Exploring contemporary art in an ancient city
Inside two of Rome’s chicest galleries
This article was originally published in March 2025 in Curated edition 3.
Think of Rome and you think of centuries of history. Rightly so, it has a significant, highly influential and layered past that deserves to be preserved and explored. There were the gladiators, emperors, and the start of modern civilisation. It’s been the home of each elected pope for thousands of years. It’s got centuries-old Renaissance art that’s so deeply embedded in our collective consciousness, that even the most uninitiated recognises the frescoes of Michaelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling.
The markers of Rome’s past can be stumbled across on every street, in every church, in every museum. But to focus purely on eras gone by is to miss the rich tapestry of its present, and the more recent decades we’ve lived through. After all, Rome’s culture and identity is so much more than what happened BC, or during the 15th-century Renaissance.
In Rome, there’s a movement dedicated to exploring creativity in the now, with more galleries and studios than ever dedicated to modern and contemporary art popping up around the city. They may not be as obvious to spot as the other tourist destinations but they’re worth taking the time to seek out.
If you’re hankering after art created in the 19th century and beyond, there are two galleries we highly recommend adding to your itinerary on your next visit to Rome: Galleria Lorcan O’Neill and the National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art. They’re both very different, both very stylish, both very well curated. It’s here that you’ll find the best names in modern and contemporary art—both Italian and international—in the city.
Galleria Lorcan O’Neill
Around the corner from must-visit eatery Roscioli Salumeria con Cucina and just a few minutes’ walk away from Campo de’ Fiori is Galleria Lorcan O’Neill, a tucked-away gallery that unfurls with every step. This isn’t a gallery that’s in your face or easily spotted amongst the rooftops of the city, you have to look for it. Explorers will be rewarded.
In a lot of ways, the gallery is very Rome. It’s housed in the former 17th-century stables of Palazzo Santacroce, and the signs of its history are all there: the unassuming entrance to the cobbled courtyard, and the large, intricately carved baroque fountain that greets you once you’ve arrived. But it’s also unique in its approach to art, paying homage to the building’s past, while being firmly rooted in the present.
The sprawling and vast building is now a blank canvas of polished herringbone flooring and bright white walls adorned with rotating exhibitions. It’s the brainchild of Irish gallerist Lorcan O’Neill, whose curatorial eye has brought internationally renowned artists to Italy, as well as given a platform to promising young artists and local talent. When Galleria Lorcan O’Neill opened in 2003, it was the beginning of a new generation of contemporary art spaces in Rome. It was a place that brought big names (you’ll probably recognise the likes of Tracey Emin and Martin Creed) and up-and-comers together for the first time. Every time you visit, expect something different and varied.
There are also regular pieces by Pietro Ruffo, the native Roman artist with a theatrical style and common themes of philosophy, history and contemporary social issues that run through his works; a recent exhibition of his at the gallery was The Planetary Garden, which explores the impact humans have made on the climate. His art has drawn the eyes of major fashion houses Dior and Valentino, and us at art’otel Rome Via Veneto. We’re very excited to have him as our Signature Artist.
Galleria Lorcan O’Neill may not be huge. It may not be the most famous of Rome’s galleries. But it’s where you’ll find one of the most captivating mixes of contemporary art in the city, beautifully curated exhibitions, and artists that you won’t see anywhere else in Italy’s capital.
You’ll find Galleria Lorcan O’Neill at Vicolo Dei Catinari 3. It’s open Tuesday to Saturday, 11am – 7pm.
National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art
You’ll want to carve out a few more hours for this one. The Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea (you might see it being referred to simply as la Galleria Nazionale or GNAM) is a huge gallery full of iconic works by the likes of Vincent Van Gogh, Claude Monet, Joan Mirò and Vanessa Beecroft. It’s on the edge of Villa Borghese, which just so happens to make the perfect spot for a passeggiata through the tree-lined park after all the art. It’s far enough away from the loud streets that surround Rome’s busiest landmarks, but not so far that you can’t reach it by foot from most parts of centro storico.
Buy a ticket in advance online or get them at the entrance. If you’re there in low season, you shouldn’t need to queue for too long. Despite the vast number of world-famous artworks here, it’s rare that la Galleria Nazionale gets super busy, especially by Rome’s standards.
Truthfully, this building—a neoclassical palace that cuts a striking figure—is so beautiful that you could be forgiven for going for the intricate architecture and thoughtful interior design alone. The floors are smooth, polished herringbone. The ceilings are crane-your-neck high. The rooms are large and airy; the walls clean, fresh and white. The windows, tall and arched, flood the space with light, as do the skylights that cover a huge proportion of the ceilings. The French doors leading out to the small internal leafy courtyard are inviting. As are Marcel Breuer’s Wassily chairs dotted around corridors, where you can stop and sit for a while, or the corridors framed by archways and lit up by elegant pendant lighting.
After you’ve taken all the snaps that will make up your future Pinterest boards, it’s time to focus on what makes this one of the best galleries in the city: the art. There are almost 20,000 works by international and Italian artists spanning the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries; the largest collection of modern art in Italy that has been growing since the gallery was founded in 1883.
How la Galleria Nazionale differs from other large galleries around the world, is that the diverse collection is exhibited not with a chronological layout, but a thematic one. It’s a fresh approach to exhibiting art, devised by former director Cristiana Collu, and one that brings a new perspective to all of its pieces. Each work of art is given space to breathe, allowing you to fully take it all in. But take a step back, look at the wider picture and you’ll notice how each piece works with and complements each other—even if it is a 19th-century sculpture alongside a photograph from the 21st.
There are 55 rooms so you’ll probably want to plan your must-sees in advance. Impressionism, Surrealism and Symbolism are all covered. You’ll find Claude Monet’s Water Lilies, Giacomo Balla’s Dynamic Expansion + Speed, and Méret Oppenheim’s Südlicher garten. You’ll get up close to Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain, Mario Ceroli’s wood-carved L’ultima cena, Man Ray’s Nudes and Vincent Van Gogh’s The Gardener.
If you want to make sure you tick off some iconic pieces, we recommend Gustav Klimt’s The Three Ages of a Woman (1905), which has been part of the gallery’s collection since 1912. This masterpiece represents the passage of time and the three stages of a woman’s life; childhood, motherhood, and old age. Antonio Canova’s large marble sculpture Hercules and Lichas (1795-1815) is another must-see, dominating one of the main rooms on the ground floor. It depicts the image of Hercules poised to throw his servant into the sea and took 20 years to complete.
Number 8, 1949 by Jackson Pollock, one of the most famous artists of the 20th century, is a good one to add to the list too. Like his other paintings, it was made by dripping colour from above and is an excellent example of abstract expressionism. For more Italian art, make sure to check out Amedeo Modigliani’s Portrait of Hanka Zborowska (1917), showcasing the artist’s expressive style.
There’s a lot to see. Wear your most comfortable shoes and make sure to take advantage of the (very stylish) on-site restaurant Caffè delle Arti, open for coffee, lunch, aperitivo and dinner, for an attention span reset. Here, the food is almost as creative as the art on the walls, there’s a good mix of natural wines on the wine list, and you can take your pick between a table in the indoor plant-filled space, or under a canopy of trees outside.
The National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art is open every day except Monday, 9am – 7pm. You’ll find it at Viale delle Belle Arti, 131. You can’t miss it.
If all that contemporary art has left you wanting more, don’t forget to stop by art’otel Rome Via Veneto. Our favourite time to visit is just before dinner, when you can do as the Romans do and sit down to Aperitivo Hour at our bar to ruminate on the artwork—or simply enjoy a Spritz.
