PanzaCollection

Art collections
Mendrisio
Art as Experience: the Panza Collection
The Panza di Biumo Collection is one of the most famous collections of contemporary art in Italy and internationally, formed by Count Giuseppe Panza di Biumo (1923-2010), a well-known art collector and patron. The collection reflects the innovative taste and far-sightedness of Panza, who began collecting works of art as early as the 1950s, focusing on emerging artists and movements, often ignored by the European and Italian art system of the time.
The collection includes important nuclei of minimalist and conceptual works, with artists such as Donald Judd, Dan Flavin, Robert Irwin and James Turrell, as well as works exploring the relationship between light, space and perception. Panza developed a particular predilection for works that went beyond the traditional dimensions of painting and sculpture, taking an interest in site-specific installations and works that reflect the immateriality and simplicity of form typical of minimalism and environmental art.
The heart of the collection is housed in the Villa Menafoglio Litta Panza in Varese, an elegant 18th-century villa where Panza lived and transformed many rooms into exhibition spaces for his works, creating an environment in which art and architecture dialogue. The villa is now managed by the FAI (Fondo Ambiente Italiano), which keeps it open to the public, preserving not only the works, but also the exhibition project desired by the collector.
Over the years, Panza also donated and sold a significant part of the collection to international museums, such as the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles and the Guggenheim Museum in New York, helping to make American minimalism known and spread throughout the world. The Panza collection is considered a fundamental testimony to the history of contemporary art of the second half of the 20th century and an example of visionary collecting, capable of perceiving the power of new languages and supporting avant-garde artists.
Tailor-made solutions

Digital management system for works in the collection

Customised website

Photographic campaign for the documentation of the works

Newsletter service

The digital archive and its management

The digital archive, initially conceived as a simple inventory of the works acquired from the collection, has been developed over the years taking into account the continuous needs of the PanzaCollection.

Web site

panzacollection.org

 

Dan Flavin
Varese Corridor, 1976
Dimensions 558 x 2855 x 254 cm
FAI - Fondo per l’Ambiente Italiano Villa Menafoglio Litta Panza, Varese
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York - Collezione Panza, Dono 1992, permanent loan to FAI - Fondo per l’Ambiente Italiano, Villa Menafoglio Litta Panza, Varese

PanzaCollection

Art collections
Mendrisio
Art as Experience: the Panza Collection
The Panza di Biumo Collection is one of the most famous collections of contemporary art in Italy and internationally, formed by Count Giuseppe Panza di Biumo (1923-2010), a well-known art collector and patron. The collection reflects the innovative taste and far-sightedness of Panza, who began collecting works of art as early as the 1950s, focusing on emerging artists and movements, often ignored by the European and Italian art system of the time.
The collection includes important nuclei of minimalist and conceptual works, with artists such as Donald Judd, Dan Flavin, Robert Irwin and James Turrell, as well as works exploring the relationship between light, space and perception. Panza developed a particular predilection for works that went beyond the traditional dimensions of painting and sculpture, taking an interest in site-specific installations and works that reflect the immateriality and simplicity of form typical of minimalism and environmental art.
The heart of the collection is housed in the Villa Menafoglio Litta Panza in Varese, an elegant 18th-century villa where Panza lived and transformed many rooms into exhibition spaces for his works, creating an environment in which art and architecture dialogue. The villa is now managed by the FAI (Fondo Ambiente Italiano), which keeps it open to the public, preserving not only the works, but also the exhibition project desired by the collector.
Over the years, Panza also donated and sold a significant part of the collection to international museums, such as the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles and the Guggenheim Museum in New York, helping to make American minimalism known and spread throughout the world. The Panza collection is considered a fundamental testimony to the history of contemporary art of the second half of the 20th century and an example of visionary collecting, capable of perceiving the power of new languages and supporting avant-garde artists.
Tailor-made solutions

Digital management system for works in the collection

Customised website

Photographic campaign for the documentation of the works

Newsletter service

The digital archive and its management

The digital archive, initially conceived as a simple inventory of the works acquired from the collection, has been developed over the years taking into account the continuous needs of the PanzaCollection.

Web site

panzacollection.org

The website

The PanzaCollection web portal documents the history and development of the collection in relation to the lives of its creators.

(in the picture: Giuseppe Panza di Biumo, photographed by Alessandro Zambianchi during "The Panza Collection: An Experience of Color and Light" at Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York, in 2007)

The site presents the events during which units of works have been exhibited to the public and make a list of the museum institutions, public and private, to which they have been handed over, for bequests or donations.
Ford Beckman (1952-2014)
Untitled (Black Wall Painting)
Acrylic, wax and industrial varnish on canvas on plywood
MASI Lugano - Collezione Cantone Ticino
Gift Panza di Biumo, 1994
Photo © Alessandro Zambianchi
Photo © Alessandro Zambianchi

Martin Puyear. Installation view, MoMa, NewYork
Courtesy Panza Collection
www.moma.org

Photo © Alessandro Zambianchi

Martin Puyear. Installation view, MoMa, NewYork
Courtesy Panza Collection
www.moma.org

Photo © Alessandro Zambianchi

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