This suite is a programmatic musical depiction of an art exhibition, inspired by the paintings of Viktor Hartmann. It is distinguished by its innovative harmonic language and bold, idiosyncratic piano writing that pushes the instrument to its limits.
The primary challenge lies in achieving a wide variety of orchestral timbres and managing the stamina required for the dense, bravura technical passages.
Comparable difficulty and character — good candidates for what to learn next.
Pictures at an Exhibition is rated Henle level 8 of 9 — concert repertoire, roughly diploma level. In the RCM system it corresponds to about level 10.
You should be comfortable at Henle level 8 — meaning you can already play level 7–8 pieces cleanly. Learning it one level early is possible as a stretch piece, but more than that usually leads to months of frustration.
A typical performance of Pictures at an Exhibition lasts about 32 minutes.
Pictures at an Exhibition is available as free public-domain sheet music on IMSLP — the score is linked directly from this page.
Pieces at a comparable difficulty and character include Ballade No.2 by Franz Liszt, Piano Sonata No. 17 'Tempest', No. 2 by Ludwig van Beethoven, Piano Sonata in B minor by Franz Liszt — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.