Morgan le Fay: Memories from the Invisible

The growing interest in the world of contemporary art and academia for the works of Eranos founder Olga Fröbe-Kapteyn (1881-1975) is documented by a relevant series of world-class exhibitions promoted in recent times, under the auspices of the Eranos Foundation, by the Trussardi Foundation in Milan in 2015 (“The Great Mother”), the New Museum in New York in 2016 (“The Keeper”), the Centre Pompidou in Paris in 2021 (“Elles font l'abstraction”), the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao in 2021-2022 (“Mujeres de la abstracción”), the Kunsthalle in Mainz in 2023 (“Olga Fröbe-Kapteyn. Tiefes Wissen”), the Museo Casa Rusca in Locarno in 2024-2025 ("Olga Fröbe-Kapteyn: artist - researcher“), the Museum Catharijneconvent in Utrecht in 2025 (”Tussen hemel en oorlog. Kunst en religie in het interbellum“), the Landesmuseum in Zurich in 2025-2026 (”Landscapes of the Soul. C.G. Jung and the exploration of the human psyche in Switzerland“), and again by the Fondazione Nicola Trussardi in 2025 (”Morgan le Fay. Memories from the invisible"). The organization of these important exhibitions went hand in hand with the publication of the relative catalogues, which also documented a gradual diffusion of Olga Fröbe-Kapteyn's works, in anticipation of a future critical edition of these materials, the so-called "Blue Book," by the Eranos Foundation.

The Nicola Trussardi Foundation and Palazzo Morando | Costume Moda Immagine are pleased to announce “Morgan le Fay: Memories from the Invisible,” an exhibition conceived and produced by the Nicola Trussardi Foundation for Palazzo Morando | Costume Moda Immagine, curated by Massimiliano Gioni, Daniel Birnbaum, and Marta Papini. The exhibition has been designed by the Nicola Trussardi Foundation specifically for the spaces of Palazzo Morando, a museum dedicated to the history of the city of Milan and the residence of Countess Lydia Caprara Morando Attendolo Bolognini (Alexandria, Egypt, 1876 – Vedano al Lambro, Monza Brianza, 1945), who between the 19th and 20th centuries amassed a vast library on occult, spiritualist, and alchemical subjects, now housed in the Archivio Storico Civico and Biblioteca Trivulziana. It is from the figure of the Countess and this evocative place that the idea of a unique exhibition project took shape, dedicated to artistic practices inspired by the invisible, psychic automatism, and trance as modes of creation.

Morgan le Fay is a mythological character belonging to the cycle of legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, often associated with mysterious places such as the island of Avalon, a land of passage between the world of the living and the world of the dead: in the collective imagination, she is a powerful sorceress—sometimes benevolent, sometimes ruthless, guardian of secrets, illusions, and intermediate worlds, capable of powerful spells, enchantments, and deceit—but also, in more recent interpretations, a free, independent, and nonconformist woman who lives without following the rules imposed by society. The exhibition draws inspiration from the poem written by André Breton in 1940, and intertwines history, art, and mysticism in a journey through visions, ecstasy, apparitions, and alternative imaginaries to explore the relationship between art, the occult, and inner dimensions. With paintings, photographs, documents, drawings, and ritual objects, ”Morgan le Fay. Memories from the invisible" presents the works of mediums, mystics, visionaries, and artists who have opened gateways between the visible and the invisible. The exhibition explores the cross-pollination between visual arts and paranormal phenomena, esotericism, spiritualism, theosophy, and symbolic practices, presenting a vibrant and fragmentary panorama of research that emerged on the margins of official history but was capable of radically transforming the conventions of art and society.

”Morgan le Fay. Memories from the invisible" does not seek to confirm the existence of the supernatural, but rather to recount how, at various moments in history, practices considered eccentric have undermined artistic and social conventions, challenging gender hierarchies, scientific authority, and the limits of rational thought. In an era marked by new forms of obsession and neurosis, misinformation, and fascination with mystery, the exhibition also reflects on the dangerous relationships between technology, spirituality, and power. Through a network of visual narratives—from diagrams for “influencing machines” created in nineteenth-century psychiatric contexts to spiritualist photographs and accounts of séances—"Morgan le fay" composes an atlas of the invisible, a mosaic of inner worlds, utopias, mental drifts, and radical alternatives to dominant rationality.

The exhibition, which also includes 12 works by Olga Fröbe-Kapteyn, can be visited at Palazzo Morando, Via Sant'Andrea 6, Milan, from October 9 to November 30, 2025, from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. (closed on Mondays). The opening is scheduled for Wednesday, October 8, at 6:00 p.m. Admission is free.