Garden of Monumental Delights

By: Clara Patricia Kauffman

September 2007

Fattoria di Celle, on the outskirts of Pistoia in Tuscany, is the product of one man’s ambitious

Sol LeWitt, “Wall Drawing 445” (above), 1985, ink wash on wall, and Richard Long, “Ring of Prato Green (stone),” 1985, verde di Prato stone.

effort to infuse this ancient land with the excitement of contemporary sculpture. Indeed, at Celle, Giuliano Gori exhibits his collection of international contemporary art on the 50 acres of land and in the various historic buildings that make up his property. The Gori collection is strict in its focus on site-specific art. Every one of its more than 60 sculptures and installations was designed by artists for its unique position among the ground’s lakes, forests and streams.

The collection announces itself from the main road with “Grande Ferro Celle,” 1986, a huge (more than 17-feet high) red steel sculpture by Alberto Burri. This skeletal structure rises up in stark contrast to the weathered iron gate and winding gravel road that lead to the villa, where Gori lives. The 18th-century building and its gardens, which have undergone many additions and changes through the centuries, embody a rare combination of Baroque geometric designs, Chinese motifs and neoclassic and neo-Gothic elements, all united by a prevailing spirit of Romanticism.
Walking through the park is like a treasure hunt recalled from childhood. Fattoria di Celle is a

Fausto Melotti, “Themes and Variations II,”
1981, stainless steel.

manmade natural wonder in which the artists are free to take their inspiration from a seemingly endless variety of locations. George Trakas, the Canadian sculptor known primarily for his architectural, large-sized works, created his “Pathway of Love,” 1982, in a small stream that meanders through a wooded glen. Trakas’ trail is made of wood, steel, terra cotta and iron, and at points is indistinguishable from its surroundings.

Here the viewer is no longer a passive observer, but an active seeker of beauty. The work leads one through forests, up hills and under bridges with a series of carefully placed steps, platforms and ramps, and the fact that the endpoint is unknown only adds to the sense of adventure. In one corner of the rolling hills, just off a main path, there is a dense bamboo forest. It is immediately clear that something is amiss, as the continuity of the stems is broken. Only upon closer inspection does one see the solid marble shapes of “Melencolia II,” 2002, seemingly dropped by the invisible hands of Robert Morris, the American minimalist, and Claudio Parmiggiani, an exponent of the Italian Arte Povera movement.

The idea of commissioning artists to create an open-air museum of contemporary sculpture came to Gori in the 1970s. At that time, artists were interested in creating temporary works that could only be understood in terms of a specific location or setting. Gori wished to combine the contemporary idea of site-specific sculpture with the permanence of traditional art. The first installations at Celle were inaugurated in 1982. Since then he has continued to invite internationally acclaimed artists to create artworks specifically for his park.
According to Miranda MacPhail, the collection’s curator, Gori enjoys inviting artists who have

Robert Morris and Claudio Parmiggiani,
“Melencolia II,” 2002, bronze and marble.

never worked outside but who he feels show a “certain know-how, sophistication and particular idea about how to use space.” Typically, the artists spend some time at Celle, choose a location, discuss project details and logistics with Gori, and finally execute the work. For Gori, whose career was based in the local specialty of textile manufacture, the relationships he has developed with the artists are the most rewarding part of the process. He views Celle as first and foremost a workshop for creativity.

The newest addition to the collection is a house-like structure by Daniel Buren, the radical French artist best known for his dominating stripes of black and white created in various media. The “Cabane éclaté aux 4 Salles,” 2005, is in a hedged-off area that once was an overgrown tennis court. Buren’s open-air cubic sculpture is entirely mirrored on the outside, making it almost invisible. Inside, it is divided into four small rooms with rectangular openings leading both to the outside and to the other rooms. The internal walls are painted with alternating bands of bright colors and mirrored. The effect of entering a kaleidoscope is nearly perfect.

Fattoria di Celle reflects its founder’s remarkable openness to a range of aesthetics: minimal to theatrical, large and small, abstract and figurative, delicate and bold. This is truly one of the world’s most beautiful settings for modern art, and one leaves with the sense that nature and art can indeed be experienced as a harmonious whole.

Fattoria di Celle, the Gori Collection, Via Montalese 7, 51030 Santomato di Pistoia, Italy. The collection can be visited by appointment only on weekdays from mid-April to September 30. To make an appointment, call 011.39.0573.479907, fax 011.39.0573.479486 or e-mail goricoll@tin.it.

Clara Patricia Kauffman writes on contemporary art, film and video from Florence, Italy, and Paris.