneaking up on you," Kumar said.

Eastern State Penitentiary was an architectural marvel when it opened in 1829, boasting indoor plumbing and heat even before the White House. Gangster Al Capone was among the most famous inmates before the prison closed in 1971. The site decayed for years before tours began in 1994.

"Terror Behind the Walls," which started 22 years ago, draws more than a thousand people on many nights. Proceeds provide about 60 percent of the annual budget for the property, which is now a National Historic Landmark.

Amy Hollaman, the show's creative director, said planning goes on year-round and sets are built months in advance. And each evening just before dark, about 130 performers converge on a makeup and costume room to be turned into gruesome characters.

Actress Jude Feingold, who has regularly performed Shakespeare, was happy to play an ax murderer on one recent night. Now in her fourth season at Eastern State, Feingold said she returns each year because of the great cast and crew - and for the satisfaction of scaring big, tough guys in baseball caps.

"I think it has a really good spirit," she said.

Speaking of which: Are there really ghosts at Eastern State? Prison officials say people who study the paranormal believe the site is one of the most haunted places in the U.S.

Hollaman once heard a series of unnerving, unexplained noises while working late a few years ago. Petrified and unable to speak, she left immediately.

"Thousands of people ... have lived and worked here. There's been a lot of intense experiences inside this building," Hollaman said. "It's hard to imagine that they haven't left a trace."

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If You Go...

EASTERN STATE PENITENTIARY: Philadelphia, http://www.easternstate.org/halloween