Important acquisition for the Braidense Library: the Rizzardi Collection arrives

Important acquisition for the Braidense National Library in Milan: its holdings are enriched with the arrival of the Rizzardi Collection, donated to the Braidense in November 2021, which includes the complete catalog of works printed by the publishing workshop of the gallery of the same name during its 30-year activity (1967-1997). Among plaquettes with a refined and innovative typographic proposal, books dedicated to great masters of the twentieth century, thematic collections in limited editions(Favole esopiane, Sodalizio, Storie di amore, Unici), Edizioni Rizzardi enriches the Library with a collection strongly linked to the city context and to the Brera district itself, where the historic gallery was based until 1986, nurturing the cultural and artistic temperament of those years.

Edizioni Rizzardi was born on the initiative of Loredana Vaccari and Rizzardo Rizzardi, in connection with the activity of the gallery, active since 1971 in Milan first in via Brera, then, starting in 1986, in via Solferino. The gallery’s publishing activity began in 1973, when, from an idea of Cesare Peverelli, the Piccola collana Rizzardi - Frammenti di arte e di poesia was born. From 1973 to 1985 Galleria Rizzardi publishes, on the occasion of exhibitions of contemporary artists, plaquettes and books containing a numbered and signed original graphic work in limited editions. Beginning in 1986 he inaugurated Edizioni Rizzardi - Art and Culture with four new collections: Aesopian Fables in the Texts of Tradition; Artistic Literary Sodality; Love Stories; Unique.

The original characters of Rizzardi’s editions are rigorous literary and textual research; the numbered and signed graphic work of a leading contemporary artist (not an illustrator); typographic rigor; press printing and the use of pure cotton papers, which do not deteriorate over time. The refined editions are the fruit of the Rizzardis’ ability to create encounters with established artists, literate scholars and skilled artisans, with a vitality that has marked their Gallery’s 30 years in business. Today, choosing to donate their funds and archives to public and private cultural institutions, their original work is also available and usable by the public.

“Twinned with a similar collection donated in the past to the Museo del Novecento,” says Marzia Pontone director of the Braidense National Library, “the integral collection of Rizzardi’s works on paper (catalogued online in SBN) now also finds a home in the same container of publishing memories of the past that helped inspire the skilful textual and graphic architectures of the spouses Loredana Vaccari and Rizzardo Rizzardi. To their farsighted generosity goes our thanks and those of all readers today and tomorrow.”

“In 2017,” explains Danka Giacon, curator of the Museo del Novecento, “I had the pleasure of curating the exhibition dedicated to the Libri d’Artista del Fondo Rizzardi set up at the Museo del Novecento, which was desired to enhance the precious book collection donated to the civic collections by Loredana Rizzardi Vaccari and Rizzardo Rizzardi. The story of the Rizzardis, publishers and gallery owners, is surely the happy tale of a long artistic affair, born of their skillful direction in bringing together the different voices of the main protagonists of the Milanese cultural scene, and not only.”

“Only rarely do I wish I had been born in another time or place, but when I listen to the stories of Loredana Vaccari and Rizzardo Rizzardi, I feel envy,” concludes James M. Bradburne, director of the Pinacoteca di Brera and the Braidense National Library. “In the 1970s Brera was home to a vibrant community of artists, poets, writers and collectors. Marino Marini, Emilio Jesi, Jannis Kounellis, Enrico Baj, Emilio Vedova, Franco Russoli, Carlo Bertelli, Lamberto Vitali-even Andy Warhol-would meet at Galleria Rizzardi or the nearby Bar Jamaica to discuss art, poetry and theater. Those were heady years of creative ferment, and Brera and Galleria Rizzardi were at the heart of it. How could I not wish I had been there myself? For now I can only limit myself to a thank you for the collection of artists’ books donated to the Braidense National Library.”

Image: Aesop, The Wolf and the Lamb, etching by Mimmo Paladino, preface by Alberto Moravia (1987)

Important acquisition for the Braidense Library: the Rizzardi Collection arrives

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