"The Three Greats of Spain: Picasso, Mirò, Dalí": spanish art arrives in Milan

Milan is preparing to host an exceptional artistic event: from October 25, 2025, to January 25, 2026, the Fabbrica del Vapore will host an exhibition that brings together for the first time, on a creative and intellectual journey, three of the greatest protagonists of the 20th-century Spanish avant-garde. Picasso, Miró, and Dalí are at the center of the exhibition project, curated by Joan Abelló, Vittoria Mainoldi, and Carlotta Muiños, which creates an imaginative dialogue between brilliant, innovative, and visionary minds, uniting their extraordinary poetics and the revolutionary power of their research.

The exhibition, also supported by the Spanish Embassy in Italy, the Spanish Consulate General in Milan, and the Instituto Cervantes, draws on loans from prestigious institutions such as the Reina Sofia in Madrid, the Museu Picasso in Barcelona, ​​the Fundaciòn Luis Seoane in A Coruña, and, above all, valuable private collections. The exhibition brings together renowned and rare works in Milan's galleries, many of which are on display in Italy for the first time, accentuating the event's international character and its propensity for surprise.

The narrative focuses on the most significant milestones in modern art, with particular attention to the shared legacy left by the three Spanish masters: symbols, forms, and languages ​​that shaped the visual culture of the entire twentieth century. Milan thus becomes the setting for a close comparison between the brilliant visions of Picasso, Miró, and Dalí, but also a space where the individual characteristics of each artist are highlighted, from their exploration of materiality to their obsession with subjectivity, from poetic tension to their drive toward dream and deformation.

The versatility of these Spanish masters is revealed in multiple media: painting, sculpture, graphic design, poetry, film, applied arts, and public art. This multifaceted approach finds expression in the turmoil of Catalonia—the homeland of Miró and Dalí and the artistic initiation of Picasso—all the way to the Parisian hub of the avant-garde, without neglecting the echoes of Europe's history marked by wars and dictatorships. The exhibition dedicates a special section to Picasso's masterpiece "Guernica," a universal symbol of peace: preparatory sketches and the famous photographs by Dora Maar, Picasso's muse and companion, document the creative process and convey the dark atmosphere that marked Europe's history during World War II.

Particular attention is paid to Dalí's theatrical sets for "Bacchanale," his first collaboration with the Ballets Russes. These works, exhibited for the first time in Italy at the Milan exhibition, demonstrate the Spanish genius's ability to explore diverse media, revealing a scenographic vocation fueled by provocation, dreaminess, and sophisticated irony.

Picasso is represented with emblematic works, such as "Portrait of a Lady according to Lucas Cranach the Younger" from 1962, a color linocut that reveals his constant striving to reinterpret the old masters and engage with tradition. Throughout his long career, the Malaga-born master traversed the history of European figurative art, contaminating languages ​​and media and reinventing visual codes that have become synonymous with avant-garde and disruption. Picasso's impact on international artistic culture remains powerful today, confirming him as an undisputed icon of freedom and innovation.

The same can be said of Mirò, featured in the exhibition with "Signes et Figurations" from 1935, watercolor, ink, and inscriptions on paper, from the Galerie de la Presidence in Paris. The lyricism of Mirò's works brings to Milan the experimental imagination and the value of the sign that made him a key figure in European graphic design: his chromatic universes, the metamorphoses of reality, and the celebration of poetry in the everyday are testament to the Catalan artist's imaginative power, constantly poised between playfulness and depth.

The Fabbrica del Vapore exhibition also considers historical contexts. The artistic trajectory of Picasso, Mirò, and Dalì intertwines with the Parisian avant-garde and the social and political fervor of Catalonia, reflecting in an original way on the contradictions and impulses of twentieth-century Europe. Milan becomes a focal point for this exploration, hosting works that narrate the conflicts of modernity and the vital drive of creativity through experiences that transcend all geographical, linguistic, and expressive boundaries.

The event is part of a cultural season that sees the city at the forefront of new dialogues and cross-fertilizations, renewing the Fabbrica del Vapore's role as a privileged space for major international art exhibitions. The public will have the opportunity to immerse themselves in visionary atmospheres, amid stories of experimentation, resilience, poetry, and freedom, allowing themselves to be carried away by the energies that reshaped 20th-century culture. The exhibition thus becomes a unique opportunity to engage with three different worlds that, despite their distinct nature, together built the great legend of the Spanish avant-garde, capable of profoundly and lastingly influencing painting, graphic design, poetry, and European thought.