LONDON.- The first institutional presentation in the UK dedicated to the work of Carla Accardi (1924 – 2014) will take place across the Estorick Collection, London, and Compton Verney, Warwickshire. Accardi was a radical figure, whose legacy is central to the narrative of 20th-century Italian art, yet her work remains largely unfamiliar to UK audiences. She was a founding member – and the only woman – of Forma 1, a Rome-based artistic group established in 1947 that brought together artists committed to bridging abstract art with Marxist thought in the aftermath of Fascism.

Jules Schmalzigaug
23 June – 12 September 2027

Jules Schmalzigaug (1882–1917) was Belgium’s only Futurist. In 1912 he moved to Italy, where he fell in with leading figures of F. T. Marinetti’s circle. Two years later, his paintings featured in a major international Futurist exhibition in Rome. When the First World War broke out, he left Italy for the Netherlands, where he continued to develop a range of innovative painting techniques, cut short by his death at just 34. Rediscovered in the 1980s, Schmalzigaug has since become the focus of growing attention. Organised in collaboration with Ronny Van de Velde, Antwerp, this will be the first retrospective of his work ever staged in the UK.





Maria Lai
22 September – 19 December 2027

This major exhibition will introduce British audiences to the work of Maria Lai (1919–2013), one of Italy's most compelling and unconventional post-war artists. Born and raised in Sardinia, Lai developed a deeply personal visual language over the course of a long career, drawing on the island’s geography and local storytelling traditions to create complex, poetic works alongside socially engaged, community-based projects. She is best known for her innovative use of textiles, looms and thread, bringing a contemporary relevance to traditional Sardinian craft practices. This exhibition – the first dedicated to the artist in the UK – will reveal the extraordinary breadth of Lai’s practice and explore her enduring significance. The show is being developed in collaboration with the Fondazione Maria Lai and the Archivio Maria Lai.