The Vistamare Cultural Association is pleased to present a collection of some of the most prestigious works of art collected in Abruzzo from 1960 to the present day, focused in particular on Italian art.

Formally speaking, collecting is not a profession but a passion that drives the collector to amass a group of works according to his own taste and sensibility.

Art collections have always been characterized by their ability to be both public and private, that is, destined to be enjoyed in the intimacy of a home or ready to be shared with a wider public.  This dimension is clearly interchangeable, and thus it is possible to present to the public what has been acquired and desired for a private dimension.

But perhaps the reason why there can still be fertile ground in Abruzzo for contemporary art should be sought in the passion, confidence, and desire of the collectors who in these years have become traveling companions in an adventure that does not end with the experiments of artists or the exhibitions of gallery owners, but continues in the desire to possess the work of art, both for the purpose of investment and also out of love.

Showing a more or less large part of a collection certainly means discovering something about the person who selected certain works rather than others, acting according to the impulses of a continuously renewable taste.  Thus, the exhibited works can certainly recount a part of the history of art, but at the same time they also testify to the personal sensibility of the individuals who choose them.

This exhibition creates a new collection for public use that is none other than the sum of the works that each collector chose in time, according to a scheme of indisputable weight and significance:  every work has its history, its soul, its character, and an infinite series of rules, obsessions, and ideas that create the figure of the collector and render him unique.

It becomes interesting and important to show a part of the past and present experience of collectors in Abruzzo, because it is thanks to their support and assistance that contemporary art continues to exist today, and not only in official venues or big cities.

If contemporary art collections exist today in Abruzzo, it is certainly due to the generosity of the artists who have chosen to work in these places, the courage of the gallery owners who have brought and supported contemporary art, and also the love, stubbornness, and assistance of the collectors who have put together a veritable treasure of art.