Can Milan becomes the future European center for the international art market? Last year, Thaddaeus Ropac planting his flag in Milan caused quite a stir, as did the city that became the main beneficiary of Italy’s “non-dominant” tax regime, introduced in 2017, which initially offered newly wealthy residents a flat tax rate of €100,000 on foreign income (later increased to €20,00). The reduced VAT rate, now at 10 percent, along with capital inflows fueled by tax incentives that attract foreign investors, has further fueled enthusiasm. Traditionally, while the Italian art market has remained healthy, it has also been restrained and largely provincial. Over the past two years, however, the momentum in this city in particular has begun to shift. Milan’s art ecosystem has found new ways to expand, with a wave of fresh projects, often newer and more experimental in nature, emerging despite ongoing financial pressures caused by gentrification.
During the month of this year, the city is expanding its offer with two satellite fairs. MEGA, which was launched in 2024 as an experiment, is set up as an intimate boutique salon with only 30 exhibitors, while Paris Internationale! arrives in Milan for the first time with 34 international galleries at Palazzo Galbani. Both fairs open today (April 15), ahead of Miart, which opens its 30th edition on April 17 with 160 galleries from 24 countries. Meanwhile, among Milan’s main institutions, the historic Milanese galleries that anchor the scene, and the next-generation spaces working to refresh it, there are several art exhibitions worth checking out, whether you’re in town for the fairs or Salone, the city’s long-influential Design Week.
