Giacomo Balla at Mart: the Biagiotti Cigna collection in full

From 16 May to 18 October 2026, the Mart - Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Rovereto hosts the exhibition "Giacomo Balla. The Style of the Avant-Garde. Works from the Biagiotti Cigna Collections", curated by Beatrice Avanzi and Fabio Benzi. For the first time in Italy, Laura Biagiotti's complete collection of Balla's works is shown together.

The exhibition includes about 240 works and reconstructs Balla's entire artistic development: from his late 19th-century divisionist paintings, through the Futurist breakthrough—featuring early examples of abstraction in Europe—to the 1930s and his experiments in fashion and applied arts.

Exhibition highlights

• Opening section: divisionist paintings that mark Balla's early phase.
• Core Futurist section: works from his avant-garde period, including the rare "Iridescent Compenetrations", now seen as early European gestures toward abstraction.
• Fashion and applied arts: garments, embroidered vests, ties, patterns and the 1930 dress made for his daughter Luce, demonstrating Balla's interest in the fusion of art and fashion.
• Monumental pieces and late portraits: emblematic works such as the studio door, "Genio futurista" (1925) and the late portrait "Autobalsettanta4" (1948), reflecting his later production.

The display, produced by Officina delle idee, dialogues with the Mart's archival material and works by Fortunato Depero, situating Balla within the broader context of Italian avant-gardes. Preparatory studies and works on unconventional supports reveal the artist's creative process, showing both finished pieces and the stages behind them.

Why visit: this exhibition offers a rare chance to see the Biagiotti Cigna holdings in their entirety and to understand how painting, fashion and applied arts intersected in the career of a central Futurist figure.