Finalists’ Exhibition
From 25 April to 7 June 2026, the MUVEC – Casa delle Contemporaneità in Mestre hosts the collective exhibition of Mestre Painting Prize 2026, organized by Il Circolo Veneto, promoted by Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia, under the patronage of Regione del Veneto, Città Metropolitana di Venezia and Comune di Venezia, with the collaboration of Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia and Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa. The exhibition will display the finalist works, selected by the prize jury.
The Premio Mestre di Pittura was founded in 1958 from the far-sighted idea of the artist Andreina Crepet Guazzo, who since the early 1950s had hoped for a cultural revival of the mainland, together with the economic recovery underway in those same years. After ten successful editions involving some of the most famous names in Venetian painting and beyond, the Prize was discontinued in 1968. It was revived in 2017, after more than half a century of oblivion, thanks to the energy and passion of the members of the Circolo Veneto. Since 2018 it has been organised in collaboration with the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia, a partner in the selection of the works, organisation of the exhibition and production of the catalogue.
Now in its tenth contemporary edition, the 2026 Prize follows nine previous editions that together have featured 3,200 participating artists and over 5,000 submitted works.
It is a major showcase for the world of contemporary painting, with complete stylistic and technical freedom, no age limits and no geographical boundaries, culminating each year in an exhibition of the finalist works at the new MUVEC – Casa delle Contemporaneità, Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia’s contemporary art venue in Mestre.
The jury
The competition’s technical jury is chaired by art historian Gianfranco Maraniello, Director of the Polo Museale Moderno e Contemporaneo in Milan.
Its members are: Elisabetta Barisoni, art historian and Head of Ca’ Pesaro – International Gallery of Modern Art, appointed by Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia; Saverio Simi De Burgis, art critic and historian, Professor of Contemporary Art History and of History and Methodology of Art Criticism at the Venice Academy of Fine Arts, appointed by the Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia; Stefano Cecchetto, art historian, curator and critic, appointed by Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa; Francesca Rossi, art historian and Director of the Civic Museums of Verona; Michele Bonuomo, art historian, exhibition curator and Editor-in-Chief of the monthly magazine “Arte” (Cairo Editore); Matteo Piccolo, art historian, curator and museum curator at Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia; Marco Dolfin, art historian and critic, curator of the finalists’ exhibition and Secretary to the Jury.
Partnerships
The project is organised by Circolo Veneto and promoted by Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia, with the support of the Venice Academy of Fine Arts and Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa, and with the backing of the Venice Rovigo Chamber of Commerce and Fondazione di Venezia.
Further contributions, in the form of special prizes awarded by their own juries to works among the finalists, come from CGIA Mestre, Rotary Club Venezia Mestre, Associazione Trasparenze and Associazione FederFarma, alongside the People’s Jury.
Of particular note is the renewed award in this edition of an Artist’s Residency at the Emeroteca dell’Arte in Mestre, Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia’s space dedicated to cultural production.
Further information and details are available at: www.premiomestredipittura.eu
