The spring season has only just begun, but there are already numerous exhibitions filling the calendar for March and the first days of April. Here are a few of them, across three different cities

TRAGICOMICA AT THE MAXXI IN ROME
Curated by Andrea Bellini and Francesco Stocchi, the exhibition Tragicomica. Perspectives on Italian art from the mid-20th century to today is on display at the MAXXI in Rome from 2 April 2026.
Identifying irony and self-irony as a distinctive feature of the Italian tradition, the exhibition – whose title is inspired by the contents of Giorgio Agamben’s essay Comedìa – offers a multidisciplinary reinterpretation of Italy’s creative history from the post-war period onwards. Elena Bellantoni, Mirella Bentivoglio, Alighiero Boetti, Maurizio Cattelan, Gino De Dominicis, Lucio Fontana, Chiara Fumai and Paola Pivi are just some of the more than 140 artists featured in an exhibition ‒ the result of a collaboration with the Centre d’Art Contemporain Genève ‒ which brings together references to cinema, visual art, theatre, philosophy and literature. The show is paired with a public programme curated by Andrea Cortellessa for the talks with writers and poets and by Davide Oberto for the film section, whilst Annalisa Sacchi will give a lecture on the history of Italian performance art and a talk by philosopher Antonella Moscati, introduced by Elettra Stimilli, will explore topics such as family relationships, medical language, identity and the body.

INFO
Tragicomica. Perspectives on Italian art from the mid-20th century to today
2 April – 20 September 2026
MAXXI MUSEO NAZIONALE DELLE ARTI DEL XXI SECOLO
Via Guido Reni 4 A, Rome
https://www.maxxi.art

MARK ROTHKO IN FLORENCE
From 14 March 2026, the public will finally be able to admire over seventy works by Mark Rothko – some of which have never been shown in Italy – brought together in the rooms of Palazzo Strozzi as part of the exhibition Rothko in Florence, curated by the artist’s son, Christopher Rothko, and Elena Geuna. Right from the title, the exhibition – one of the most comprehensive ever dedicated to the painter – sets out the context in which it is rooted: the connection between Rothko and the Tuscan city, and the influence exerted on his practice by the style of Beato Angelico and the architecture of the Vestibolo della Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, which he visited for the first time in 1950, as well as the Museo di San Marco. It is therefore no coincidence that these two venues also host some of the artist’s masterpieces, reinforcing the dialogue between his creative experience and the legacy of the Florentine tradition.
At Palazzo Strozzi, the exhibition narrative follows a chronological line, tracing Rothko’s journey towards abstraction, whilst at the Museo di San Marco five of his works are displayed in five frescoed cells by Beato Angelico, and in the Vestibolo della Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana two works visually interact with the space designed by Michelangelo.

INFO
Rothko in Florence
until 23 August 2026
PALAZZO STROZZI
Piazza Strozzi, Florence
MUSEO DI SAN MARCO
Piazza San Marco 3, Florence
VESTIBOLO DELLA BIBLIOTECA MEDICEA LAURENZIANA
Piazza San Lorenzo 9, Florence
https://www.palazzostrozzi.org/

THE EXHIBITIONS AT PALAZZO GRASSI AND PUNTA DELLA DOGANA IN VENICE
In addition to the exhibition that the Casa dei Tre Oci is dedicating to Joseph Kosuth, in March the spotlight in Venice will be on the launch of the new exhibition programme at Palazzo Grassi and Punta della Dogana, the Pinault Collection’s venues in Venice, which are set to host four leading figures from the contemporary art scene.
Over 150 historical and recent works by Michael Armitage are on display at Palazzo Grassi, under the curatorship of Jean-Marie Gallais, in collaboration with Hans Ulrich Obrist for the catalogue, and Caroline Bourgeois and Michelle Mlati. The Kenyan-British artist’s paintings, combining figuration and abstraction, explore the concepts of memory, identity and spirituality, unafraid to confront the urgencies and dramas of the present age. Painted in oil on a fabric derived from tree bark – in the tradition of Uganda and Indonesia – Armitage’s works are the result of a process of layering that takes its inspiration from drawing.
The second floor of Palazzo Grassi, meanwhile, is “inhabited” by two multimedia installations by Amar Kanwar, a filmmaker and artist engaged in an exploration of the contemporary history of South Asia. Curated by Jean-Marie Gallais, the exhibition centres on The Torn First Pages (2004-2008) and The Peacock’s Graveyard (2023), which invite the public to reflect on the sense of justice and injustice rooted in human existence, drawing on concrete events such as the struggle for democracy in Myanmar/Burma.
Painting returns to centre stage thanks to Lorna Simpson’s solo exhibition, curated by Emma Lavigne, at Punta della Dogana. Created in partnership with the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York – which hosted the 2025 version, entitled Source Notes and curated by Loren Rosati –, the exhibition brings together around fifty works – including paintings, sculptures, collages, installations and a film – on loan from private collections, international institutions and the artist’s studio, alongside several previously unseen works created especially for this occasion. Organised around three themes, the works offer a critical interpretation of the present, highlighting the weight of stereotypes and the importance of collective memory.
Curated by Fernanda Brenner, Paulo Nazareth’s exhibition completes the exhibition programme at Punta della Dogana: on the first floor, the viewer’s gaze moves through the Brazilian artist’s works – including a group of previously unseen pieces – following a timeline spanning two decades. By observing the fragmentation of history, Nazareth reveals the effects of racial and colonial violence and finds in the act of walking a means of fostering dialogue between different geographies and perspectives.

INFO
Michael Armitage.  The Promise of Change
Amar Kanwar. Co-travellers
29 March 2026 ‒ 10 January 2027
PALAZZO GRASSI
Campo San Samuele 3231, Venice

Lorna Simpson. Third Person
Paulo Nazareth. Algebra
29 March ‒ 22 November 2026
PUNTA DELLA DOGANA
Dorsoduro 2, Venice
https://www.pinaultcollection.com/palazzograssi/it

Image captions:

Michael Armitage, Dandora (Xala, Musicians), 2022. Pinault Collection © Michael Armitage Photo: © White Cube (David Westwood)

Amar Kanwar, The Peacock’s Graveyard, 2023 (still). Pinault Collection. Digital video installation, 7 screens, dimensions variable, 28 mins, 16 sec (sync, loop), edition of 6. © Amar Kanwar, Courtesy Marian Goodman Gallery

Lorna Simpson, Head on Ice #3, 2016. Ink and screenprint on gessoed fiberglass, 170.2 x 127 cm (67 x 50 in.) The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Gift of the Director’s Council and Museum purchase, 2017 © Lorna Simpson; courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth; photo by James Wang

Paulo Nazareth, Nice, 2017. Pinault Collection. Pencil on paper, stone and sneakers, 23 x 61 x 45 cm (9 1/16 x 24 x 17 11/16 in.) © Paulo Nazareth