Last 16th April in Brussels at the Arturo Spinelli premises of the European Parliament, the FACE (Foundation of Arts for a Contemporary Europe) was officially presented, a new European foundation for contemporary art, a unity that originates from diversities.
It is a large project born from the synergy between different foundations, precisely 5, which have been operating in the art sector for some time now.

The Diocesan Museum of Milan was formally founded in 1960 (but it has been operational only since 2001) as a manifestation of the Ambrosian diocese, reflecting the orientation of the latter for art and its ecclesial identity. The main task of this institution has always been to preserve and promote the diocese’s artistic heritage, valorizing its historical and religious meaning. The marvelous venue at the Sant’Eustorgio Cloisters gathers about 600 works, which mainly come from the archiepiscopal collection of paintings and from the Diocese.

From 1st July to 21st September 2008, the Metropolitan Museum in New York is housing the works by great English artist Turner. It is the greatest retrospective organized on the painter in the USA, displaying 140 of his works between paintings and water-colours.
The production has been organized in both a chronological and a thematic sense, with the purpose of showing the artist’s entire stylistic course, from his immature and academic works to his affirmed and revolutionary pictorial writing, from the themes to the places he held dearest.

Back in 2007 when it was announced that a new Guggenheim museum was being built in Abu Dhabi, ultra-modern city of the Arab Emirates, the meandering news of the possibility of creating also a new Louvre in the wealthy Arab country seemed quite plausible. In fact the notification was revealed to be well-founded and was confirmed in the following months: the agreement between the Louvre and the Arab Emirates has been sealed and signed by the French Minister for Culture, Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, and the person in charge of tourism in Abu Dhabi, sultan bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan.

Florence has been for centuries the propelling centre of art, a city anciently inhabited by important patrons of art, enlightened men and great artists, now an organized and fascinating site for anyone who wishes to admire its ancient and present splendour.
Just the other day in Piazza del Duomo in Florence a fifteenth-century main door opened up to receive tourists with a new inviting proposal. Indeed, the regional capital of Tuscany has inaugurated the Art and Culture Opa-Centre, a centre characterized by high technological performances, that will lead visitors and travellers through a multimedia journey, encouraging them to find out and appreciate even more the monuments of the beautiful Florence, in particular the cathedral, the baptistery and the bell-tower.

Last 12th June, Lithuania approved the project for the new museum of the capital city Vilnius (nominated European capital of culture for 2009), realized in collaboration with two great international realities: the Guggenheim Museum and the Hermitage Museum of Saint Petersburg.
It is estimated that the project will cost 117 million dollars, 15% of which will be funded by the Lithuanian government. The date scheduled for its realization is 2011. According to previsions, more than 400,000 visitors are expected every year.

Four years later, Edvard Munch’s masterpiece is back on display to be admired. An exhibition welcomes the restored picture after the vicissitudes that it has been through.

Four years have passed since Munch’s most famous painting was stolen from the Munchmuseet, the museum dedicated to the artist in Oslo. On 22^nd August, two gunmen entered the museum rooms and in broad daylight, under the visitors’ eyes, stole the “Scream”, as well as another painting by Munch, the “Madonna”. The robbery left all the museum operators astonished and thorough investigations began immediately. In 2006, the canvases were found by Norwegian police.

For some while now the importance of private institutions intervening in the art sector has been debated. For instance, Milan, considered the capital city of contemporaneity in Italy, is still waiting for a museum able to be in line with current artistic trends. However, in the meanwhile, fortunately there are the private institutions. Some of the most important ones are the Amaldo Pomodoro Foundation, the Antonio Mazzotta Foundation and the Nicola Trussardi Foundation. Mainly firms active in the fashion sector, one of the sectors that for its nature comes closer to art, through their foundations have become important reference points for art.

Donations as we all know, are more than desirable and difficult to obtain by public museums, above all if that which is desired are objets d’art, and what’s more, contemporary objets d’art. Museums are making more efforts to follow artistic trends, yet they manage with difficulty to keep in step with the times. On the other hand, a host of dangerous collectors move around the art circuit acquiring works by contemporary artists and by young emerging artists. They do it for passion, and for the pleasure of valuing their intuition.

Article translated by Amritee Mahabir

Art and wealth have gone hand in hand since time began. In the last decade, we have observed an upset in the distribution of wealth and in the birth of a very high number of so called “new riches”; this doesn’t mean to say that there were no consequences within the artistic sphere.