Rothko Exhibition in Florence Explores Renaissance Influence Across Three Venues
Mark Rothko's work is displayed in Florence at three historic locations: Palazzo Strozzi, Museo di San Marco, and the Michelangelo-designed vestibule of Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana. The exhibition, curated by Christopher Rothko and Elena Geuna, features 70 works from private collections and institutions like New York's Museum of Modern Art, Tate in London, and Centre Pompidou in Paris. Rothko visited Florence three times during the 1950s and 1960s, deeply influenced by Italian Renaissance art and architecture. His 1950 trip with his wife Mell exposed him to sites like the Roman Forum, Pompeii, and Giotto's Scrovegni Chapel frescoes in Padua. The show highlights Rothko's spatial thinking, evident in works like the Seagram Murals studies displayed in Michelangelo's vestibule, which the artist described as creating a trapped feeling. At San Marco, Rothko's abstract paintings dialogue with Fra Angelico's frescoes in the former Dominican convent cells. The Palazzo Strozzi presentation includes pieces from Rothko's entire career, from early figurative works like Interior (1936) to late dark canvases. An octagonal room at the Strozzi evokes Florence's Baptistery and the Rothko Chapel in Houston, completed posthumously in 1971. The exhibition runs until 23 August, requiring separate tickets for each venue. Critical responses from The New York Times and Domus praise the venue and thematic focus.
Key facts
- Exhibition features 70 Rothko works across three Florence venues
- Curated by Christopher Rothko and Elena Geuna
- Runs until 23 August 2026
- Rothko visited Florence three times in 1950s-1960s
- Includes works from MoMA, Tate, Centre Pompidou, Guggenheim Bilbao
- Seagram Murals studies displayed in Michelangelo's vestibule
- Show explores Renaissance influence on Rothko's spatial concepts
- Separate tickets required for each exhibition location
Entities
Artists
- Mark Rothko
- Christopher Rothko
- Elena Geuna
- Fra Angelico
- Michelangelo
- Giotto
- Ai Weiwei
- Tracey Emin
- Elisabetta Povoledo
- Maria Cristina Didero
- Mell Rothko
- Miguel Ángel
- Goya
- Ingres
- Matisse
- David Smith
- Mark Tobey
- Seymour Lipton
- Alberto Giacometti
- Katharine Kuh
- Alfred Jensen
- Beato Angelico
- Adolph Gottlieb
- Milton Avery
- Philip Guston
- Barnett Newman
- Arshile Gorky
- Ad Reinhardt
- Michel Butor
- Ludovico Pratesi
- Vermeer
- Rembrandt
- Michelangelo Buonarroti
- Agnes Gund
- Mies van der Rohe
- G. Didi-Huberman
- Marco Cianchi
- Vasari
- Titian
- Raffaello
- Giorgione
- Jackson Pollock
- Willem de Kooning
- Clyfford Still
- Franz Kline
- Alexi Worth
- Ólafur Elíasson
- Giuseppe Chiari
Institutions
- Palazzo Strozzi
- Museo di San Marco
- Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana
- Museum of Modern Art
- Tate
- Centre Pompidou
- Guggenheim Museum Bilbao
- Fondation Louis Vuitton
- Art Basel Paris
- Rothko Chapel
- The New York Times
- Domus
- The Art Newspaper
- Biblioteca Laurenciana
- Art Students' League
- Brooklyn College
- Art Institute of Chicago
- MoMA
- Whitechapel Gallery
- UNESCO
- Four Seasons
- Biennale di Venezia
- New School of Design
- Artribune
- Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi
- Palazzo delle Esposizioni di Roma
- Christie's
- Betty Parsons Gallery
- Tate London
- Four Seasons Restaurant
- Seagram Building
- Guggenheim Bilbao
- Rothko Chapel Houston
- Juliet Art Magazine
- Biblioteca Laurenziana
- Whitney Museum of American Art
- Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
- Metropolitan Museum of Art
- National Gallery of Art
- Art of This Century
- Yale University
- Art Students League
- Frick Collection
- Gallerie d'Italia
- Galleria Susanna Orlando
- Palazzo Reale
- Harvard University
- OKNO Studio
- artuu.it
- Palazzo Strozzi Foundation
Locations
- Florence
- Italy
- New York
- London
- Paris
- Houston
- Bilbao
- Spain
- Padua
- Pompeii
- Rome
- United States
- Venice
- Paestum
- Pompeya
- Latvia
- Greece
- Babylon
- Firenze
- Daugavpils
- France
- Tuscany
- Pompei
- Tarquinia
- United Kingdom
- Washington D.C.
- Portland
- Babilonia
- Torcello
- Pietrasanta
- Ferrara