PARIS—Since major exhibitions are planned and budgeted for several years in advance, the more severe effects of the current credit crunch are not likely to be felt anytime soon in the international museum circuit. Indeed, the 2009 Paris lineup is as vibrant and varied as ever, with something for all interests and tastes. Here we present five of the best shows opening over the course of the next 12 months. Although our selection is extremely wide-ranging, what is common to all of these exhibitions is the serious scholarship and/or museography underlying their conception.

Click on the photo gallery at left to travel from the lurid contemporary world of Martin Parr to the arcane mysteries of ancient Egypt, from the Venetian palette of Titian, Veronese, and Tintoretto to the color-fueled abstraction of Kandinsky, with — lest all that seem too foreign — a dash of homegrown post-Rodin sculpture to season the mix.