Virtual Museum De Fornaris

“IL MUSEO CHE NON C’È”

For the first time, 70 masterpieces from the De Fornaris collection are being exhibited together for the inauguration of the Fondazione's new Virtual Museum.

Throughout its almost forty years in the world of art, the Fondazione De Fornaris had never possessed a "physical" museum, in which its extensive collection could be permanently on display. This is what gave rise to the idea of starting from scratch and designing "Il Museo che non c'è", an innovative virtual museum that showcases, highlights and allows anyone to admire the Fondazione's most outstanding works of art. An example of one of the very few museums in the world without a real presence, yet purposely conceived to be visited and experienced exclusively via the Internet.

The De Fornaris collection prides itself on its thousands of paintings, sculptures, installations and graphic works, featuring masterpieces by major 19th-century artists: from Hayez to Morbelli and Pellizza da Volpedo, from de Chirico to Morandi and Casorati, from Burri to Carol Rama and Paolini, to Merz, Pistoletto and Penone. By statute, the works are given on loan to the GAM, Galleria Civica d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Torino, which displays them on a rotating basis and for limited periods.

The virtual museum's works are presented following scientific criteria curated by Riccardo Passoni, the GAM director and chairman of the Artistic Commission of the Fondazione De Fornaris.

In the words of the President of the Fondazione De Fornaris, Piergiorgio Re: "Today, new technologies are increasingly at the service of the arts. We, therefore, take great pride in the inauguration of this innovative virtual museum, "Il Museo che non c'è", thanks to which the Fondazione De Fornaris will showcase its outstanding collection for the world to admire. Thanks to 3D and virtual reality techniques, scholars and art lovers will have the opportunity to experience the Museum's masterpieces remotely".

FONDAZIONE DE FORNARIS
The Fondazione Guido ed Ettore De Fornaris was established in Turin in 1982, under the will of art patron and collector, Ettore De Fornaris. Ever since, it has been engaged in the world of art in several ways: it acquires 19th and 20th-century and contemporary works, it organises exhibitions of its collections and lecture series, and it publishes catalogues, reports and research papers. Among the Italian art foundations, the De Fornaris is a rare instance of an institution that works in close association with a museum like the GAM - Galleria d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Torino, for the specific purpose of expanding its collections. The Foundazione holds thousands of paintings, sculptures, installations, photographs and collections of graphic works (drawings, watercolours, engravings and architectural projects). Under an agreement with the City of Turin, these works are preserved and displayed at the GAM.

www.fondazionedefornaris.org