45 galleries along Madison Avenue on Manhattan's Upper East Side will open their doors for the free Madison Avenue Spring Art Walk on Saturday, May 13, 2026, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Participating spaces include the newly opened Gagosian gallery, which is showing a Marcel Duchamp exhibition, as well as Di Donna (featuring Salvador Dalí works) and Acquavella Galleries (featuring Henri Matisse works). Several galleries will host artist talks, including Luxembourg + Co. on motorized technologies in 20th-century art and D Lan Galleries on Australian First Nations art. The event is co-hosted by the Madison Avenue Business Improvement District and ARTnews, and has been held every May and October since 2008.
The event matters because it offers the public free, welcoming access to some of the world's most renowned commercial galleries, many housed in historic landmark mansions. By removing typical barriers to entry, the Art Walk encourages broader engagement with both contemporary and master works, and highlights the cultural and architectural richness of the Upper East Side. It also underscores the role of gallery districts in making high-level art accessible beyond the traditional collector base.