Bagno Vignoni and Montepulciano, towns of Contemporary Art

Our region is increasingly favorable to contemporary art. After the Pass Key Art Festival, here’s the contribution sent us by Olga about Bagno Vignoni, which you could use to plan an artistic and cultural tour, along with Montepulciano:

One village in the Val d’Orcia that is definitely worth a visit, is Bagno Vignoni, which is located on a hilltop above the valley. While you would normally find a square in the middle of many Tuscan hamlets and villages, this particular village is home to something a little different…

No need to repeat what this village has long been the destination of many visitors, both ordinary and illustrious. The more famous have included St Catherine of Siena, Pope Pius II and Lorenzo the Magnificent as well as the Russian film director Andrey Tarkovsky, who transformed a spiritual landscape and haunting beauty of village into the ethereal sets of “Nostalgia”. And after a lapse of many years Bagno Vignoni still preserves its medieval appearance and attraction in all its splendour…

Early this year famous gallery “La Tartaruga”, which artists became key players of Italy’s contemporary art scene and not only, opened a new art space outside of Rome in Bagno Vignoni. It’s called “Art House” and it dedicates to contemporary art, design, fashion and theatre, experimenting with influences of sound art. The first exhibiotion “Io e Plinio, il saluto” (Me and Plinio, the greetings), edited by Mario Pissacroia (creator and art director of Art House), dedicated to the great roman painter and gallerist Plinio de Martiis (Giulianova, 30 oct. 1920 – Roma, 2 jul. 2004), who was able to revolutionize the art scene in Italy from the 50s to the 80s, and whose method of selections was both interdisciplinary and experimental. The protagonists of the exhibition ART HOUSE (also works with completely new) are some of the major artists, who worked with De Martiis and exhibited in “La Tartaruga” from 1954 until it closed, in 1984, also other artists who knew and esteemed De Martiis.

Presented Artists: Vincenzo Agnetti, Franco Angeli, Enrico Baj, Alberto Burri, Ennio Calabria, Tommaso Cascella, Tano Festa, Franco Fontana, Sergio Lombardo, Robert Mapplethorpe, Sebastián Matta, Gastone Novelli, Achille Perilli, Gerhard Richter, Mimmo Rotella, Mario Schifano, Ugo Sterpini.

Apart from “Io e Plinio, il saluto”, the gallery has also featured contemporary fine art, presenting the oeuvres of artists with made reputations and also promoting new names on the scene. Most of these works are on sale. For exmpl, patchworks by Missoni, delicate leather open-works by Olga Niescier, who cooperates with many famous fashion brands (Giorgio Armani, Burberry, Fratelli Rossetti…) or powerful but at the same time very feminine sculptures in metal (iron, bronze) and resin by Anna Izzo. Soo, Dear friends and art lovers, your day trip in Bagno Vignoni could be more informative and intellectual 😉

(Thanks to Olga for sharing this experience with us!)