Granted in 2013 as a long-term loan to the Foundation Civic Museum of Venice, the Sonnabend Collection represents a holding of inestimable cultural value for the city.

Displayed periodically (a selection of the finest works is on permanent display on the first floor), the collection includes works by artists discovered by Ileana Sonnabend (1914 – 2007) – together with Peggy Guggenheim, perhaps the greatest talent scout of the late 20th century – and promoted in memorable exhibitions in her galleries, providing space for the most advanced experimentation in art: from Neo Dada to Pop Art, Minima Art to Arte Povera, Conceptual art to Neo Expressionism and contemporary photographic art. Some of the great names of 20th century art stand out: Robert Rauschenberg, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Jim Dine, Tom Wesselmann, ma anche Robert Morris, Sol Lewitt, Anselm Kiefer e Jeff Koons.

The exhibition will include some interesting works that have never before been put on display in Venice, including None Sing/Neon Sign (1970) and Eat Death (1972) by Bruce Nauman and Inflatable Flower (Yellow), 2011 by Jeff Koons.

The exhibition also includes a group of Italian Arte Povera works, a movement that is well represented in the Sonnabend collection by artists who are today famous and who at the time experimented with “poor” materials (natural,organic, industrial), used for their expressiveness of primary and sensorial immediacy, as can be seen in the extraordinary works of Gilberto Zorio, Mario Merz, Giovanni Anselmo, Pier Paolo Calzolari and Jannis Kounellis.

_