A Collector's Passion: Gianni Mattioli
An art historian and collector, Mattioli compiled one of the world's most valuable collections of paintings from this extraordinary period in Italian art. Futurism was a movement in art, literature and music which actually originated in Italy during the early decades of the 1900's. It was characterized by its violent departure from traditional forms and materials as it strove to express growth and movement. The collection is the fruit of efforts made by this impassioned and sensitive man whose finger rested ever on the contemporary pulse. Self-educated, having left school at 15, Gianni Mattioli achieved such a level of expertise in the field of contemporary art that he was chosen to act as consultant to several Milano museums at the end of W.W.II. He proved an indispensable aid in the maintenance and acquisition of new art. He was able to sniff out talent from the very beginning and soon cultivated contacts with Fortunato Depero, Massimo Campigli, Giorgio Morandi, Mario Sironi along with other prominent figures of the early 20th century intelligentsia. As an adult, he became a wealthy industrialist, making it possible for him to buy the works he most admired.

How the Collection Came to the Guggenheim
The 26 works of Italian futurism on exhibit initially passed into the loving custody of Mattioli's daughter Laura, also an art historian. Laura, holding the promotion of art as something of a public service, rented an apartment in Milano where her father's collection was open to the public every Sunday morning. The paintings have now been given into the Guggenheim's care. This choice seems especially appropriate for two reasons: aesthetically, the Foundation is the only Italian venue where these masterpieces could be shown alongside comparable foreign works of the same caliber. From a practical point of view, it is the only museum run to international standards, affiliated with a larger organization willing and able to provide optimal conservation and care.

The Artists:
The most important painting of the Mattioli collection is "Materia" by Umberto Boccioni (1912, which represents the essence of the futuristic aesthetic: the painting is a nucleus of energy which invites visual study, rather than contemplation. The other 25 works line the long straight stretch which Peggy Guggenheim had built in accordance with Venetian tradition. Two paintings by Ottone Rosai (from 1913 and 1914) are hung together with the "Manifestazione Interventista" by Carlo Carrà (1914), probably the first abstract work made entirely using collage. In a corner, like a surprise, hovers Umberto Boccioni's preliminary sketch of "La città che sale" (1910). There are also six beautiful Morandis, including , "Fori" del 1913 and "Natura morta" done one year later, which were purchased by the collector directly from the artists, who selected them specifically for his friend. The exhibition is not cerebral or in the least outrageous--the public is by now accustomed to the sight of this luminous, dynamic and restless style of painting. If Gianni Mattioli's selections were in their day quite courageous and far-sighted -testimony to his own good taste- his collection is today above all a visual delight.

A Short Story of Peggy Guggenheim:
Her father's tragic death aboard the Titanic left Peggy Guggenheim with quite a large fortune at her disposal. And dispose of it she did, on shopping trips from Paris to New York, on opening and closing famous galleries, marrying and marrying again...and on satisfying a passion for collecting contemporary art she inherited from her Uncle Solomon. She eventually settled down in Venice on the Canale Grande, in the unfinished Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, where she left behind an astounding collection which, upon her death in 1979, was added that of the Museo Salomon Guggenheim di New York.
In her private apartment in Venezia, now a museum, it is now possible to view 180 works produced by artists the caliber of Picasso, Magritte, Duchamp, Braque, Léger, Mondrian, Mirò, Moore, Dalì, Pollock, Bacon, Sutherland, Dubuffet and many others. The new vistors of Venice's Fondazione Guggenheim, will be surprised to find that in addition to these great international masterpieces, there are also 26 works representing the historic Italian avant-guard. These paintings comprise the collection of Gianni Mattioli. Put together by the Milanese banker (one of the most important Italian art collectors) between 1949 and 1953, the collection now leaves its home in Milano for a 5-year stay in Venice where it is on loan to the Fondazione Guggenheim.

Peggy Guggenheim Foundation,
"Capolavori della Collezione Gianni Mattioli"
San Gregorio 701, Dorsoduro - Venice
Telephone: 041-5206288, 041-5221641.
Closed Tuesdays
Hours: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.