Association “Per Mario Negri – Per la scultura”

The studio, 1979. Photo Paolo Monti.

Association “For Mario Negri – For Sculpture”, founded in May 2007 has the aim of restoration of the Studio at Via Stoppani 7, presently in bad condition, conserving its original character as a place of work.

The purpose is to make it into an orderly gathering point of the sculpture archives, open to the public, to scholars – critics, art historians, students – and to artists and young sculptors to facilitate direct experience of Negri’s work.

Besides the architectural restoration, the goal is to proceed – in continuity with the work conducted by Negri’s wife Elda and his family, including the publication in 1995 of the Catalogo generale delle sculture and various exhibitions from 1987 to 2019 – to an ulterior and definitive program of analysis and cataloguing of the materials found in the studio. The project is based on a perspective of educational awareness of cultural heritage as a collective resource, and on the desire to create an opportunity for more complete knowledge of the original materials.

These materials include: works on plaster, bronzes, drawings; published and unpublished writings; the photographic archives 1936-1987, the catalogues of solo and group shows 1936-2019, articles and writings on the artist from 1936 to the present, the artist’s personal library, various objects and original work tools.

The Association is also engaged in opening a permanent exhibition of works by Mario Negri in an efficacious partnership with institutions, already shaped with Comune di Milano – through “Storie Milanesi” and “Museo City” – that may be able to realize a decisive public awareness around the sculptor’s work.

For Mario Negri’s work, born in Tirano and deeply connected to his land of origin, it would be further meaningful that the partnership between the Association and the institutions, Comune di Milano and Valtellina, could also see the participation of the productive organizations present on the territory, entrepreneurs, public and private institutions that can gather and give visibility to a cultural heritage belonging to them (possibly recovering and realizing the helpfulness by Valtellinese institutions of a space in Castel Masegra or elsewhere).

This exhibition space, alongside the opening to the public of the studio in Milan, can become an indispensable point of reference for knowledge of Negri’s work. The future museum will present different exhibitions over time, covering the various themes of the sculptor’s output. These exhibitions, with their related studies and catalogues, can be replicated in other museums facilities devoted specifically to sculpture, on a national and international level. The nascent museum is also conceived as a place to host sculpture exhibitions, conferences and encounters for exploration of affinities and correspondences between artists belonging to the same historical and cultural period.