Under the Tuscan sun

As the Venice Biennale prepares to unveil its wonders and spring breathes new life into the Italian art scene, Docent is delighted to offer a curated guide to contemporary art across the country from Milan to Rome, while crossing the valley of Tuscany.

From the avant-garde galleries of Bologna to the modern treasures of Rome, immerse yourself in Italy's diverse and thriving art scene. But our journey doesn't stop there. Venture beyond the bustling cities to discover hidden gems nestled within the rural landscapes, such as the captivating sculpture parks of Tuscany. Join us as we traverse Italy's rich artistic tapestry, uncovering inspiration at every turn.

MAXXI, the National Museum of 21st Century Arts, is the first Italian national institution devoted to contemporary creativity.
Conceived as a broad cultural campus, MAXXI is managed by a Foundation constituted in July 2009 by the Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities.
The MAXXI building is a major architectural work designed by Zaha Hadid, located in Rome’s Flaminio quarter and featuring innovative and spectacular forms.

MAXXI, the National Museum of 21st Century Arts
Via Guido Reni, 4a, 00196
Roma RM, Italy

Founded in 2012, Richard Saltoun Gallery is based in London, Rome and New York. The gallery specialises in contemporary art, with an emphasis on feminist, conceptual and performance artists from the 1960s onwards. It is guided by a strong focus on rediscovering the work of important yet under-recognised artists through presentations at both its locations, online exhibitions, events and participation in art fairs around the world.
The gallery is considered a leader in its representation of female artists, from avant-garde pioneers of the 1960s and ‘70s, such as Eleanor ANTIN, Renate BERTLMANN and Gina PANE, to a younger generation of female artists including Silvia GIAMBRONE and Florence PEAKE. It continues to support female artists through extensive research, partnerships and solo presentations at the gallery and online.

Richard Saltoun
Via Margutta, 48a-48b
00187 Rome

P420 was founded in Bologna in 2010 by Alessandro Pasotti and Fabrizio Padovani. Since its inception, P420 has been dedicated to artists whose work can be placed within the realms of Conceptual and Minimal Art, mostly those who were active in the 1960s and 1970s. These artists have developed a solid personal language but are still underrated and not entirely known. More recently, by also presenting artists from closer generations, P420 aims to compare languages belonging to different periods with the intention of always bringing out their contemporary aspects. P420 collaborates directly with the artists or, alternatively, with their heirs or the Foundations representing them.

P420
Via Azzo Gardino, 9
40122 Bologna

Ciaccia Levi, Paris-Milan (formerly Antoine Levi, Paris) has been created in 2013 by Nerina Ciaccia and Antoine Levi in the Parisian Belleville area. In 2020 the gallery has relocated to a new space in the Marais district, and in 2022 the gallery has opened a second venue in Milan.
Aspiring to create a multilayered visual landscape platform, the gallery has been focusing since the beginning on presenting the work of international emergent as well as established artists. Ciaccia Levi, Paris-Milan is co-founder of Paris Internationale and Committee member of Artissima, Turin.

Ciaccia Levi
Via Gioacchino Rossini, 3
20122 Milano

Francesca kaufmann gallery opened in January 2000. Since then, the gallery has aimed to explore a diverse range of media, with a focus on video, site specific installation, and a special attention towards the works of female artists. After ten years in its historical location, the gallery opened in a new space in October 2010, under the name kaufmann repetto, to mark the partnership between Francesca Kaufmann and Chiara Repetto. In its new location, the gallery has been able to further develop its exhibition programming through a project space dedicated predominantly to younger artists, as well as a courtyard for large scale outdoor installations, which run parallel to the gallery’s main exhibition schedule.

Kaufmann Repetto
Via di porta tenaglia 7
20121 milano

Located just a couple of hours' drive south of Florence lies the breathtaking Garavicchio, a picturesque medieval village nestled in the heart of southern Tuscany. Visitors are greeted by the tantalizing sight of sculpted tips peeking through the landscape, beckoning them closer.

This mesmerizing spectacle is the Tarot Garden, a labor of love initiated by artist Saint Phalle in 1978. Collaborating with a dedicated team of artists, electricians, and enthusiastic locals, Saint Phalle embarked on a journey to bring to life the 22 major arcana of the tarot deck across 14 sprawling acres.

But the Tarot Garden is more than just a celebration of artistic prowess; it's a tapestry of cultural and spiritual symbolism. Mythical creatures are inviting visitors to touch, and immerse themselves in the garden's atmosphere.

The Tarot Garden
Località Garavicchio, Pescia Fiorentina
58011 Capalbio, Grosseto

Date and time of opening:
– from March 28th to October 15th, from 2.30 pm to 7.30 pm.

The Center for Contemporary Art Luigi Pecci is the first Italian institution created from the outset with the aim of presenting, collecting, documenting and supporting research in the visual arts, cinema, music, performing arts, architecture, design, fashion and literature, as expressions of the contemporary world that put people in touch with the major themes of life and our society. The curated collection features over 1000 works that meticulously map artistic trends from the 1960s to the present day.
The complex that houses the center, designed by the rationalist architect Italo Gamberini and expanded in 2016 by Arch. Maurice Nio, is a city in the city.

Centro Pecci
Viale della Repubblica 277
59100, Prato

Established in 1997 as an autonomous Foundation, the garden was envisioned by the renowned Swiss artist of Romanian origin, celebrated worldwide for his innovative creations, ranging from trap pictures to the Eat Art concept. Over the span of two decades, Spoerri immersed himself in the landscape at the foot of Mount Amiata, departing from the stereotypical and idealized depiction of the Tuscan countryside. Here, he crafted various works and extended invitations to fellow artists. The garden now showcases over one hundred installations by Spoerri himself and distinguished artists such as Eva Aeppli, Arman, Roberto Barni, Dani Karavan, Luigi Mainolfi, Aldo Mondino, Meret Oppenheim, Nam June Paik, Dieter Roth, Raphael Soto, Mauro Staccioli, Jean Tinguely, Roland Topor, Not Vital, and Erwin Wurm.

Spoerri Garden
Strada Provinciale Pescina,
58038 Seggiano GR

Since the early eighties, Villa Celle’s Park has been the home of the extraordinary Gori Collection, considered to be one of the world’s greatest environmental art collections, with works specially created for the romantic-style park and the annexes of the Baroque villa and farm by internationally renowned artists, including Magdalena Abakanowicz, Daniel Buren, Loris Cecchini, Ian Hamilton Finlay, Dani Karavan, Joseph Kosuth, Sol LeWitt, Richard Long, Fausto Melotti, Robert Morris, Hidetoshi Nagasawa, Dennis Oppenheim, Claudio Parmiggiani, Giuseppe Penone, Jaume Plensa, Anne & Patrick Poirier, Richard Serra, Susana Solano, Alan Sonfist, Giuseppe Spagnulo, Mauro Staccioli, Costas Tsoclis.

Villa Celle
via V. Emanuele,9
50041, Calenzano (FI)

Galleria Continua opened in San Gimignano (Italy) in 1990, the result of the initiative of three friends: Mario Cristiani, Lorenzo Fiaschi and Maurizio Rigillo. Occupying a former cinema, Galleria Continua established itself and thrived in an entirely unexpected location, away from the big cities and the ultramodern urban centres, in a town - San Gimignano - steeped in history, timeless, magnificent. This choice of location provided scope for the development of new forms of dialogue and symbiosis between unexpected geographies: rural and industrial, local and global, art from the past and the art of today, famous artists and emerging ones. The gallery's presence in an area that is in a certain sense "forgotten" but which has a spirit and significant history of its own, has enabled it to create a reputation as a centre capable of producing exciting and challenging contemporary work where it is least expected.

Galleria Continua
Via del Castello, 11, 53037
San Gimignano SI, Italy