The Biennale opened in 1895 with a nude-painting scandal and 224,000 visitors. Since then it has survived 1968’s riot police, added the Arsenale in 1980, and now proceeds into 2026 without the curator who conceived it.
The Biennale opened in 1895 with a nude-painting scandal and 224,000 visitors. Since then it has survived 1968’s riot police, added the Arsenale in 1980, and now proceeds into 2026 without the curator who conceived it.