Sonnabend art collection opens permanent museum home in Mantua

A museum dedicated to the Sonnabend Collection opened November 29 in Mantua, Italy, featuring nearly 100 works valued at $270 million by artists including Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, and Jeff Koons across 11 galleries in the 13th-century Palazzo della Ragione.artnews+1

The collection was assembled by pioneering art dealer Ileana Sonnabend (1914-2007), who bridged American Pop Art and European avant-garde movements through her galleries in Paris and New York from the 1960s through 2000s.artnews+1

The Sonnabend Collection Foundation has loaned the works to the municipality for six years with a possible six-year extension, with Mayor Mattia Palazzi expressing hopes the museum will become a permanent home for the collection.artnews+1

A major contemporary art museum showcasing nearly 100 works from the celebrated Sonnabend Collection opened its doors on November 29 in Mantua, Italy, marking the first permanent home for one of the 20th century's most influential private art collections.artnews+2

The Sonnabend Collection Mantova now occupies 11 renovated galleries within the 13th-century Palazzo della Ragione, bringing together 94 works valued at $270 million. The collection features iconic pieces by artists including Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, Roy Lichtenstein, and Jeff Koons, alongside major works from the Italian Arte Povera movement.theartnewspaper+3

The museum represents a collaboration between the Municipality of Mantua, the Sonnabend Collection Foundation, and Marsilio Arte, with the municipality securing a six-year loan agreement that may be extended for another six years. Mayor Mattia Palazzi described the opening as "inaugurating a new chapter" for the UNESCO World Heritage city, which has been closely associated with Renaissance masters like Andrea Mantegna and Giulio Romano.comune+1

A Bridge Between Continents

The collection was assembled over decades by Ileana Sonnabend, a Romanian-American art dealer who died in 2007, together with her husband Michael Sonnabend and their adopted son Antonio Homem. Through galleries in Paris and New York, Sonnabend played a pivotal role in introducing American Pop Art to European audiences in the 1960s while simultaneously bringing European artists, particularly from the Arte Povera movement, to American collectors.theartnewspaper+3

Curated by Homem and artistic director Mario Codognato, the exhibition spans movements from Neo-Dada and Pop Art to Minimalism, Conceptual Art, and contemporary photography. Highlights include Johns' "Figure 8" from 1958, Warhol's "Campbell's Soup" from 1962, Lichtenstein's "Little Aloha," and Rauschenberg's "Kite," which won the Golden Lion at the 1964 Venice Biennale.comune+4

Codognato drew a parallel between Sonnabend and Isabella d'Este, the Renaissance-era wife of Mantua's ruler who was among the few women collecting contemporary art of her time. "To be a woman and a collector of the art of her time was extremely rare," he noted.marsilioarte+1

The museum has also opened with a temporary exhibition of 21 of Warhol's Screen Tests, silent black-and-white film portraits made between 1963 and 1966 featuring figures including Salvador Dalí, Dennis Hopper, and Lou Reed. Homem, who received honorary citizenship from Mantua at the opening, said the city had always held special significance for him, recalling visits there with the Sonnabends 50 years ago.primadituttomantova+2

Sources (61)