What motivates people to collect works of art? The exhibition at the Carlo Orsi Gallery in Milan

From Oct. 21 to Nov. 5, 2021, Galleria Carlo Orsi, in its premises at 14 Via Bagutta in Milan, is hosting the exhibition A caccia di Farfalle. The Spirit of the Collector, an exhibition that, by connecting to the important collecting histories of the works on display, aims to be an opportunity to reflect on what reasons motivate people to collect works of art. The “butterfly hunt” of the exhibition’s title is in fact nothing more than that path, fraught with joys, obstacles, stumbles, loves, passions, mistakes and strokes of luck that every collector or would-be collector undertakes without knowing exactly what he or she is getting into.

Works by four great protagonists of Italian art history alternate in the exhibition: Pompeo Batoni (Lucca, 1708 - Rome, 1787), with two canvases(Prometheus Models Man with Clay and Atalanta Mourns Meleager Death), Lorenzo di Credi (Florence, 1456/1459 - 1536) with a splendid tondo depicting an Adoration of the Child, Giorgio Gandini del Grano (Parma, early 16th century - 1538) with a canvas depicting I Tommaso e Ilario che presentano Parma alla Madonna col Bambino, participated by Blessed Bernardino da Feltre and Saints Elizabeth, John the Baptist, Catherine ofAlexandria, Rocco, Sebastian, with the symbolic presence of the University, and Bartolomeo Vivarini (active in Venice, 1450 - 1491) with three polyptych compartments depicting as many saints, namely Catherine of Alexandria, John the Baptist and Nicholas of Tolentino.

“Those who hunt for emotions like rare butterflies, those who immediately yearn to marry art,” Gian Enzo Sperone, a gallery owner and collector, writes in the exhibition presentation, “know that in the name of beauty and its unstable truths they will encounter many falls in love, probable disappointments and wasted time. It takes a lot of time, and that’s a lot of work.”

Information about the exhibition can be found on the Carlo Orsi Gallery website.

Image: Pompeo Batoni, Prometheus Models Man with Clay, detail (oil on canvas, 135.5 x 98 cm)

What motivates people to collect works of art? The exhibition at the Carlo Orsi Gallery in Milan

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