Mapping the AAI Italian Antique Dealers

The map of the Italian antique dealers part of the Associazione Antiquari d'Italia is an invitation to look beyond the white cube.

di Stefano Pirovano

With the list of members of the Association of Italian Antique Dealers in one hand and the help of Google Maps, the ubiquitous digital entity that in the Western world has effectively supplanted the twentieth century geographical institutions, we attempted to map out the Italian antique dealers. This was partly to offer a practical tool for those seeking an comprehensive overview, and partly to discover that the Italian antique dealers are more and better distributed throughout the territory than one might expect.

The four cities with the highest number of galleries are Milan, with 30, Florence 20, Rome 17, and Naples 10. The four points, nearly equidistant from each other, draw an ideal line that stretches from north to south of the Country, covering schools, styles, techniques, and tastes. However, while in Rome and Florence the galleries are concentrated in few streets – the former between Via del Babuino and Via Margutta, the latter in Via Maggio and Via dei Fossi – in Milan and Naples antique dealers are evenly spread around in the city centre, amidst historic buildings, discreet courtyards, and apartments waiting to be discovered. Is it better or worse? That’s hard to say.

Joined openings are an easy way to expand the audience. This is exemplified by the ‘Gallerie a Palazzo’ project, which has been held twice a year in Milan since 2021, at Palazzo Cicogna, through the initiative of AAI associates Longari Arte Milano and Matteo Salamon and five more galleries. In this context, and possibly with the help of our map, it may be worth organizing also in Italy events such as the London Art Week or the many other ‘art weeks’ that the contemporary art community successfully already run in some of the capitals of the Old Continent. The Zurich Art Weekend could serve as a model. Held in Zurich during the weekend before Art Basel (here’s the link to the event’s website), it boasts the advantage of engaging not only galleries but also the city’s public and private museums. The organization does not provide visitors data, but those who have had the opportunity to be around during the art weekend of the city of market giants like Hauser & Wirth and Bruno Bischofberger, and collectors like Emil Georg Bührle or Michael Ringier, can undoubtedly confirm its success: galleries brimming with visitors, both local and international, museums teeming with life, and a whole host of initiatives that enrich the experience of art collecting, including private tours, exclusive dinners, and more. Who will be the first to seize the opportunity?

In terms of experience the map of Italian antique dealers also invites us to reflect on how the territory can be seen as a fundamental part of their essence. For instance, those who visit the antique galleries of Turin, Modena, Perugia, Padua, or Bologna will find cities with a top-notch cultural offer, easy to navigate, and more than welcoming in terms of food and accommodations. Isn’t this a clear hallmark of the galleries themselves? Moreover, in most cases, antique galleries faithfully reflect the art that was produced in those territories in the past, along with the collectors who fostered it: this art still serves as a pillar of global artistic culture, as proved by public institutions such as the Musei Reali (Torino), Gallerie Estensi (Modena), Galleria Nazionale dell’Umbria (Perugia), the Scrovegni Chapel (Padova), and the Pinacoteca Nazionale in Bologna.

Moreover, our map of the Italian antique galleries offers a clear picture of the ancient art market vastness and diversity. It well represent historical and cultural variety, ambition, and economic prosperity, which in turn mirrors the each city real cultural and economic wealth. Their galleries are a treasure trove of knowledge, skills, and relationships that have been honed over time, and this is what makes them so peculiar. If the contemporary white cube dictatorship carries the dangerous seed of homogenization, the spaces of antique galleries stand in defence of that intellectual freedom, which finds one of its most evident manifestations in the interior architecture. Design masters of displaying art such as Franco Albini, Vito Latis, Vittoriano Viganò, or Giò Ponti himself, could be not so far away from us anymore.