New York City shines its brightest each December. There are plenty of impressive holiday displays to check out, including Macy’s classic Santaland, the Cartier mansion wrapped like a giant present, gingerbread façades at the Mark Hotel and Dior, and two million white lights illuminating Hudson Yards for “Shine Bright.” But if you want a more art-centered experience, we’ve got you covered with this list of holiday art shows to see this year.
“Christmas Tree and Neapolitan Baroque Crèche” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
November 25, 2025–January 6, 2026
A detail of the Met’s Neapolitan Baroque crèche and Christmas tree. Photo courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of Loretta Hines Howard, 1964.
The Met’s Christmas tree is an annual must-see, and for good reason—you’ve never seen another Nativity scene like this. The display at the foot of 20-foot-tall blue spruce isn’t just the Holy Family, shepherds, and Wise Men. There are over 50 animals and 70 figurines in this 18th-century Neapolitan Nativity scene, which recreates a whole Mediterranean harbor town, with silk-robed angels flying overhead in the branches of the tree. The museum is also honoring Hanukkah with the display of one of the world’s largest-known silver Hanukkah lamps, created in Lviv, Ukraine, in the late 19th-century (through January 8).
“The Origami Holiday Tree” at the American Museum of Natural History
November 24, 2025–January 20, 2026
A detail from the Origami Holiday Tree at the American Museum of Natural History. Photo: by Alvaro Keding, courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History, New York.
The Met isn’t the only museum with a beloved Christmas tree tradition. Each year, the AMNH works with OrigamiUSA on a holiday display featuring thousands of animals handcrafted from folded paper by artists from around the city, the country, and the world. This year’s 13-foot-tall tree is inspired by the museum’s new exhibition “Impact: The End of the Age of Dinosaurs.” The ornaments include all your favorite dinosaurs, but also pay homage to the evolutionary explosion that followed the mass extinction of the dinosaurs after an asteroid impact some 66 million years ago, which led to a new diversity of mammal species. While the tree features some new ornaments each year, the display also draws on archival origami, like a pterosaur folded for one of the museum’s first origami trees back in the 1970s.
“Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol” at the Morgan Library and Museum
November 25, 2025–January 11, 2026
Charles Dickens, , London: Chapman & Hall, (1843), illustration by John Leech depicting Marley’s Ghost. Courtesy of the Morgan Library & Museum.
Every year, the Morgan Library and Museum shines a spotlight on one of the gems of its collection: the original 66-page manuscript of Charles Dickens’s classic holiday tale . The curators are slowly working their way through the story, page by page—this year, Scrooge has come home only to see the knocker on his front door transform into the face of his late business partner, Jacob Marley. It’s an eerie portent of the ghostly visitations to come in the beloved story, which Dickens wrote in a remarkable six-week span, hurrying to publish for the holiday season.
Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center
December 3, 2025–mid January, 2026
View of a wire sculpture Christmas angel decoration located in the Channel Gardens promenade of Rockefeller Center Plaza, midtown Manhattan, New York City, December, 1955. This trumpeting angel created by artist Valerie Clarebout is an early version of the angel sculptures later placed on permanent display in 1969. Photo by Morse Collection/Gado/Getty Images.
This giant Norway spruce is probably the most famous Christmas tree in the world, but beyond its 50,000 multicolored LED lights and glittering Swarovski star designed by architect Daniel Libeskind, the display also features 12 angel sculptures that deserve a second look from art lovers—the first versions were designed in 1954 by British artist Valerie Clarebout. And this year also marks the return of Saks Fifth Avenue’s annual light show, which was sadly canceled in 2024. Illuminating the facade of the department store with sparkling diamond-shaped ornaments, the display runs every 10 minutes. The windows below are fully decked out as well, with each one celebrating a different New York City destination.
“Cynthia Talmadge” at Rockefeller Center
November 10, 2025–January 10, 2026
“Cynthia Talmadge” at Rockefeller Center. Photo: by Daniel Greer, courtesy of Art Production Fund.
While you’re checking out the tree, don’t miss the Rockefeller Center complex’s latest public art installation from Art Production Fund. It’s not strictly holiday-themed, but it does tie into New York City’s proud theater district, as well as cinema history. Cynthia Talmadge’s exhibition celebrates “Alan Smithee,” the name traditionally used when a director doesn’t want to be credited for work on a film. Here, she’s imagined a whole biography for the prolific filmmaker, who is now at work on a fictional Broadway musical. The project is brought to life in window vitrines and advertising displays in bold shades of fuchsia, sky blue, and acid green.
“Bergdorf Soirée” at Bergdorf Goodman
November 21, 2025–early 2026
“Party Animals” from “Bergdorf Soirée” at Bergdorf Goodman. Photo: by Ricky Zahavi and Angela Pham, courtesy of Bergdorf Goodman, New York.
The grand tradition of holiday window displays has been in decline for years now, but Bergdorf’s always does it up right for the Christmas season, and the current edition is no exception. A team of 100 artists led by Linda Fargo have worked for nine months to fashion a festive display featuring a series of wild parties. The individual tableaux are “Mad Hatters’ Bash,” “Masquerade Gala,” “Party Animals,” “Holiday Glow Up,” and “New Year’s Eve Countdown,” incorporating high fashion looks by the likes of Tom Ford, Valentino, Schiaparelli, and Marc Jacobs into handcrafted worlds featuring paper sculpture, mosaic, and other varied art mediums. And, for the first time in a decade, the magic continues inside, with the store’s ground floor transformed into a wintry snowscape inspired by the icy castle in the 1965 film . As always, the windows are free to see!
“The Rockettes 100th Anniversary: A Century of Sisterhood” at the Museum of Broadway
November 13, 2025–January 5, 2026
“The Rockettes 100th Anniversary: A Century of Sisterhood” at the Museum of Broadway with the “Parade of the Wooden Soldiers” costume by Vincente Minnelli. Photo: by Santiago Felipe, courtesy of the Museum of Broadway
It’s the 100th anniversary of the famed Rockefeller Center dance troupe the Rockettes. (Believe it or not, they were actually founded in St. Louis before making the trip east in 1932.) So, for the ninth exhibition at Times Square’s Museum of Broadway, the institution is spotlighting their history, including a display of their best costumes. These iconic looks include “Dancing in Diamonds” by Bob Mackie, “Sleigh Ride” by Gregg Barnes, “Candy Cane Bizzazz” by Pete Menefee, and, perhaps most famously, the “Parade of the Wooden Soldiers” by Vincente Minnelli, in which the 36 dancers slide to the floor, like dominoes. The dance, and the toy soldier costume, has been a Rockette staple since its introduction in 1933!
“Derrick Adams: Tree Huggers” at DUMBO House
November 28, 2025–January 1, 2026
“Derrick Adams: Tree Huggers” at DUMBO House. Photo: courtesy of Soho House.
In a truly delightful addition to the holiday art scene, Soho House has tapped the great Derrick Adams to create a forest of friendly Christmas trees at its “Soho Winterland”—a winter popup on its terrace, which is sandwiched between the Brooklyn and Williamsburg Bridges. Each tree is lit with colored lights, with puppet-like arms that seemed poised to greet you with a warm hug. It’s Soho House’s biggest ever outdoor art commission, and the perfect blend of Christmas cheer and the artist’s colorful, playful style.
“Lightscape” at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden
November 21, 2025–January 4, 2026
Mandylights, in “Lightscape” at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Photo: courtesy of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.
For the past four years, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden has invited light artists to transform its grounds by night, creating a mile-long illuminated trail crisscrossing its 52-acre grounds. This year, there are 19 glowing art installations, with evocative names like , a 100-foot-long gothic arch by Mandylights, and , lighting up the garden’s Cherry Esplanade—both returning favorites. New additions to the pagan-inspired display include the U.S. premiere of by Dutch duo Vendel and de Wolf, with hundreds of flickering LED tubes that seem to set the grounds afire like a smoldering hearth. And Mandylights has planted 3,000 glowing “flowers” across Oak Circle.
“Holiday Train Show” at the New York Botanical Garden
November 15, 2025–January 11, 2026
The New York Public Library in the New York Botanical Garden’s “Holiday Train Show.” Photo: courtesy of the New York Botanical Garden.
One of the most special seasonal art events that New York City has to offer, the “Holiday Train Show” features nearly 200 models of New York landmarks crafted from plant parts by the talented botanical artists of Kentucky’s Applied Imagination. Now in its 34th year, the show has spilled out of the conservatory and onto the grounds, with G-scale trains speeding along a glowing, mountainous landscape. Art lovers will appreciate the close attention to detail in the models, which include museums such as the Met, the Guggenheim, and—new this year!—the Whitney.
“Holiday Express: Toys and Trains from the Jerni Collection” at the New York Historical
November 21, 2025–February 22, 2026
“Holiday Express: Toys and Trains from the Jerni Collection” at the New York Historical
Another returning wintertime favorite for train lovers, this show from the New York Historical features antique model trains, toy stations, and miniatures made from the early 20th century up until World War II, the so-called “Golden Age of Toy Trains.” Many of these toys are handcrafted, and hand-painted—and they remain as enchanting as ever.
“Spectacular Factory: The Holiday Multiverse” at Artechouse
December 15, 2025–January 4, 2026
. Photo: courtesy of Artechouse, New York.
Known for its immersive displays of projected digital art, Artechouse is getting into the holiday spirit with a limited three-week run marking the return of two seasonally themed works. Tingle Bells is an ASMR-inspired experience that looks to create a moment of peace and serenity amid the hectic holiday rush, with calming soundscapes. Spectacular Factory, on the other hand, is an explosion of all things Christmas, with a swirling display of thousands of nutcrackers and a candy cane carousel, among other festive wintertime delights, guaranteed to give you a dose of holiday cheer.
“Gingerbread NYC: The Great Borough Bake-Off 2025” at the Museum of the City of New York
November 7, 2025–January 19,2026
Juliet Galea, in “Gingerbread NYC: The Great Borough Bake-Off 2025” at the Museum of the City of New York. Photo: courtesy of the Museum of the City of New York.
This community-sourced edible art show, now in its fourth year, features New York City-inspired designs crafted from cookies and other sweet treats by more than a dozen bakers around the city. Working with the theme “Iconic New York,” these talented culinary artists have crafted edible facsimiles of everything from the Statue of Liberty to a giant bagel and cup of coffee—the latter of which won three awards in the juried exhibition, including most realistic. (It featured toasted coconut flakes for the bagel seasoning, among other clever illusions.) Visitors can still vote for the contest’s people’s choice winner.
“GingerBread Lane” at the Starrett-Lehigh Building
December 3, 2025–January 12, 2026
Jon Lovitch uses icing to create artistic details on the edible dwellings that make up Gingerbread Lane in 2023. Photo: by Kirk Sides/ via Getty Images.
A former chef who built his first gingerbread houses 32 years ago, Jon Lovitch now spends the whole year baking his gingerbread art, in preparation for sweet displays of frosted, candy-coated cookie constructions around the country. In keeping with strict Guinness World Records standards (he holds the current record with 1,251 structures), the entire gingerbread city is edible—no cardboard supports or fake snow here. This year’s New York City outing, which is free to visit, includes subway cars, taxis, and the flagship Macy’s store at 34th Street.
Source: Exhibition - news.artnet.com
