Gemma De Angelis Testa's entire donation, from Kiefer to Bill Viola, on display at Ca' Pesaro

On display in the second floor spaces of Ca’ Pesaro in Venice from April 22 to September 17, 2023 will be the entire Gemma De Angelis Testa donation, the most recent acquisition for the Gallery’s collections and, in terms of the extent and quality of the works, the most important since the de Lisi Usigli bequest in 1961. It consists of 105 works donated in December 2022 to the City of Venice that complete and complement Ca’ Pesaro’s collections for art after 1950, testifying to the passion of the collector who acquired them over time and selected them for the exceptional donation.

Born from the collecting passion of Gemma De Angelis Testa, the collection presents works by the protagonists of the international contemporary art scene. Masterpieces by Robert Rauschenberg and Cy Twombly flank the masters of Arte Povera such as Mario Merz, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Pier Paolo Calzolari, and Gilberto Zorio.

The journey through the art of the second half of the twentieth century is articulated with seminal works from the production of Anselm Kiefer and iconic works by Gino De Dominicis, Francesco Clemente, Enzo Cucchi, Mario Schifano and sculptures by Tony Cragg and Ettore Spalletti. The other half of the avant-garde is represented in the collection by, among others, Marina Abramovic, Vanessa Beecroft, Candida Hofer, Mariko Mori, and Shirin Neshat.

Gemma De Angelis Testa’s choices and paths of taste start from the middle of the last century and develop a continuous dialogue with Armando Testa’s production. In fact, a precious nucleus of the donation consists of seventeen masterpieces by the latter, with famous works ranging from the 1950s onward and tracing the imaginative universe of Armando Testa.

The collection places different authors of international art in relation to each other, with photographs by Thomas Ruff and Thomas Struth, works by John Currin, Thomas Demand, Anish Kapoor, and Marlene Dumas, canvases by David Salle and Julian Schnabel in continuous reference to the creations of Tony Oursler, Gabriel Orozco, and Kcho. Collecting taste is also expressed in the important presences of Sabrina Mezzaqui, Paola Pivi, Marinella Senatore while the international dimension of the collection is articulated in time and space with works by Kendell Geers, Yang Fudong, Subodh Gupta, Chantal Joffe, Brad Kahlhamer, Lari Pittman.

The works span diverse techniques, cultures, and geographies, from William Kentridge to Chris Ofili, Adrian Paci to Do-Ho Suh, Chen Zhen to Francesco Vezzoli, Bill Viola and Ai Weiwei, Piotr Uklanski to Trisha Baga and Pascale Marthine Tayou, and many others.

“Art has given me a lot,” Gemma De Angelis Testa stressed, “and with it my life has been happy. I have always worked to promote artists so that they have their own visibility, and in recent years I thought it was time to give them a future. I had been considering donating my collection to one of the museums in Venice, and I talked about it with Gianfranco Maraniello (who at the time was not yet the director of the Polo Museale di Milano); he suggested that I involve Gabriella Belli, then director of the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia, who welcomed my proposal with great enthusiasm.”

“The exhibition celebrates the passion and eye of the extraordinary collector,” said Elisabetta Barisoni, head of Ca’ Pesaro. “At the same time, it is an opportunity to pay tribute to the great generosity of Gemma De Angelis Testa, who wanted to make her works public heritage, for the citizens of today and for future generations, by personally doing the careful work of identifying the masterpieces destined for the City of Venice for Ca’ Pesaro.”

This is how Gabriella Belli, curator of the exhibition and catalog with Elisabetta Barisoni, expresses it in the catalog: “’Every attraction is mutual,’ writes Goethe in his famous novel The Elective Affinities, a book of initiation into the sentimental experience founded on the alchemy of love: in all relationships, Goethe believes, physical and spiritual assonance acts as a powerful aggregator of differences, nullifying every barrier. And this is how we can tell the public about Gemma De Angelis Testa’s collection, which precisely in elective affinities has its most intimate meaning.”

“The arrival of the De Angelis Testa donation confirms how much the Fondazione Musei Civici has been able, over the years, to become an interlocutor and attractor of important patrons. ”The new acquisition also opens,“ commented MUVE Foundation President Mariacristina Gribaudi, ”a new era for the Ca’ Pesaro Gallery, as it characterizes its collections according to new balances that shift the weight toward contemporary art.

“A gift of immense value,” said Mayor of Venice Luigi Brugnaro, “and that is why, on behalf of the entire Municipal Administration, I wanted to honor Mrs. De Angelis Testa with a golden lion in the Council Chamber of Ca’ Farsetti. The world walks on examples, and her immeasurable gesture of generosity towards Venice will remain with the new generations and allow the Civic Museums to continue to keep alive that link between past, present and future. It is a donation that enriches the artistic and cultural heritage of our Museums and becomes fully part of the city’s history and the tradition of patrons who have built and consolidated its glory over time.”

For info: capesaro.visitmuve.it

Image: Anselm Kiefer, Brennstabe (Fuel Rods) (1991; photograph on cardboard, lead pipes, iron spoons in an enameled steel frame, 240 x 100 cm)

Gemma De Angelis Testa's entire donation, from Kiefer to Bill Viola, on display at Ca' Pesaro

Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.