Umbria is known as the region where the famous artists of the Middle Age and the Renaissance have left their art, where the landscape is dotted with historic towns and where its saints have left their heritage of spirituality which you can still feel in churches and monasteries. However, most people don’t know that Umbria is also example of artistic innovation and inclination to contemporaneity in many cultural fields: from figurative arts to theatre, from architecture to music. If you’re interested there are many places to visit and art to see: from museums to plein air paintings, from art hotel to the architecture of the towns. It is impossible to list all of them but in the years the number of museums of contemporary art and the projects to promote new art collections is increased.
In Città di Castello, the Fondazione Burri boasts the amazing collection of the Umbrian artist in two different sites: Palazzo Albizzini and the Ex seccatoi del tabacco. Another great artist that had a particular bond with Umbria is Emilio Greco, whose collections are exhibited in Orvieto and Spello.
In Perugia, in Palazzo della Penna, are displayed the prestigious collection of Gerardo Dottori and the six remarkable blackboards that Joseph Beuys made in 1980 during his memorable meeting with Alberto Burri. In Perugia you can also visit the Fuseum di Brajo Fuso; its rooms and the garden dotted of sculptures of the artist.
In Spoleto, some rooms of Galleria d'arte moderna di Spoleto "G. Carandente" are dedicated to Leoncillo: his pieces are displayed with those of international artists such as Moore, Pepper, Smith, Giò Pomodoro and Sol LeWitt.
The work of another leading figure of the 20th century, Guido Calori, is displayed in San Gemini in the Museo dell’Opera di Guido Calori. In Assisi, in the Galleria d’arte contemporanea della Pro Civitate Christiana, are displayed the works of Georges Rouault and many other artists on the shared theme of “working Christ”.
In Terni, contemporary and ancient art are both exhibited in the CAOS, Centro Arti Opificio Siri (former chemical factory) in the now Museo d’Arte Moderna e contemporanea Aurelio Felice.
In Foligno, besides the high-level temporary exhibitions in the Centro D’arte Contemporanea (CIAC), you can also admire, in the former church of Santissima Trinità, the Cosmic Magnet (Calamita Cosmica) made by Gino de Dominicis.
In Città della Pieve, in the Giardino dei Lauri the international artists of the last generation created the most sperimental face of the contemporary art.
In Brufa, near Torgiano, art and landscape become one in the Parco delle Sculture and in Tuoro, on the Trasimeno lake, the Campo del Sole is become the theatre of the sculpture in pietra serena made by Pietro Cascella. Moreover, the Third Paradise (Terzo Paradiso) made by Michelangelo Pistoletto in the Bosco di San Francesco, Assisi, is an example of land art.
If you’re interested in the art of pottery, you should visit the Museo regionale della Ceramica and the Fondazione Ceramica Contemporanea d’Autore “Alviero Moretti”, both in Deruta, and the Museo dell’arte ceramica contemporanea in Torgiano, where are displayed the collection of Nino Caruso and the “vaselle” made by international artists and dedicated to young wine. The works of other important pottery artists are exhibited in museums of Gubbio and Gualdo Tadino.