Qualla: Palazzo Grassi

Palazzo Grassi: Introduction

Mon, 23 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Jean-Pierre Dalbéra from Paris, France, CC BY 2.0. In 1990, the architect Aldo Rossi stood inside Palazzo Grassi to accept the Pritzker Architecture Prize, the highest honor in his profession. The ceremony was held in a building designed by someone else -- Giorgio Massari, who began rebuilding the palazzo in 1748 and finished in 1772, while simultaneously completing the Ca' Rezzonico directly across the Grand Canal. The Palazzo Grassi was the last grand palace erected on the Grand Canal before the fall of the Venetian Republic in 1797, and the largest-sited. Two centuries later, when French billionaire Francois Pinault needed a Venice venue for his contemporary art collection, he chose this palace and hired Pritzker laureate Tadao Ando to reimagine its interiors. The result is a collision of centuries: 18th century frescoes by Michelangelo Morlaiter and ceilings by Giambattista Canal framing installations by Damien Hirst and Rudolf Stingel. Venice has always recycled its buildings. Palazzo Grassi simply does it with more ambition than most.

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Image: Jean-Pierre Dalbéra from Paris, France | CC BY 2.0

Palazzo Grassi: Before the Grassi

Mon, 23 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Abxbay, Public domain. The building on this site has a history older than its famous facade. During the 16th century, the property belonged to the Cini family. In 1605, Alamanno Aragon Hocheppan, grandson of Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, acquired it -- a Medici connection that tied this c...

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Image: Abxbay | Public domain

Palazzo Grassi: The Classical Outlier

Mon, 23 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Ethan Doyle White, CC BY-SA 4.0. Walking the Grand Canal by vaporetto, you register Palazzo Grassi as a break in the visual rhythm. Where neighboring buildings present Gothic tracery, ogival windows, and the layered ornamentation of Venetian Baroque, the Palazzo Grassi offers symmetry, restraint, and clean class...

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Image: Ethan Doyle White | CC BY-SA 4.0

Palazzo Grassi: Pinault's Gamble

Mon, 23 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit CC BY-SA 3.0. Francois Pinault, the French luxury goods magnate, purchased Palazzo Grassi in 2005 and began transforming it into a showcase for his private art collection -- one of the largest holdings of contemporary art in the world. The first exhibition opened in April 2006. In 2007, Pinaul...

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Image: CC BY-SA 3.0

Palazzo Grassi: Where Centuries Collide

Mon, 23 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Zairon, CC BY-SA 4.0. The exhibitions at Palazzo Grassi have ranged from blue-chip provocations to scholarly surveys: Rudolf Stingel carpeted the entire building in oriental rugs for his 2013 solo show, Damien Hirst filled both the palazzo and the Punta della Dogana with his fantastical Treasures from...

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Image: Zairon | CC BY-SA 4.0