Giuseppe & Giovanna Panza Collectors

by Philippe Ungar (Contributor)

Giuseppe and Giovanna Panza di Biumo were passionate collectors who, over the course of a half-century, built an extraordinary collection of postwar American art. The collection was born when Giuseppe first encountered the work of the Abstract Expressionists, on a visit to the United States in 1954. He immediately began buying works by Rothko and Kline, while remaining sufficiently open in his tastes to keep up with (and buy works of) Pop, Minimalism, land art and Conceptualism. Works were installed in the Villa Menafoglia Litta, the couple’s eighteenth-century home in Varese, where entire floors were redesigned to accommodate artists such as Dan Flavin (a particular favorite) and Donald Judd. Masterpieces from the collection are now regularly exhibited in the most prestigious museums worldwide. This book resulted from a conversation conducted with the couple by Philippe Ungar between 2007 and 2009, and surveys the collection.

216 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2013

Reviews

[julien · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredible dive into the spirit of the Panza Collection and the soul-speaking silence that unites all their works. Truly inspiring in the way Giuseppe and Giovanna ‘see’ works of art, and how their intuitive and personal choices have given birth to the largest most coherent collection of American minimal, environmental, and abstract art in the world. Seeing their collection one day at the MOCA and Guggenheim will be the ultimate completion of their legacy.

[Chiara Tavasci · Rating 5 out of 5]

La prima volta che sono stata a Villa Panza, a Varese, era il 2017. Sono rimasta incantata dalle opere che la animano, senza mai chiedermi perché mi fossi innamorata di quel luogo. Prima di allora non conoscevo la Collezione Panza, ci sono capitata per caso e senza quasi rendermene conto sono tornata a vederla altre quattro volte.

Al terzo anno di università, nel 2020, dopo aver studiato Turrell, decido di tornare per la quinta volta. Iniziavo ad afferrare il motivo di quell’amore per la Collezione Panza: mi aveva fatto capire le opere esposte senza averle studiate prima.

A distanza di 5 anni da quella consapevolezza mi ritrovo tra le mani questo libro e leggendo le parole di Giovanni Panza ho la conferma della forza della sua Collezione, così profondamente legata a lui, alla moglie e alla villa che la ospita.

Non è sempre facile capire l’arte contemporanea, ma a Villa Panza è tutto più semplice. E dopo aver letto questa conversazione con Philippe Ungar non posso che amarla ancora di più.

[Hugo B. Hugo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very moving interview with the Italian collector, Giuseppe Panza, collector of American minimal art from 50's through the 80's. Rothko, Klein, Lichtenstein, Flavin, Turrell, Nauman, Seliger, LeWitt, and many more.

I dug it because although he's Italian, his sensibility is modern and American. He grasped the pressing phenomenon of global culture rising and the sublime tensions expressed in the minimalism of his chosen artists.

He draws a clear demarcation between market speculation, and actual art. He gets a little metaphysical, which I like, even though he is not religious. He mentions something about "the hidden universal geometry which is hard to verbalize" hinting at the scientific and emotional basis of seeing and feeling.

I dig it. He speaks about art and creativity in human terms, without romanticization.