Villa Medici Unveils Autumn 2026 Program: Oil, Morellet and Picabia

Three exhibitions open simultaneously at the Accademia di Francia a Roma – Villa Medici on 9 October 2026, running until 18 January 2027. The largest is the group show Sole nero. Petrolio e arte contemporanea, curated by Morad Montazami, Madeleine de Colnet and Caroline Courrioux, which examines the contradictory relationship between crude oil, the construction of modernity and aesthetic responses in global contemporary practice. Under director Sam Stourdzé, the Villa becomes a critical observatory for environmental impact, energy geopolitics and the toxic imaginary of petroleum. A second show, François Morellet. Picnic romano, marks the centenary of the French geometric abstractionist's birth, curated by Alessandro Gallicchio, placing five historical works and installations within the Villa's monumental spaces. The third element is an intimate focus on Francis Picabia's 1909 painting Paysage, installed in the Appartamenti del Cardinale and curated by Stourdzé with Gallicchio, creating a dialogue with the concurrent Picabia retrospective at Palazzo Reale in Milan. All three open on the same date at Viale della Trinità dei Monti 1, Rome.