Kandinsky and Italy

The exhibition Kandinsky and Italycurated by Elisabetta Barisoni and Emma Zanella, is a major exhibition project celebrating the influence of Wassily Kandinsky on European abstract art and, in particular, on the’Italian abstractionism between the 1930s and 1950s. Made by the MA*GA Museum in collaboration with the Venice City Museums Foundation, the review is part of the’Milan Cortina 2026 Cultural Olympiad, and is part of the Varese Culture 2030.

The route presents 130 workswith masterpieces by Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Jean Arp, Joan Miró, Alexander Calder, Antoni Tàpies, Lucio Fontana, Osvaldo Licini, Fausto Melotti, Manlio Rho, Carla Accardi, Giuseppe Capogrossi, Piero Dorazio and other protagonists of the European and Italian abstract scene.

The exhibition is divided into three sections. The first analyses the international context and the role of the Bauhaus, where Kandinsky profoundly influenced modern visual language. The second explores his complex relationship with Italy, particularly with the 1934 exhibition at the Galleria del Milione in Milan, a key moment for Italian abstractionism. The third section documents Kandinsky's role after World War II, with works from the movements Form, MAC, Origin, who took up the legacy of the Russian master, reinterpreting it in a contemporary key.

An unmissable opportunity to discover the evolution of an artistic language that revolutionised 20th century art and is still alive today in contemporary visual research.