Comprising 20,000 works and dozens of archival funds, the Mart's collection spans the last 200 years of art history, with a particular focus on the Italian scene.

The selection displayed in the current ‘permanent’ exhibition on the second floor of the museum covers a shorter period, from the 1880s to the 1980s.  The exhibition unfolds along a circular and chronological path, starting with the famous ‘Venus’ by Francesco Hayez (1830) and ending with an abstract work by Wade Guyton in 2007.

There are more than 400 works organised in fourteen thematic sections: from the 19th century to Transavanguardia, through Futurism, Metaphysical art and Novecento Italiano, Abstract Art, verbo-visual languages and Arte Povera.

The curatorial concept also focuses on mural art and the great architecture of the first part of the century, as well as the experiences of political rupture, pop languages and social activism of the protagonists of the second half of the 20th century. The extensive archive materials from the collections of the Archivio del ‘900, the Mart's research centre, delve deeper into these dynamic, experimental, innovative decades.

The exhibition concludes with tributes to artists from Trentino and countercurrents to the main trends that contributed to the heterogeneity of the 20th century. 

Last are the sections on Modern Painters of Reality and Italian Magical Realism.  These historical and artistic developments are experiencing a revival and attracting the attention of critics, which recent exhibitions organised by the Mart have also contributed to.

The artists on show include: Francesco Hayez, Giovanni Segantini, Medardo Rosso, Giacomo Balla, Umberto Boccioni, Tullio Crali, Fortunato Depero, Leonardo Dudreville, Enrico Prampolini, Alberto Magnelli, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Luigi Russolo, Carlo Carrà, Mario Sironi, Adalberto Libera, Marcello Dudovich, Massimo Campigli, Felice Casorati, Giorgio de Chirico, Alberto Savinio, Giorgio Morandi, Arturo Martini, Cagnaccio di San Pietro, Fausto Pirandello, Fausto Melotti, Bruno Munari, Ettore Sottsass senior, Mario Radice, Luigi Veronesi, Carla Badiali, Osvaldo Licini, Alberto Burri, Lucio Fontana, Renato Guttuso, Mattia Moreni, Piero Manzoni, Mirella Bentivoglio, Emilio Vedova, Ketty La Rocca, Pablo Echaurren, Lucia Marcucci, Lamberto Pignotti, Lanfranco, Alessandri, Fabrizio Clerici, Stanislao Lepri, Mario Schifano, Andy Warhol, Giovanni Anselmo, Gino De Dominicis, Giulio Paolini, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Enzo Cucchi, Mimmo Paladino.