Rome Art Shows in November 2026: Adrian Ghenie Drawings and a Bagutta Prize Centenary

Two Rome exhibitions with a deadline this month

Rome's November art calendar is thin on blockbusters but has two time-sensitive shows worth slotting into a trip. The first closes soon. The second opens this week.

Adrian Ghenie, the Romanian painter known for heavily worked figurative canvases, has moved to Rome and is showing drawings at the Istituto Centrale per la Grafica until 15 November, according to Artribune. This is the first time his drawings have been exhibited there. If you are in Rome in the first two weeks of the month, treat it as the priority: drawings reward close looking, and the venue is a working national graphics institute rather than a tourist museum, so expect a quieter visit than at the Borghese Gallery or Capitoline Museums.

The Bagutta Prize turns 100

Separately, Casa Bellonci is hosting a display on the centenary of the Premio Bagutta, Italy's long-running literary prize. The inauguration is scheduled for 4 November with Sandro Veronesi and Helena Janeczek, ANSA reports. Casa Bellonci is the historic Rome home associated with the Strega Prize, so the setting itself is part of the draw for anyone interested in Italian literary heritage.

Practical planning

Neither show is a reason to restructure a whole Rome itinerary, and neither substitutes for the Vatican Museums or the Colosseum on a first visit. But if you already have a museum day planned, the Ghenie drawings are the stronger draw and the closing date is fixed. Confirm opening hours and any reservation requirement on the Istituto Centrale per la Grafica's official page before travelling, and check Casa Bellonci's programme for the Bagutta display's visiting times, since the sources confirm the inauguration date but not the full run.