Thaddaeus Ropac to open Milan gallery later this year Thaddaeus Ropac Milan to open in autumn 2025
By Anny Shaw
Could Milan be the next hub for the art market? Quite probably, if the Austrian dealer Thaddaeus Ropac has anything to do with it. This autumn he is opening a gallery in Italy's financial capital, famed for its rich art history, fashion status and, increasingly, a growing class of millionaires attracted by generous tax-break schemes for expats.
This will be Ropac’s seventh gallery, joining existing spaces in London, Paris, Salzburg and—most recently—Seoul. Ahead of many of his peers, Ropac opened in the Korean capital in 2021, before Frieze launched an art fair there a year later.
But Europe has consistently been Ropac’s focus. “We always felt we wanted to be the ultimate European gallery. And with our presence in the UK, France and Austria, Italy was just missing,” he says. The dealer also considered Venice—where many of his artists show during the Biennale—and Rome, settling on Milan around two years ago.
“Venice is so much part of what we do with our artists and collectors, of our cultural life, but for us it wasn’t the right place for a gallery, because it’s very seasonal,” he says. “Rome is of course the eternal city, but Milan is, culturally speaking, the heartbeat of Italy. It has the most interesting academies. It was responsible for the most important Modern movement—Arte Povera. It was really Turin and Milan where the avant-garde in art making was happening in Italy.”
The new gallery is situated in the Palazzo Belgioioso, spanning two enormous rooms across 280 sq. m of the historic building’s first floor. The gallery will also exhibit sculptures in the neighbouring Piazza Belgioioso.
Within striking distance are the Teatro alla Scala and Duomo di Milano as well as the Modern and contemporary art museum Palazzo Citterio, which opened in December after 50 years of political wrangling. Its launch is a significant marker of the growing contemporary art scene in Milan. Collecting art—as well as design—has been in Milanese blood for decades, if not centuries. Big name collectors including the fashion designer Miuccia Prada, the pharmaceutical entrepreneur Luigi Rovati and Pirelli boss Marco Tronchetti Provera have all opened private museums in the city.
Thaddaeus Ropac's Milan space will be headed by Elena Bonanno di Linguaglossa, who recently joined the gallery as an executive director. She joins from Lévy Gorvy Dayan where she was senior director.
