New Sculpture by Jene Highstein Installed at Villa Panza for Centenary of Giuseppe Panza di Biumo

To mark the centenary of Giuseppe Panza di Biumo (1923–2010), the Fondo Ambiente Italiano (FAI) has installed a new large-scale sculpture, Twelve Part Vertical Pipe Piece by Jene Highstein (1942–2013), in the park of Villa Panza in Varese. The work, composed of twelve five-meter-tall steel cylinders arranged in a straight line divided into two sections, entered the Panza collection in 1987 along with ten other works by Highstein (four of which are now at the Guggenheim Museum in New York). It was likely never physically realized by Panza himself—only documented in 1973—making its reconstruction a fitting tribute. The installation coincides with the FAI Spring Days 2023 and the opening of the exhibition EX NATURA, running until October 2023, which features a recent donation of works by Panza's heirs. FAI President Marco Magnifico emphasized the villa's identity for Varese, while the mayor Davide Galimberti highlighted Panza's cultural legacy. Villa director Anna Bernardini noted that Highstein's work, like Richard Serra's, engages with primordial natural forces but centers on mass. The sculpture occupies the third sector of the 30,000-square-meter park of the 18th-century villa.