Pistoia Hosts Major Exhibition on Italian Pop Art

Opening March 16 through July 14, 2024, Palazzo Buontalenti in Pistoia presents '60 Pop Art Italia', a comprehensive survey of Italian Pop Art curated by Walter Guadagnini, director of Camera. The exhibition, organized by the newly founded Fondazione Pistoia Musei with support from Intesa Sanpaolo, features 70 masterpieces from public and private collections, including loans from MACRO, GAM Torino, and MART Trento e Rovereto. It traces the development of Italian Pop from its 1964 breakthrough—the year of the 'Triennale Pop' curated by Umberto Eco and Vittorio Gregotti, and the Venice Biennale that introduced American Pop artists like Rauschenberg, Johns, Dine, and Oldenburg—through the formation of the Scuola di Pistoia. The show highlights key centers: Rome (Scuola di Piazza del Popolo with Schifano, Festa, Angeli, Rotella, Ceroli, Pascali, Mauri, Kounellis, Maselli, Grisi, Fioroni), Venice (where Rotella was arrested for drugs), Turin (early Pistoletto, Mondino, Nespolo, Comba), Milan (Baj, Galleria Milano, Studio Marconi), and Palermo (Revort exhibitions). Works include Angeli's 'Testa di lupa capitolina', Gilardi's 'Cocomeri', Barni's large polyptych, and Crippa's Marilyn. The exhibition aims to reassess overlooked artists like Antonio Titone and Ettore Innocente, and concludes with Warhol's flowers.