Julian Schnabel at Pace with Italy Through Its Trees
Published on 09/01/2026 at 10:41 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael Müller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWS
Julian Schnabel is showing Italy Through Its Trees at Pace in New York. The gallery says the exhibition ran from May 15 to August 14, 2026, and centered on new paintings built around Italian umbrella pines Pace gallery exhibition page.
The Pace show and its subject
Pace describes the project as a presentation of a new body of paintings by Schnabel at 540 West 25th Street. It also identifies two long-running series inside the show: paintings on maps and plate paintings.
The gallery ties the work to the Italian umbrella pine, Pinus pinea. That motif links the New York installation to Schnabel's long relationship with Italy and to the film In the Hand of Dante.
Why the market still matters
For the market side of Schnabel's year, Sotheby's recorded The sound of someone's backbone snapping as a lot in its Contemporary Discoveries sale in London on January 23, 2026. The lot carried a 30,000-40,000 GBP estimate and was listed as executed in 1981 Sotheby's result page.
The result page places the painting at 258 by 165 cm and notes its provenance through Galerie Bischofberger in Zurich and Lia Rumma in Naples. That combination keeps the early work legible as a market anchor, not just a museum-era reference.
More news and background on Julian Schnabel
Track exhibition dates, auction results and collection context around Schnabel's painting practice in one place.
The work core
Schnabel works across painting and object-based painting, especially plate paintings and maps. Pace notes that the current New York show pairs those idioms with a subject taken from the Italian landscape.
That combination matters because the artist has built a signature out of surface, scale and material interruption. Broken crockery, aluminum and painted ground remain central to the visual force of the works.
Where the work stands now
Julian Schnabel currently has no announced date in the 30-day window.
Julian Schnabel at a glance
- Artist: Julian Schnabel
- Medium / Genre: Painting (large-scale, object-based)
- Born: 1951, Brooklyn, New York, United States
- Place(s) of practice: New York City and Montauk, Long Island
- Active since: 1970s
- Key work groups: Plate Paintings, Maps, Portrait of Italy Through Its Trees
- Current/last exhibition: Italy Through Its Trees - Pace Gallery, New York - May 15 to August 14, 2026
- Major collections: Museum of Modern Art, New York; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Tate, London; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
- Awards: Honorary RA
- Next date: currently no announced date in the 30-day window
Frequently asked questions about Julian Schnabel
Where is Julian Schnabel currently on view?
His Pace exhibition Italy Through Its Trees in New York ran from May 15 to August 14, 2026, according to Pace.
What did Julian Schnabel's Sotheby's lot do on January 23, 2026?
The sound of someone's backbone snapping was listed with a 30,000-40,000 GBP estimate in Sotheby's Contemporary Discoveries sale.
What do the Julian Schnabel plate paintings and map works emphasize?
Pace presents them as two long-running bodies of work that Schnabel brings together around the Italian umbrella pine.
This article was produced with a.i. support and editorially reviewed. All statements without guarantee; auction results, exhibition dates and awards may change at short notice.
