Bianca Attolico The Lady of Art

Name: Bianca Attolico (1931–2020)
Profession: all-around art collector, champion of Italian artists and culture
Bio: In the late 1940s, as Italy was in the midst of post-war recovery, her father Tommaso Lucherini had started to collect contemporary art works, including Carlo Carrà, Massimo Campigli, Felice Casorati, Giorgio De Chirico, Renato Guttuso, Mario Mafai, Morandi, Fausto Pirandello and Ziveri.

She followed him and fell in love with this exciting world, learning the trade of art collection. She sharpened her tools, refined her business nose and ability to root out talent where no one else knew to look.
Bianca Attolico’s talent was not getting stuck in just one historical period or one school of art.
Her curiosity spurred her to always open new doors.
After the works of 20th-century Roman Schools and Italian figurative art inherited from his father, she moved into the avant-garde, the artists of the Piazza del Popolo school and those of Arte Povera.
Fabio Mauri, Jannis Kounellis, Pino Pascali, Mario Schifano, Lucio Fontana, Piero Manzoni, Castellani, Alighiero Boetti, Pier Paolo Calzolari, Giulio Paolini, Getulio Alviani, Sol LeWitt, Jospeh Kosuth, Luigi Ontani, and Luca Maria Patella.
She delved into the world of the San Lorenzo school which was based in the former Cerere pasta factory, including Nunzio, Domenico Bianchi, Gianni Dessì, and Bruno Ceccobelli.
And then contemporary art with artists — to name just a few — like Vanessa Beecroft, Regina Galindo, Alfredo Jaar, William Kentridge, Nicholas Hlobo, and Jonathan Monk.
Photography was the last arrival in the Attolico house, adding to the already impressive collection with artists such as Grazia Toderi, Cerone, Muniz, and Sierra.
“Everything you see here, in my rooms, has a meaning. Each of the works here shows my identity. I took them because in them I found courage, melancholy, shyness.” B. A.
Bianca did not like collecting works of art. She wanted more. Bianca wanted to draw sustenance from the soul and sentiments of the artists who made the works. She kept by their sides, regularly frequenting their ateliers.
“What satisfaction is there in buying an already established artist? Discovery is the best thing.” B.A.
A philanthropist. Bianca knew how to recognize talent. She had a nose for business.
The lady of art did not buy famous artists, seeking out young emerging ones instead. She bet on them. A bet she often won. Today Bianca would be termed a real art influencer!

These days a wonderful exhibition about the Italian Peggy Guggenheim is underway at the Casino Nobile of Villa Torlonia. Definitely not to be missed.
P.S. I have also had the good fortune to meet Ms. Carla Attolico several times at exhibitions and art openings. We seem to have the same tastes!
Bianca Attolico The Lady of Art
Casino Nobile of Villa Torlonia