by Redazione 19/10/2026
Categories: Exhibitions / Disclaimer
From November 28, 2026, to February 21, 2027, Palazzo Buontalenti will host a free exhibition dedicated to Carlo Palli’s donation to the Fondazione Caript: on display will be paintings, sculptures, and graphic works by the three leading figures of the Pistoia School.
Carlo Palli’s collection is being added to the Fondazione Caript’s holdings, featuring a core group of over one hundred works by Roberto Barni, Umberto Buscioni, and Gianni Ruffi, leading figures of the Pistoia School. The donation will be presented to the public through the exhibition *One Scene, Three Directions: Barni, Buscioni, Ruffi from the Carlo Palli Donation*, scheduled from November 28, 2026, to February 21, 2027, at Palazzo Buontalenti in Pistoia, with free admission.
Promoted and organized by the Caript Foundation and the Pistoia Museums Foundation, the exhibition is curated by Monica Preti, general director of the Pistoia Museums Foundation, in collaboration with Annamaria Iacuzzi. The exhibition is sponsored by the Region of Tuscany and the City of Pistoia and features a selection of paintings, sculptures, and graphic works from the collection of the collector and gallery owner, who has followed the careers of the three artists over time, documenting their evolution from the 1960s to the early 2000s.
Emerging artistically during a period of renewed interest in figurative art, Barni (Pistoia, 1939), Buscioni (Pistoia, 1931–2019), and Ruffi (Florence, 1938) were leading figures in the 1960s in one of the most original movements of Italian Pop Art. Their artistic explorations later developed in independent directions, giving rise to personal artistic languages.
The exhibition begins with a photograph by Cristiano Toraldo di Francia depicting the three artists together in the mid-1960s, flanked by Barni’s *Pistoia* (1981–1983) and Buscioni’s *La Scuola di Pistoia* (1991–1992) by Buscioni—works that trace their shared experience. These are followed by their individual artistic developments: Barni explores space and brings the human figure back to the center, engaging with myth, literature, and art history; Buscioni explores the expressive possibilities of color, line, volume, and movement, while also engaging with Florentine Mannerism; Ruffi reworks everyday objects, transforming them into unexpected forms and creating new meanings through the relationship between image and word.
The exhibition also addresses the relationship with the city, the landscape, and nature; the transcendence of traditional representation; and reflections on image, materials, and space. One section is dedicated to drawings and works on paper, offering a deeper exploration of the role of the mark and the creative process.
The Caript Foundation will ensure the conservation, cataloging, and promotion of the donated works, documents, and publications—including through the Pistoia Museums Foundation—facilitating access for scholars and future public enjoyment. The donation will be fully documented in a catalog edited by Preti in collaboration with Iacuzzi, featuring critical essays, entries for all the works, and a photographic atlas.
The public significance of Palli’s donations will also be the focus of an event open to the public on Friday, October 23, at 11 a.m., at the Luigi Pecci Center for Contemporary Art in Prato, on the occasion of the exhibition *Rotte. Arte di rottura* from the Carlo Palli donation, on view through November 1. Speakers will include Stefano Collicelli Cagol, director of the Pecci Center; Cristina Pantera, vice president of the Caript Foundation; Monica Preti; Annamaria Iacuzzi; and Stefano Pezzato, head of collections and archives at the Pecci Center. The event will explore the experiences of the two institutions, both of which have received significant portions of the Palli collection.
Statements
“This collection is the result of a lifetime of encounters, friendships, and shared passions with artists whom I was fortunate enough to meet and follow throughout their careers,” says Carlo Palli. “With Roberto Barni, Umberto Buscioni, and Gianni Ruffi, I shared many moments and witnessed the birth and development of artistic endeavors that have left a significant mark. I have always believed that works of art should not remain locked away in a private collection, but should be seen, understood, and appreciated by everyone. That is why I am particularly happy that part of my collection is now finding a new home in Pistoia, a city to which these works are deeply connected. It is the best way to give continuity to a story that, for me, has been first and foremost a story of human relationships.”
“Carlo Palli’s decision to donate such a significant portion of his collection to the Foundation is a gesture of great civic importance and cultural impact, for which I wish to express our deep gratitude,” states Luca Gori, president of the Caript Foundation. “This donation holds special significance for our region because it allows us to preserve and showcase the works of three artists who have helped write an important chapter in Pistoia’s cultural history. The exhibition represents another step forward in the initiative we are pursuing together with Pistoia Musei to make our collections increasingly accessible to the community, promoting awareness and appreciation of them.”
“This exhibition is an important opportunity to present to the public an extraordinary collection and the contribution its artists have made to Italian contemporary art,” says Antonio Marrese, president of the Pistoia Musei Foundation. “For Pistoia Musei, this is an opportunity to continue our work of promoting the region’s artistic heritage through an exhibition that creates a dialogue between the city’s cultural history and today’s audience.”
“The very title, *One Scene, Three Directions*, captures the essence of the exhibition,” explains Monica Preti, general director of the Pistoia Musei Foundation and curator of the exhibition. “Roberto Barni, Umberto Buscioni, and Gianni Ruffi shared a particularly fertile period in Italian artistic exploration, before going on to develop profoundly different and personal artistic languages. Carlo Palli’s collection offers us a precious opportunity to reconstruct this history, tracing the evolution of the three artists from the 1960s to the early 2000s. Through a broad selection from among the more than one hundred works in the donation, the exhibition highlights both their common roots and their individual artistic trajectories, conveying the richness of an experience for which Pistoia was one of the most significant centers on the national scene. It is also an opportunity to revisit an important chapter in Italian art of the second half of the 20th century, highlighting its connection to the local area."
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| Pistoia: Over 100 works by Barni, Buscioni, and Ruffi Become Part of the Public Domain |
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