Address: Piazza della Signoria, 5
The Alberto Della Ragione Collection was given to the
Florentine Town Council in 1970 and is of fundamental importance
for the understanding of contemporary art, otherwise not
represented in the city's museums. Even if it is not exhaustive,
the collection represents artists too little seen in Florence's
museums and galleries.
It was assembled with intelligence and
awareness of contemporary movements by the civil engineer Alberto
della Ragione. Not only did he
try to find works which were not represented in any collections,
but he also involved himself directly in the lives of artists by
sustaining them in difficulty, bringing them to public attention,
giving them new possibilities and drawing the attention of other
collectors to their work. Giving a wide view of the years
1930-1945, it presents the generation of artists active in the
period of increased awareness characteristic of Italy between the
two wars. Many twentieth century masters are found in the
collection.
An exceptional group of paintings by Rosai includes
some of the melancholy Florentine views, and there are landscapes
and still lifes by De Pisis and Maffai, and works by
Carrà, Morandi, Casorati, Campigli and Guttuso. Their
works document the various cultural movements of this century
from Cubism, taken to heart by many Italian painters, to Futurism
and Metaphysicism and the Abstraction of Birolli or Emilio
Vedova.
Important sculptures are also included in the collection,
such as Lucio Fontana's famous early Paulette, the very
sculptural Horses of Marino Marini or the portraits of Manzu.
Altogether, there are 240 works in the collection, which apart
from being of an international level, fills one of the main
artistic gaps in the city.
