Palazzo Esposizioni Roma is dedicating a major exhibition to Ileana Sonnabend, the Romanian-born gallerist and collector whose eye for emerging talent helped reshape contemporary art. “Fireworks. Ileana Sonnabend and the Boom of Contemporary Art” runs from November 3 to April 4, 2027, and brings together 54 works by 35 artists.

Curated by Mario Codognato, the exhibition unfolds across eight rooms. Its structure reflects Sonnabend’s wide-ranging interests, connecting European and American avant-gardes and moving through Pop Art, Minimalism, Conceptual Art, Arte Povera, Neo-Expressionism and Neo-Geo.

The selection includes Jasper Johns’s “Figure 8,” Roy Lichtenstein’s “Wall Explosion II,” Andy Warhol’s “Nine Jackies” and Robert Rauschenberg’s “Kite.” Italian artists Mario Schifano, Mimmo Rotella and Tano Festa are shown alongside the work and research of Arman, Christo, Bruce Nauman and Richard Serra.

The Arte Povera section features Giovanni Anselmo, Pier Paolo Calzolari, Jannis Kounellis, Mario Merz, Giulio Paolini and Gilberto Zorio. The exhibition also reaches artists including Georg Baselitz, A.R. Penck, Jeff Koons and Ashley Bickerton, underlining the breadth of Sonnabend’s collecting and gallery activity.

Rather than focusing on a single movement, the exhibition presents Sonnabend as someone who followed the strength of ideas and recognized innovation across geographical and stylistic boundaries. Performance and the artist’s body as an expressive medium also form part of this perspective. The installation brings different generations and movements into continuous dialogue.

Codognato describes the exhibition as a network of visual and conceptual connections in which works can both interact and contrast. He also emphasizes art’s ability to cross political and cultural borders, a role he considers particularly urgent today.

The project has a personal dedication as well. In the accompanying catalogue, Codognato remembers Antonio Homem, Ileana and Michael Sonnabend’s adopted son, who played an important role in managing and preserving the collection and died recently. The curator dedicates the exhibition to him, recalling his teaching and friendship.

Sources: ANSA Cultura.