For the first time, MAXXI dedicates a focus to a critic’s archive, one of the most important intellectuals and writer of the last half-century, who died at the age of 87 in 2017. Boatto accompanied the research of many artists present today in the museum’s collection (Boetti, Kounellis, Fioroni, Pascali, Pozzati and many others) forging an original path through some decisive moments of 20th Century culture.

Donated to MAXXI in 2018 by his wife and son, the Boatto Fund has a rich core of manuscripts that trace its entire professional activity and the most important publications, bringing together autograph papers, typescripts, personal correspondence, photographic, audio and video material. The donation is enriched by Boatto’s private library, with a few, very rare first editions.