Dorsoduro Museum Mile: four cultural institutions promoting and enhancing Venice’s architectural and artistic heritage
These are the four art and cultural institutions representing the Dorsoduro district: the Gallerie dell’Accademia, the Galleria di Palazzo Cini, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, and Palazzo Grassi – Punta della Dogana. Since 2015, they have collaborated to promote mutual visibility and improve tourist flows in the area between the Accademia Bridge and Punta della Dogana, enhancing the city’s architectural and artistic heritage.
A commitment to cultural collaboration realized through the creation of the Dorsoduro Museum Mile, an evocative itinerary of just over a mile that encompasses eight centuries of art history, from tradition to contemporary, sharing information, planning joint projects, and offering admission benefits at all four venues: with a ticket purchased at one of the museums in the circuit, valid for seven days, visitors can enjoy discounts at all other institutions.
In anticipation of the 60th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, the institutions of the Dorsoduro Museum Mile open the art season in Venice with an exhibition program of great significance, offering visitors an even richer and more stimulating cultural experience.
Art Illuminates Dorsoduro
- Gallerie dell’Accademia
Willem de Kooning and Italy
April 17 to September 15
Campo della Carità, Dorsoduro 1050
www.gallerieaccademia.it
Monday 8:15 AM – 2:00 PM
Tuesday to Sunday 8:15 AM – 7:15 PM
Giulio Manieri Elia, director of the Gallerie dell’Accademia di Venezia, explains: “Ten minutes are needed to reach Punta della Dogana from the Gallerie dell’Accademia, passing by Palazzo Cini and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, a route of just under a kilometer that we wanted to call, somewhat grandly, the Dorsoduro Museum Mile. Anyone wishing to spend one or more days in this enchanting corner of Venice has the opportunity to lose themselves in an unparalleled artistic journey ranging from Giorgione to Picasso, from Pontormo to Tadao Ando, from the roots of the Venetian painting school to the most recent artistic research, traversing centuries of history and hundreds of works of art. Our institutions, once again, have chosen to strengthen the partnership that has seen them collaborate for years to make visits more comfortable, more convenient, and increasingly rich in cultural offerings of the highest quality.”
Guardian of masterpieces of the Venetian Renaissance, including works by Titian, Tintoretto, and Veronese, from March 24 to June 23 the Gallerie dell’Accademia hosts the exhibition Elective Affinities. Picasso, Matisse, Klee and Giacometti with works from the Museum Berggruen – Neue Nationalgalerie in dialogue with the masterpieces in the museum. For the occasion, the Casa dei Tre Oci, in addition to becoming the new headquarters of the Berggruen Institute Europe, will expand the art circuit in Venice.
The Gallerie dell’Accademia presents the first project Willem de Kooning and Italy, dedicated to the two periods de Kooning spent in Italy, in 1959 and 1969, and the significant influence they had on his work.
Curated by Gary Garrels and Mario Codognato, the exhibition, from April 17 to September 15, is the largest retrospective of the artist ever organized in Italy.
- Galleria di Palazzo Cini
Martha Jungwirth. Heart of darkness
April 16 to September 29
Fondazione Giorgio Cini Onlus
Campo San Vio, Dorsoduro 864
www.palazzocini.it
Daily except Tuesday, 11:00 AM – 7:00 PM
“The Dorsoduro Museum Mile demonstrates – recounts Renata Codello, Secretary General of the Fondazione Giorgio Cini – in a cultural ecosystem as dense and complex as Venice, the value of alliances between institutions as diverse and all of the highest level as ours, an operation far from obvious. It is an indication of movement in the economy of culture; it is a gesture that encourages crossing a piece of the city with different eyes; it is a journey through time, the long one of History behind us and that of the contemporary that unfolds every day.”
From April 16 to September 29, Palazzo Cini presents Martha Jungwirth. Heart of darkness. On June 28, until October 13, the palace hosts the exhibition Eleonora Duse. Contemporary Myth.
Palazzo Cini is a treasure chest of art that houses paintings, sculptures, and antiques from the 14th to the 20th century. The house-museum reopens to the public with an exhibition dedicated to Austrian artist Martha Jungwirth (Vienna, 1940): the only woman among the founding members of the artistic group Wirklichkeiten, with her works exhibited at the Vienna Secession in 1968, curated by Otto Breicha. Since then, she has continued to develop an innovative visual language, made of color and lines. Her compositions balance between abstraction and figuration: unbound and free.
The exhibition, curated by Luca Massimo Barbero, director of the Institute of Art History of the Fondazione Giorgio Cini, is realized with the support of the Thaddaeus Ropac gallery.
One hundred years after the passing of the Divine, Palazzo Cini hosts an exhibition dedicated to the costumes of Eleonora Duse, featuring those preserved in the Duse Archive: unique and original haute couture creations from the renowned Italian fashion house Magugliani, as well as rare models by Paul Poiret, known for introducing women’s trousers, garments from the atelier of Jean Philippe Worth, and tunics and overdresses designed by Mariano Fortuny.
- Peggy Guggenheim Collection
Jean Cocteau. The Juggler’s Revenge
April 13 to September 16
Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, Dorsoduro 701
www.guggenheim-venice.it
Wednesday to Monday, 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM. Closed Tuesday
Karole P. B. Vail, Director of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, explains: “From the beginning, the Dorsoduro Museum Mile has distinguished itself as a virtuous and unique project, aimed at promoting synergy among city museum institutions of excellent prestige. Nearly ten years after its inception, the initiative today confirms a stronger partnership than ever among four institutions that firmly believe in the importance of collaboration, dialogue, and exchange in the cultural and artistic sphere, within a city as rich but also extremely complex as Venice.”
Temple of modern and contemporary art with works by Picasso, Dalí, Kandinsky, and many others, from April 13 to September 16 the house-museum presents Jean Cocteau. The Juggler’s Revenge, the first major retrospective dedicated to Jean Cocteau (1889–1963) held in Italy. Curated by Kenneth E. Silver, expert on the French artist and art historian at New York University, the exhibition illuminates Cocteau’s artistic versatility, often criticized by his contemporaries for his juggler-like dexterity.
Through a surprising variety of works, including drawings, graphic works, jewelry, tapestries, historical documents, books, magazines, photographs, and films directed by the enfant terrible of the French art scene, the exhibition traces the development of his unique and personal aesthetic, retracing the highlights of his tumultuous artistic career.
Following, from October 12 to March 3, 2025, Marina Apollonio. Beyond the Circle: a tribute to Marina Apollonio (born 1940), one of the leading figures of the international optical-kinetic movement, retracing the artist’s entire career to the present day, highlighting the rigor of her visual research. Apollonio has explored the multiplicity of variation and the elegance of execution through various artistic forms, including painting, sculpture, and drawing. The works presented include static, moving, and environmental creations, ranging from the use of black and white to chromatic research, from technical experimentation to innovative materials.
- Palazzo Grassi
Campo San Samuele, San Marco 3231
Julie Mehretu. Ensemble
Until January 6, 2025 - Punta della Dogana
Pierre Huyghe. Liminal
Until November 24
Fondamenta Salute, Dorsoduro 2www.palazzograssi.it
Daily, 10:00 AM – 7:00 PM. Closed Tuesday
Bruno Racine, Director and CEO of Palazzo Grassi – Punta della Dogana, recounts: “Dorsoduro Museum Mile reaches its tenth year confirming the importance of pursuing a shared vision among cultural institutions for the benefit of art and its public. Walking the art mile along the Dorsoduro district and being able to admire masterpieces from the eighteenth century to the present day, exhibited in the four institutions, has an invaluable value of openness, a precious treasure chest open to the world.”
Two exhibition venues dedicated to international contemporary art: one a former 18th-century noble residence, the other a former 17th-century customs building, transformed by Japanese architect Tadao Ando into exhibition complexes with monographic and thematic exhibitions from the Pinault Collection.
From March 17 to November 24, Punta della Dogana presents a solo exhibition by Pierre Huyghe titled: Liminal
A dialogue between artist and curator in the extraordinary spaces of Punta della Dogana: Anne Stenne invited artist Pierre Huyghe to specifically conceive an extensive selection of his works, which invite the visitor to undertake an immersive journey within his creative universe. Through various media, including films, sculptures, installations, and performances, the artist explores universal themes such as memory, time, identity, and the relationship between individual and nature.
From March 17 until January 6, 2025, Palazzo Grassi presents Julie Mehretu. Ensemble, an interweaving of artistic languages, not only works by Mehretu, but also works by eight other artists: Nairy Baghramian, Huma Bhabha, Robin Coste Lewis, Tacita Dean, David Hammons, Paul Pfeiffer, and Jessica Rankin.
An “Ensemble” curated by Caroline Bourgeois in collaboration with the artist herself, invited to a fascinating dialogue among different artistic personalities in an exhibition path that explores the various facets of contemporary painting.
The photos were provided by the press offices.
