The September 2026 Art Hotlist: Picasso to Odyssey And Seamus Murphy, Here's What You Need See This Month

September 2026 brings a packed art calendar to India, with Picasso taking centre stage at CMYK Delhi alongside a strong line-up of group exhibitions, contemporary art showcases and new gallery presentations. From major names in modern art to emerging Indian artists, this month’s art exhibitions in Delhi and across India offer plenty to see, whether you are a serious collector, a curious observer or simply looking for something beyond the usual weekend plans.

Here is Esquire India’s guide to the best art exhibitions and group shows to see in September 2026.

Where: LTC, Bikaner House, New Delhi

When: 23–27 September, 2026

What to Expect: A webcast technique traces Bhatnagar’s artistic journey through nature, memory, mythology and spirituality, bringing together works from her series Prakriti, Mayura, Enlightened One and Mythos through a solo exhibition. Curated by Uma Nair, the exhibition has artworks from landscapes and peacocks inspired by Rajasthan’s architectural vocabulary to depictions of Buddha, Meerabai and figures from Indian mythology, the show reflects her evolving visual language across different phases of her practice.

Where: KYNKYNY, Mumbai

When: 9 September - 6 October, 2026

What to Expect: It Will Rain Again When We Meet is a solo exhibition by Priyanka Aelay that showcases the forest in all its richness and diversity. The lush terrain is visible in vast expanses, revealing the presence of fauna amidst the vegetation – a fox here, a tiger there, a jewel-like bird peeping from within the multihued foliage.

Where: CMYK,Lodhi Road, New Delhi

When: 23 - 22 November, 2026

What to Expect: This exhibition is a rare showing of over 60 original prints by Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró and Salvador Dalí, three of the twentieth century's most iconic & influential artists, presented together in India for the first time through an important, yet perhaps lesser-known, aspect of their work: printmaking. The standout piece is Picasso's Portrait de Femme (1955), a striking portrait of his muse and later wife Jacqueline Roque, from an edition of just 50, with a sister impression held at MoMA, New York.

Where: Bikaner House, New Delhi

When: 14- 22 September, 2026

What to Expect: The exhibition brings together artworks by emerging contemporary artists Bolgum Nagesh Goud, Bratin Khan, Dhruti Mahajan, Keerti Pooja, Mayadhara Sahu, R. Giridhara Gowd and Sachin Jaltare. 

Standing on Sacred Ground brings together artists who draw from the rich visual vocabulary of indigenous practices, traditional motifs and cultural memory, reinterpreting these references through distinctly contemporary practices. The works occupy a space between the familiar and unfamiliar, evoking the myths, legends, fables and stories that have travelled across generations while offering new ways of looking at their underlying meanings. 

Where: LATITUDE 28, New Delhi

When: Until 19 September 2026

What to Expect:  A solo exhibition by Sri Lankan multidisciplinary artist Pradeep Thalawatta and curated by Rahul Kumar, Between Dust and Distant examines how images of conflict, migration, childhood, and everyday life circulate across media and gradually become embedded within personal memories and emotional landscapes.

Where: Anant Art Gallery, New Delhi

When: 10 September – 31 October 2026

What to Expect: — A solo exhibition by Thamshangpha ‘Merci’ Maku, curated by Anna Sireiliu Charenamei and Sohorpem Kazingmei, with Shaleen Wadhwana as Curatorial Advisor, the exhibition explores memory, identity, imagination, and lived experience through Maku's contemporary practice.

Where: Museo Camera, Gurugram

When: Ongoing since 22 August 2026

What to Expect: A major exhibition by acclaimed Irish photographer Seamus Murphy, curated by Zelda Cheatle, bringing together four significant bodies of work spanning more than three decades of Murphy's practice across Afghanistan, Ireland, India, Russia, and the United States.

Where: Emami Art, Kolkata

When: Until 18 September 2026

What To Expect: The New in the Everyday by Soma Das explores the everyday lives and quiet resilience of working and middle-class communities through paintings, sculptures, textiles, and mixed-media works inspired by Indian miniature painting and contemporary life.

Where: Artisera, Indiranagar, Bengaluru

When: Until 18 September 2026

What To Expect: A group exhibition exploring the rich and evolving language of contemporary Indian printmaking, bringing together artists who engage with the possibilities of the printed mark, process, material, and image.