Hauser & Wirth is set to open its first Italian location, the gallery told ARTnews Friday. The new outpost will be in Palermo, Sicily, housed in the Palazzo Forcella De Seta.
The neo-Gothic palace has a storied history, having served as a venue for the Manifesta 12 biennial, which was held in Palermo in 2018. It was once home to Galleria Mediterranea, the city’s first private art gallery, from 1937 to 1940. In 2020, major parts of the building were put up for sale. The gallery began investigating the site in 2023 and closed on the deal in November.
However, the local government and Italy’s Ministry of Culture can still exercise their right of “public pre-emption,” which allows them to purchase the building within 60 days due to the palazzo’s status as a historic monument. Assuming that right isn’t exercised, the gallery could begin work on the site in 2026, with plans for completion by 2030.
Hauser & Wirth purchased roughly 20,000 square feet of the property, including the main floor—to be used as the exhibition space—two wings, and a building for the gallery’s offices.
“We can confirm that we are acquiring the historic Palazzo Forcella De Seta in Palermo, Sicily,” gallery president Iwan Wirth said in an emailed statement. “It is an honor and a privilege to have this opportunity to restore a site of such profound significance and beauty, and to create a new arts destination in a place renowned for cultural exchange throughout the centuries. We look forward to sharing details of our vision and plans in the coming months.”
The gallery further said that it has a “long and established history” of creating cultural projects while sensitively conserving historic architecture, citing its Somerset, Menorca, and Los Angeles locations, for which it has won multiple awards for conservancy.
