Yan Pei-Ming's Monumental Paintings Take Over Palazzo Strozzi

Palazzo Strozzi in Florence presents a major solo exhibition of Chinese-born, France-based painter Yan Pei-Ming, curated by director Arturo Galansino and part of the Palazzo Strozzi Future Art project developed with the Fondazione Hillary Merkus Recordati. The show features monumental canvases and a single votive sculpture made from decades of paint residue. The exhibition opens with a triptych titled 'Nom d'un chien!' (2012) depicting the artist as Christ and the two thieves, then moves through intimate portraits of his mother ('Ma mère', 2018) and dying father, an homage to the Mona Lisa, and a reworking of Velázquez's Pope Innocent X in blue ('Pape, Innocent X bleu', 2022). Later galleries address historical figures including Mao Zedong, Bruce Lee, and Italian political deaths—Mussolini's hanging, Pasolini's murder, and Aldo Moro's assassination. Ming describes himself as a 'pittore d'assalto' (assault painter), treating each brushstroke as a physical struggle. Galansino notes the exhibition re-centers the connection between grand painting and History. Palazzo Strozzi, with an annual budget of about €10 million and an average economic impact of €60 million on Florence, reached a record impact of €112 million in 2022. The foundation attracts quality tourism, hosting the most visited exhibitions in Italy with 350,000 annual visitors. The exhibition runs at Palazzo Strozzi in Florence.