Paladino. Anthological

NATIONAL GALLERY OF UMBRIA

ALBORNOZIAN FORTRESS, SPOLETO

DUCAL PALACE, GUBBIO

8 November 2025 – 18 January 2026

Opening

National Gallery of Umbria, Perugia 7 November 2025, 6.00 pm

Albornoz Fortress, Spoleto 8 November 2025, 11.00 am

Ducal Palace, Gubbio 8 November, 5.30 pm

Perugia, Spoleto and Gubbio are celebrating one of the internationally best-known and most highly esteemed contemporary Italian masters with an extensive anthological being held in two locations, plus a 600 square metre installation on the façade of Palazzo Baldeschi in Perugia’s Corso Vannucci and an unprecedented artistic project for the Christmas illuminations in the heart of the city.

Umbria is paying tribute to Mimmo Paladino (Paduli, Benevento, 1948), one of the internationally best-known and most highly esteemed personalities in contemporary art, while Paladino returns the favour, paying tribute to Umbria, to its traditions and to its exceptional landscapes, with a series of initiatives generated by the collaboration between the National Museums of Perugia – Umbria Regional Directorate of National Museums, the Municipality of Perugia and the Perugia Foundation.

From 8 November 2025 to 18 January 2026, three of the most prestigious locations among Umbria’s national museums, the National Gallery of Umbria in Perugia, the Albornozian Fortress in Spoleto and the Ducal Palace in Gubbio, will host an extensive anthological of the works of Mimmo Paladino, curated by Costantino D’Orazio, Director of the National Museums of Perugia, and Aurora Roscini Vitali, an art historian with the National Gallery of Umbria, in collaboration with the artist himself.

The exhibition at the National Gallery of Umbria will employ a nucleus of more than 40 works from public museums in Italy and abroad, as well as from important private collections, to create a documentary record of the southern Italian artist’s entire career, starting with his experiments with photography in the 1970s, continuing with his return to figurative art in the eighties and describing all the principal issues he has tackled in half a century of active career, with a special focus on his large format works and on his paintings that invade their surrounding space.

The exhibition itinerary will be punctuated by the cornerstones of Paladino’s expressive style, such as Silenzioso mi ritiro a dipingere un quadro (Silence, I am retiring to paint a picture, 1977), his first figurative work, together with canvases on a larger scale that often dialogue with sculpture and with projects that investigate painting’s ‘architectural’ potential. The exhibition will also offer an opportunity to explore Paladino’s relationship with Poor Art, featuring an excursion into the relations between the artist and the American masters of Pop Art, such as Robert Rauschenberg, investigating the artist’s heterogeneous set of benchmarks and the originality of his expressive preferences.

With a view to the project to promote and relaunch the national museums in the region of Umbria initiated by the National Museums of Perugia – Umbria Regional Directorate of National Museums, the exhibition forges a network between its two leading venues, enriching the exhibition itinerary with a section installed in the Albornozian Fortress of Spoleto, dedicated to the celebrated installation of The Sleepers (1998), and a visit in which sculpture will play a leading role.

A first for Perugia: an artistic project for the Christmas illuminations

Confirming the profound bond established between Umbria’s national museums and local communities, the exhibition dedicated to Mimmo Paladino will also offer the opportunity for a series of unprecedented projects in the city to be undertaken by the National Gallery of Umbria in partnership with the Municipality of Perugia and the Perugia Foundation.

The work Concerto in piazza, devised by the maestro to dress the edifice that houses the Perugia Foundation in the months to come, during its transformation into a building site, has already been installed on the façade of Palazzo Baldeschi since the end of June. A tribute to the traditions of Umbria revised in a contemporary key, the work is already attracting considerable attention and gaining many plaudits from both the citizenry and the tourists who visit the city.

This canvas will provide the inspiration for the artistic Christmas illuminations that will light up Corso Vannucci for the first time during this year’s festive season. The colours of the marks devised by Paladino will alternate all the way along the street from Piazza della Repubblica to Piazza IV Novembre, communicating the festive and at the same time proud atmosphere that is a hallmark of the community in Umbria through the eyes of an Italian artist who numbers among the most highly esteemed in the world.

PALADINO. Anthological

Perugia, National Gallery of Umbria (Corso Pietro Vannucci, 19)

Spoleto, Albornozian Fortress (Piazza Campello, 1)

Gubbio, Ducal Palace

8 November 2025 – 18 January 2026

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Press Office, National Museums of Perugia – Umbria Regional Directorate of National Museums

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