MANTUA.- Mantua—a city known around the world for Mantegna, Giulio Romano, and its Renaissance splendor—is preparing to open a bold new chapter in its cultural life. On 29 November 2025, the historic Palazzo della Ragione will reopen its doors as the home of the Sonnabend Collection Mantova, a world-class contemporary art museum dedicated to one of the most influential collections of the 20th century.

For the first time, visitors will encounter masterpieces by artists who shaped the visual language of our era—Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, Roy Lichtenstein, Jeff Koons, Anselm Kiefer, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Gilbert & George, and many others—assembled under one roof in the heart of Mantua. These are not simply important names: they are trailblazers whose works changed the course of global art history.

The Sonnabend Collection was built with vision and daring by the legendary gallerist Ileana Sonnabend, together with her husband Michael Sonnabend and their adopted son Antonio Homem. Through their galleries in Paris and New York, they became cultural bridges, introducing American Pop Art to Europe and bringing the radical voices of postwar European art to the United States. Their eye for innovation helped define artistic taste for decades.

Now, that vision has found a permanent home in Italy.

“Mantua becomes a true contemporary art destination,” says Mayor Mattia Palazzi, reflecting on the years-long effort that brought the project to life. “This museum is not only a tribute to Ileana Sonnabend’s extraordinary legacy—it is a turning point for our city. With it, Mantua joins the cultural map of Europe in a completely new way.”

Spread across eleven galleries, the exhibition route unfolds like a visual autobiography of Sonnabend’s life-long engagement with groundbreaking art. Visitors will encounter icons of Pop Art—Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup, Lichtenstein’s crisp comic-inspired images, and Rauschenberg’s Kite, which won the Golden Lion at the 1964 Venice Biennale. Works by Italian artists whom Sonnabend championed early—such as Pistoletto, Merz, Paolini, and Schifano—stand alongside American contemporaries, creating a vivid dialogue between two continents.

The museum also shines a spotlight on the movements that reshaped artistic language in the 1960s and ’70s: Minimalism, Arte Povera, radical sculpture, and experimental photography. From Bernd & Hilla Becher’s typologies to Bruce Nauman’s sculptural provocations, from Donald Judd’s clean structures to Gilbert & George’s performative imagery, the collection offers a panoramic look at the forces that defined postwar art.

For Antonio Homem, president of the Sonnabend Collection Foundation, the opening in Mantua is profoundly meaningful. “Throughout my life with Ileana and Michael, we always shared our passion for art with others,” he says. “Bringing this visual biography to a city that is itself a masterpiece feels deeply right.”

Artistic director Mario Codognato echoes the sentiment: “The Sonnabends loved Italy. Housing this collection in a 13th-century building is not just poetic—it feels destined.”

The project is produced by the Municipality of Mantua, the Sonnabend Collection Foundation, and Marsilio Arte, marking a milestone for Italian cultural institutions.

With its opening, the Sonnabend Collection Mantova transforms Mantua into an essential stop for anyone seeking to understand the evolution of contemporary art. It is more than a new museum—it is a bridge between eras, continents, and visions, woven into the fabric of a city ready to embrace the future.