Must-see exhibitions in Milan this November
As the first cold weather arrives, Milan moves indoors across museums, foundations and galleries: November is the month of major openings!
In November, Milan heads indoors: the days grow shorter, winter coats come out of wardrobes, and cultural life moves into museum rooms where openings follow in quick succession, one or two each week. This year’s calendar ranges from 700 BC to a digital avatar, taking in Tiziano, Leonardo and his pupils, Lucio Fontana and Costantino Nivola, while leaving space for both ear and hand with sound installations and pieces in fibre and thread. For anyone seeking the must-see exhibitions in Milan this November, it pays to mark the dates early and choose the right weekend. Here are eight exhibitions to see in November, in order of opening.
A Titian for Milan
Museo Poldi Pezzoli | Via Manzoni, 12
Already open since 22 October and on view until 25 January 2027, the focus exhibition at Museo Poldi Pezzoli marks the 450th anniversary of Tiziano’s death and the city the painter visited in 1541 for the entry of Carlo V. It brings together four works—three autographs and a period copy—selected by Enrico Maria Dal Pozzolo and Lavinia Galli. At its centre is the Madonna con il Bambino e la Maddalena, painted around 1540–1550, never shown before and destined for the permanent collection: under X-rays, the Magdalene conceals a bearded man, painted first and later transformed in the workshop by Girolamo Dente. Alongside it hangs the later Madonna con il Bambino from Gallerie dell’Accademia in Venice. The extra highlight? A QR code leading outside the museum towards Brera, the Duomo and Santa Maria delle Grazie.
Global Antiquity
Fondazione Prada | Largo Isarco, 2
From 5 November to 1 March 2027, the ground floor of the Podium at Fondazione Prada welcomes over 150 works and objects dating from around 700 BC to 1000 AD, chosen by Salvatore Settis, Anna Anguissola and Chiara Ballestrazzi to illuminate connections between the Mediterranean and Asia, following on from Serial Classic, Portable Classic and Recycling Beauty, with exhibition design by Rem Koolhaas and AMO/OMA. Lenders range from the Met and the Louvre to the British Museum and Musei Vaticani; standout exhibits include the Begram treasure from Afghanistan, the cameo of Shapur I, and an ivory Indian figurine found in Pompeii. The epilogue, showing the Buddha transformed into a Christian figure in the tale of Barlaam and Iosafat, is well worth saving for last on an unhurried Sunday afternoon.
Lucio Fontana. ‘Che splendida giornata…’
Tornabuoni Arte | Via Fatebenefratelli, 36
On Via Fatebenefratelli, Tornabuoni Arte—a gallery founded in Florence in 1981—inaugurates its expanded, renovated Milan gallery with 30 works by Lucio Fontana, on display from 10 November to 23 January 2027. Curated by Luca Massimo Barbero, the display turns the canvases around to reveal the reverse, where the artist jotted down handwritten thoughts and phrases. The title derives from a specific work: Concetto spaziale, Attesa (1968), inscribed on the back with ‘Che splendida giornata dopo tanta burrasca’. Alongside the handwritten inscription are his major painting cycles, slashes included. A fine stop for a mid-afternoon pause in the Brera area, with those words lingering in mind for the rest of the day.
Costantino Nivola. Scolpire il vento
Triennale Milano | Viale Alemagna, 6
On the ground floor of Triennale, in the Galleria, from 11 November to 14 February 2027 Cecilia Alemani brings together over 200 works by Costantino Nivola, with exhibition staging by Alessandro Floris. Born in Orani in 1911 and passing away in 1988, Nivola studied at ISIA di Monza before moving to New York in 1939 as fascism tightened its hold. The show presents graphic designs for Olivetti, figurative sculptures, and concrete reliefs crafted through sand-casting, poured into sand moulds, reflecting an artist who moved effortlessly between sculpture, architecture, design and graphic art. One to pencil into your diary alongside the exhibition opening upstairs later this month, for a full Saturday at Triennale.
Sheila Hicks. In the Thread of Love
PAC Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea | Via Palestro, 14
PAC reopens on 17 November with the first Italian retrospective dedicated to Sheila Hicks, running until 14 February 2027 inside the spaces designed by Ignazio Gardella. An American artist trained at Yale, Hicks turned fibre and thread into her medium; the exhibition curated by Diego Sileo brings together works from international collections in diverse formats, highlighting the colour and tactile presence of textiles. In the Project Room across the same dates, Silvia Bignami curates Sheila Hicks / Piero Dorazio. Interlacing Colours, which takes as its starting point the artists’ initial meeting in Milan in May 1962 and shows three 1960 paintings donated by Dorazio for the first time. For evening visits, Thursdays from 7pm offer a special concession admission at €4.
Marina Abramović Element
Palazzo Citterio | Via Brera, 12
As part of the Grande Brera programme, from 24 November to 24 February 2027 the large LED wall at Palazzo Citterio hosts a sequence of digital performances by Marina Abramović, presented by MNAD (Museo nazionale dell’Arte digitale). On screen, the artist who has worked with her own body for over half a century appears as an avatar, a digital likeness. Curated by Clelia Patella with support from TAEX Gallery, following the ART series the project continues with METHOD, structured around the Metodo Abramović. Highlights include Portrait with Snakes #25, an avatar performance from 2025. Opening late in the month, it makes a fine reason to revisit Via Brera in December.
Correspondences. Soundwalk Collective & Patti Smith
Triennale Milano | Viale Alemagna, 6
We return to Triennale, this time on the first floor in the Cubo, where from 26 November to 7 March 2027 Correspondences arrives in partnership with Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, a collaborator of the Milanese institution since 2019. On one side stands American poet and singer-songwriter Patti Smith; on the other, Soundwalk Collective, an international sound art collective recording audio across remote corners of the earth. Over these field recordings, Patti Smith works her poetry, resulting in an experience to watch and hear across audiovisual installations alongside graphic works that address climate change. A key date for early December, ideally paired on the same visit with Nivola on the ground floor.
Under the sign of Leonardo. Pupils and followers in Milan
Gallerie d’Italia | Piazza della Scala, 6
Closing the month and our round-up of Milan exhibitions in November is Gallerie d’Italia in Piazza della Scala, from 27 November to 4 April 2027, curated by Arturo Galansino and Simone Facchinetti. Exploring Leonardo’s imprint on Lombard painting, the exhibition pairs his circle with painters working in Lombardy before 1482: Leonardo arrived in Milan in 1482 at the court of Ludovico il Moro, remained until 1499, and returned in 1506. On display are Boltraffio, Marco d’Oggiono, Andrea Solario and Bernardino Luini with further pupils and followers, with comparisons turning on sfumato, landscapes and faces. Once the Christmas lights illuminate the centre, it makes a fitting end to an afternoon between La Scala and the Galleria.
