Rothko in Florence

ROTHKO IN FLORENCE

14 March – 23 August – Palazzo Strozzi, Florence

This spring, the stone walls of Palazzo Strozzi will stage a landmark exhibition that explores the work of modernist master, Mark Rothko, and the muse he found in the Renaissance city. Opening 14 March, Rothko in Florence will be a definitive retrospective, tracing the artist’s evolution from his haunting figurative paintings of the 1930s to the iconic colour field abstractions he’s best known for today.

Curated by the artist’s son, Christopher Rothko, alongside curator Elena Geuna, this landmark exhibition assembles over 70 masterpieces on loan from the hallowed halls of MoMA, the Tate, and the Centre Pompidou. Uniquely, the show will explore Rothko’s profound debt to the Italian Renaissance, sparked by a transformative pilgrimage he took to the city in 1950. This conversation spills beyond the Palazzo into two sacred satellite sites: the Museo di San Marco, where Rothko works will sit in dialogue with Fra Angelico’s frescoes, and the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, where Michelangelo’s architecture famously informed the ‘Seagram Murals.’

Last modified: Thu, Feb 19, '26