Mark Rothko at Palazzo Strozzi

Several paintings in the exhibit at Palazzo Strozzi

Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi is presenting one of the most significant retrospectives ever dedicated to Mark Rothko (1903-1970), running from March 14 to August 23, 2026. Curated by the artist's son Christopher Rothko and Elena Geuna, Rothko in Florence was conceived specifically for Palazzo Strozzi -- and the choice of venue is no accident.

Rothko first visited Florence in 1950 with his wife Mell, and the city left a permanent mark on him. He was deeply moved by Fra Angelico's frescoes at the Convent of San Marco, and by Michelangelo's architectural vision in the Vestibule of the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana -- experiences that would directly inspire the Seagram Murals he painted in the late 1950s. He returned to Florence in 1966, and the city remained a touchstone for him until his death. The exhibition makes this connection explicit and visceral.

The retrospective traces Rothko's entire career chronologically across the Piano Nobile of Palazzo Strozzi, from his early figurative works of the 1930s and 40s -- shaped by Expressionism and Surrealism -- through to the monumental color field canvases of the 1950s and 60s that made him one of the towering figures of American modern art. More than 70 works are on loan from some of the world's greatest institutions, including MoMA and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Tate in London, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, and the National Gallery of Art in Washington.

What makes this exhibition genuinely special -- and worth going out of your way for -- is that it extends beyond Palazzo Strozzi into the city itself. A selection of five Rothko works has been installed in the monks' cells at the Museo di San Marco, in direct dialogue with Fra Angelico's frescoes. The pairing is extraordinary: both artists shared a desire to evoke transcendence through color, and seeing them together in those small, intimate cells is one of those rare museum experiences that genuinely stops you in your tracks. Two additional works are installed in the Vestibule of the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, in conversation with Michelangelo's architecture -- the very space that Rothko said had "exactly the feeling that I wanted."

If you're in Florence before August 23rd, this is not optional.

Dates: March 14 - August 23, 2026
Hours: Daily 10am - 8pm, Thursdays until 11pm
Venues: Palazzo Strozzi (main exhibition), Museo di San Marco, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana