From masters of the past to protagonists of the contemporary scene, passing through great photography, our selection of exhibitions (dozens) not to be missed in Italy in 2023.
The year 2023 is marked by the year of Perugino in Italy (on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of his death), but also by Brescia and Bergamo, Italian capitals of culture with a lot of exhibitions not to be missed. Michelangelo Pistoletto, Cattelan and Damien Hirst, Yayoi Kusama, Giacomo Ceruti and Marcel Duchamp… The new artistic program requires a trip from the North to the South of the Peninsula!
The year opens with great fanfare with Bergamo and Brescia Italian Capitals of Culture 2023. In the halls of Palazzo Martinengofrom January 21, the exhibition Lotto, Romanino, Moretto, Ceruti reveals the greatest masters of the two cities, from the Renaissance to the Baroque.
In January, theAccademia Carrara of Bergamo also restarts with the very first exhibition dedicated to Cecco del CaravaggioCaravaggio’s most intriguing pupil and model.
From February 14, it will be the turn of Giacomo Ceruti. The 18th century Lombard master will be at the center of a major retrospective at the Santa Giulia Museum of Brescia and other initiatives.
In Parma (Emilia-Romagna), Roy Lichtenstein is honored at Palazzo Tarasconi (from February 11 to June 18, 2023), which celebrates the centenary of the birth of the great master of Pop Art.
Still in Emilia-Romagna, in Ferrara, stop at Palazzo dei Diamanti (completely renovated) from February 18 to June 19, 2023, to discover more than 100 works brought together for a retrospective on the Renaissance in Ferrara. The exhibition is notably dedicated to two great painters: Ercole de’ Roberti and Lorenzo Costa. A unique opportunity to discover these two great protagonists of the Italian Renaissance.
Direction Veneto, to Rovigo, a small town located north of Ferrara, where the exhibition Renoir and Italy presents the painter Pierre Auguste Renoir in a delicate phase of his life. At that time, the French artist aged about forty, revolutionized his way of painting by discovering the great masters of the Italian Renaissance. To see at Palazzo Roverellafrom February 25 to June 25, 2023.
During a weekend in Genoa (Liguria), it is worth going to the Palazzo Ducale which pays homage to Man Ray, one of the founders of the dada movement and traveling companion of the surrealist André Breton. The exhibition, which runs from March 4 to July 2, chronologically reviews the biography of this protean artist, from the 1920s in New York to his Parisian affirmation.
The month of March also marks the arrival of the major retrospective which celebrates Perugino to the National Gallery of Umbria in Perugiaon the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the painter’s death (from March 4 to June 11, 2023).
The must-see exhibitions in Venice in 2023
In Venice, the next exhibitions at Palazzo Grassi are expected in the spring – with the world premiere of the Condé Nast archives acquired in part by the Pinault Collection – and in Punta della Dogana, with a major collective exhibition presenting works from the collection. From March 12 to January 7, 2024, Chronorama. 20th Century Photographic Treasuresbrings together more than 400 works, while Icons, scheduled from April 2 to November 26, offers a selection of emblematic works from the Pinault collection in new dialogues with great artists like David Hammons/Agnès Martin; Danh Vo/Rudolf Stingel; Sherrie Levine/On Kawara.
Also worth noting is the exhibition dedicated to Carpaccio (currently in progress at the National Gallery of Art in Washington) and will arrive at the Palazzo Ducale in Venice from March 18 to June 18, 2023.
Marcel Duchamp, one of the most influential and eclectic artists of the 20th century, will be the protagonist of the exhibition program of the Peggy Guggenheim collection with a monographic exhibition (from October 14 to March 18, 2024) to close the year in style in Venice. The homage to Duchamp will be organized around Boite-en-valise, a masterpiece now part of the Venetian museum, to which will be added important loans from prestigious Italian and American museums as well as various private collections.
In 2023, Venice will also host the Architecture Biennale which will be held from May 20 to November 26, 2023 at the Giardini, the Arsenal and various other places in the Serenissima. The International Architecture Exhibition aims to give a leading role to the youngest continent on the planet by devoting its eighteenth edition to Africa.
From Florence to Rome, exhibitions in 2023
Palazzo Strozzi once again puts contemporary art in the spotlight. His next exhibition (from March 4 to June 18), Reaching for the Starsoffers a vast panorama of the languages and trends of recent decades, starring Maurizio Cattelan, but also Sarah Lucas and Damien Hirst.
At MAXXI from Romethe photography exhibition Claudio Abata. Sensitive area (from February 24 to June 4) will present 200 pictures of the artist. From May 12 (until November) the exhibition Enzo Cuchi. The poet and the magician, wants to be a kind of journey in his artistic and poetic research, through the archetypes and typical symbols of his work. Another master of photography: Mario Crescifrom May 26 to September, will be the protagonist of a retrospective from his first experiments in the 1960s to reflections on the themes of the archive and memory, which the artist has explored in recent decades.
The exhibition Rome of the Republic. The history of archeologyinstalled in the halls of the Palazzo Caffarelli from January 13 to September 24, illustrates through a series of themes and archaeological contexts, the characteristics and transformations of ancient Roman society over five centuries. These are 1,800 works, objects in bronze, in local stone, sometimes in marble but above all in terracotta, generally not exhibited to the public and in many cases preserved in the coffers of theAntiquarium.
On the occasion of the 400th anniversary of the election of Urban VIII Barberini to the papal throne, the National Galleries of Ancient Art of Rome dedicate the exhibition I Barberini. Caravaggio, Bernini, Chick and the birth of the Baroque to the Pontiff who, together with his nephews, Cardinals Francesco and Antonio and Prince Taddeo, favored the instrument of cultural hegemony as a function of political action and government. Scheduled from March to July, the exhibition brings together for the first time many masterpieces from the Barberini collection, dismembered over the centuries and now kept in major museums around the world.
From Turin to Milan, in 2023
From March 17 to July 15, 2023, the Royal Museums of Turin will host the largest anthology ever organized in Italy of Ruth Orkin, photojournalist, photographer and American director, one of the most relevant of the 20th century. The exhibition brings together nearly 200 photos and retraces the journey of the great photojournalist of the 20th century, between 1939 and the end of the 1960s, through some of the works of her research, from VE-Day to Jimmy tells a story, from American Girl in Italy to portraits of personalities such as Robert Capa, Marlon Brando and Woody Allen.
the Castello di Rivoli houses the most important nucleus of historical works of theArte Povera in the world and periodically dedicates targeted projects to its protagonists. In the fall of 2023, to celebrate the 90th anniversary of Michelangelo Pistoletto, at the same time as the Turin Art Week, the Museum will present a major personal exhibition of the artist whose research contributed to redefining the concept of art from the middle of the 19th century. For this exhibition, Pistoletto has designed an unprecedented immersive installation of great visual impact that will invade the spaces of the Manica Lunga.
Milan will once again show effervescence this year, with a very wide offer which moves from Surrealism to Helmut Newton, El Greco and Goyaup to the great video art artist Bill Viola. And a surprise in April with the arrival of Leandro Erlich. The Argentinian artist brings his scenographic and imaginary installations to Milan for the first time, playing with the public.