Farnesina: the Art Collection

An exponent of Arte Povera, Marisa Merz devoted her research and experimentation to the human figure, particularly the face, producing ethereal and enigmatic portraits, poised between fascination and metamorphosis.

It is not a pathological 'return to nature', but a return, indeed, to the simplest natural objects - magical, ritual, healthy -  […] in order to reach through a deeper knowledge of them a faiere and more vital relationship... (R. Boero, 1977) 

Renata Boero's work is part of the Cromogrammiseries, realized by the artist since 1965. These large folded canvases are immersed in a chromatic blend  made from roots, herbs and natural pigments, such as turmeric, henna, cochineal. 

By the artist Bice Lazzari, a pioneer of Abstractionism, is on display the work "Large Red Surface" (1959) belonging to the informal and material season of her painting.

Marinella Senatore's banner is from the series "Protest Forms: Memory and Celebration, 2019-2020," which celebrates the revolutionary aesthetics of public art, combining religious tradition and expressions of protest.

Inspired by those of liturgical processions, these banners come from the moments of aggregation which characterize the performative interventions of Marinella Senatore's practice.

Paolo Scheggi in 1961 met Lucio Fontana whose "spatialist" experiments would have a great influence on his work. In those years he came into contact with Agostino Bonalumi and Enrico Castellani who used the canvas as if it were a sculptural surface to be shaped.

Scheggi's research focuses on visual perception, on the integration of real and virtual spaces with an interdisciplinary approach that involves poetry and journalism too. He directs his interests as well on architectural projects and collaborations in the fashion industry.

Riccardo Dalisi's artistic universe is populated by characters and objects in poor materials: sheet metal, iron, copper, brass, tin, papier-mâché and barbed wire, as in the 1994 work 'Cavaliere'.

Winner of the Compasso d'Oro in 1981 for his studies on the Neapolitan coffee maker, he is remembered for his research on 'ultra-poor' design advocating for a return to manual skill and craftsmanship in contrast to mechanization and production standardization.