Italian gallerist Pio Monti dies at 81

Pio Monti, an iconic Italian gallerist who significantly influenced contemporary art from the post-war era to the present, passed away at the age of 81 in the Marche region, just two days following his wife's death. Born in Macerata in 1941, he launched his first gallery, Artestudio, there in 1969. After relocating to Rome, he formed a friendship with Gino De Dominicis, sharing an apartment on Via San Pantaleo, which was later renamed in De Dominicis's honor in 2015. In 1975, he opened his inaugural Roman gallery on Via Principessa Clotilde, eventually moving to Via dei Chiavari and then to Piazza Mattei, where it became known as PIOMONTI arte contemporanea. In the late 1990s, he revived a gallery in Macerata and founded Galleria L'Idill'io arte contemporanea in Recanati in 2015. Monti collaborated on graphic editions with avant-garde artists such as Alviani, Albers, De Dominicis, and others. In 1969, he met Martin Heidegger in Switzerland alongside Capogrossi, who dedicated a copy of 'L'arte e lo spazio' to him. His career, lasting over five decades, was characterized by clever wordplay and a traditional gallerist approach.