Established by Italian art collectors Giovanni and Anna Pia Mazzoleni in 1986, Mazzoleni is a long-established gallery based in London and Turin. Mazzoleni specialises in museum-quality exhibitions of post-war Italian art—from Futurism and Surrealism to Arte Povera—alongside the work of prominent Italian and international contemporary artists.
Read MoreNow headed by Luigi and Davide Mazzoleni, the gallery and its programme originally evolved from the private collection of Giovanni and Anna Pia started in the 1950s. Since opening more than three decades ago, Mazzoleni has held solo and group exhibitions of over 200 major Italian and international artists whose practices collectively span the 20th century and beyond.
Working closely with various foundations and artists’ estates, Mazzoleni has held exhibitions featuring big names such as Hans Hartung, Giorgio de Chirico, Lucio Fontana, Piero Manzoni, and Karel Appel that are on par with the curation of institutional public programmes. Contributing to the critical literature and discourse on their artists, Mazzoleni pairs its exhibitions with illustrated artist monographs filled with expert contributions and new research.
The original Mazzoleni gallery established in Turin occupies three floors of the historical Palazzo Panizza. It is an ornate late-17th-century building overlooking the Piazza Solferino at the heart of Turin. Since 2014 Mazzoleni has also operated a London outpost on Albemarle Street in Mayfair, a short distance from the Royal Academy of Arts. In its inaugural exhibition in London, Post-War Italian Masters (2014), the gallery provided a broad survey spanning almost an entire century.
Mazzoleni boasts a diverse and star-filled roster of artists, ranging from Italian Modernist pioneers to contemporary international artists. The gallery represents Italian masters including Futurist Giacomo Balla, Surrealist antecedent Giorgio de Chirico, post-war Argentinian-Italian Modernist Lucio Fontana, sculptor of the Abstraction-Création movement Fausto Melotti, and key figure of the Arte Povera movement Michelangelo Pistoletto.
Alongside other artists such as Enrico Castellani, Afro, Enrico Baj, Giuseppe Capogrossi, Paolo Cotani, Massimo Vitali, and Nunzio, Mazzoleni’s artists present a broad snapshot of Italy’s modern art history. Principle figures of Modernist movements such as Art Informel and Arte Povera are particularly prevalent in the gallery’s selection.
Mazzoleni also represents a younger generation of Italian contemporary artists, such as David Reimondo, Andrea Francolino, and Rebecca Moccia, while beyond Italy, the gallery represents several artists with Italian connections, including New York artist Melissa McGill and Japanese sculptor Shigeru Saito.
Mazzoleni can boast several ground-breaking and influential shows that have revisited the works of key Italian artists. In 2009 the gallery held a major European survey exhibition, The Europe of the Informal (Turin), exploring the work of a variety of artists within the Modern European movement. To mark the 30th anniversary of the Turin gallery Mazzoleni held another major group show: Mazzoleni 1986–2016: 30 Years of Art 30 Italian Artists (Turin, 2016).
Alongside broader surveys the gallery has held critically acclaimed solo exhibitions, including a show on Alberto Burri in 2015; Piero Manzoni in 2016; Michelangelo Pistoletto in 2018 (curated by Alberto Fiz); and important pair show Fontana/Melotti. Angelic Spaces and Infinite Geometries (London, 2016), curated by Daniela Ferrari.
In 2019, Mazzoleni held The Shock of Objectivity—Nunzio’s first solo show in London—curated by Kenneth Baker. Equally significant, the show Hans Hartung and Art Informel (London, 2019) marked the 30th anniversary of the famed German-French abstractionist’s death with a survey of his work in the context of works by other artists of the Art Informel movement.
Beyond the gallery walls, Mazzoleni has become very active on the international art scene. The gallery participates in major international art fairs such as Arte Fiera, Bologna; ArtVerona; Flashback, Turin; The Armory Show, New York; miart, Milan; FIAC, Paris; TEFAF Maastricht and New York Spring; Frieze Masters, London; Artissima, Turin; Salon Art + Design, New York; Masterpiece London; and Art Basel in Hong Kong, Basel, and Miami Beach.
