Non solo Arte povera : riflessioni intorno alla Galleria L’Attico, tra Bruno e Fabio Sargentini

This paper was originally conceived as a speech for the conference Le mostre d’arte moderna nelle gallerie private in Italia. I due decenni cruciali 1960-1980 (Pisa, Scuola Normale Superiore, December 9-10, 2021). The research is the result of a project aiming to collect and to analyze a wide range of exhibition catalogues relating to the art gallery L’Attico in Rome, which experienced a complex and prestigious history through the years. Founded by Bruno Sargentini in 1957, the gallery was then run by his son, Fabio Sargentini, who is still the owner at present. Bruno and Fabio’s contributions to the gallery are often considered in contrast, favoring an oppositional interpretation, even though a dialogue between their choices, a sort of connection between father and son despite an undeniable generation gap, diverse cultural backgrounds and artistic tastes, is sometimes possible (through a shared passion for Surrealism, for instance). Working with catalogues and other items produced by the gallery in almost three decades of activity represented a chance to shed light on some crucial points of its history and legacy, identifying trends, levels of changes and continuity starting from the artworks exposed and collected by the gallerists. In doing so, it has been possible to underline some common threads which connect the work of some young artists operating in Rome starting from 1966 to some older ones, generating an original collision and an international melting pot between tradition and innovation.