Looks from the Ghigi-Pagnani Art Collection on display in Ravenna

The City of Ravenna, with the Department of Culture, and the MAR, in collaboration with the Ghigi-Pagnani Archive and CARP Ravenna, are pleased to present the exhibition 1955-1965. The New World in Ravenna. Looks from the Ghigi-Pagnani Art Collection. Curated by Roberto Pagnani Jr. and Paolo Trioschi, the exhibition will be on view from December 6, 2024 to January 26, 2025 at Palazzo Rasponi dalle Teste in Ravenna. The exhibition offers the opportunity to discover a selection of significant works that chronicle the cultural and artistic ferment of the decade 1955-1965, through the eyes of the Ghigi-Pagnani Collection.

The exhibition explores the artistic experience that took place in postwar Ravenna, with two collectors at the center: Roberto Pagnani (Ravenna, 1914 - Santarcangelo di Romagna, 1965) and his wife Raffaella Ghigi. A passionate patron of the arts, Pagnani vigorously supported artists who later became icons, such as Mattia Moreni, Georges Mathieu and Emilio Vedova, with whom he developed a bond of great friendship over time. He commissioned numerous works from them and offered extended artistic residencies, thus transforming the Ravenna villa into a key reference point for meeting and creation.

The space was a sharing place for enthusiasts and critics of the caliber of Francesco Arcangeli and Alberto Martini, before Pagnani’s tragic death in a car accident on the night of May 8, 1965, alongside his wife and what he considered perhaps his closest friend, Alberto Martini. In the exhibition’s itinerary, alongside informal works by Moreni, Mathieu and Vedova, creations by Ben Shahn, Daniel Pommereulle, Sergio Vacchi, Phillip Martin, Bernard Quentin, Niki de Saint Phalle and many others are also on display. In addition to a wide selection of original documents and historical films, the exhibition features a rich black-and-white photographic repertoire, with images taken by Pagnani himself.

Meetings to discover the Ghigi-Pagnani Collection.

Three meetings dedicated to the deeper discovery of the Ghigi-Pagnani Collection and its many aspects are also scheduled at the halls of Palazzo Rasponi dalle Teste, with the participation of distinguished lecturers and art experts.

• On Thursday, December 19, Claudio Spadoni will present the talk Remembering Mattia Moreni and Georges Mathieu, and explore the link between Roberto Pagnani and the two masters of informal art.

• On Thursday, January 9, 2025, Roberto Pagnani Jr. and Luca Maggio will offer a reflection entitled From Mathieu to Arte Povera. The Ghigi-Pagnani Collection Between Reality and Imaginary Hypothesis, delving into the evolution of the collection and its connections with later art movements.

• Finally, on Thursday, January 23, 2025, Federica Nurchis will give a lecture at the MAR - Art Museum of the City of Ravenna, entitled Alberto Martini and the Villa Ghigi-Pagnani Collection. The meeting will take place in the room dedicated to the art critic, Alberto Martini.

All events will begin at 5 p.m. and admission is free.

Exhibition hours (free admission): Tuesday-Friday: 3-7 p.m. Saturday-Sunday and holidays: 10:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m., 3:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m. To learn more about the collection, guided tours to discover the Villa Ghigi-Pagnani on Via Zotti in Ravenna are also scheduled, led by the eponymous nephew of the collector and noted painter Roberto Pagnani: Tuesday, Dec. 10 and 17; Tuesday, Dec. 7 and 14 at 5:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. For information and reservations for the guided tours: carpaps.ravenna@gmail.com

Looks from the Ghigi-Pagnani Art Collection on display in Ravenna

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