A
seventeenth century Tuscan villa hosts one of the
world's finest sculpture parks
"We
don't want day-trippers calling here out of curiosity.
They only end up getting bored and leaving. It takes
3-4 hours for a complete visit and you need to be
prepared to spend some time queuing up." These are
the words of Giuliano Gori, the 65-year-old
businessman and collector who converted his extensive
farmland at Fattoria di Celle into a fabulous
open-air museum, without a view for profit.
Fattoria di Celle is a magnificent villa built in
the late 1600s in Santomato, a village in
the Tuscan hills between Prato and Pistoia
As Gori
worked to put his project together he invited some
of the top contemporaryinternational
artists to spend some time in Fattoria di Celle.
Famous guests include Sol LeWitt, Richard Long,
Pistoletto,
Burri,
Magdalena Abakanowicz, Dani Karavan and Alice Aycock...
all of whom spent several months with Gori working
on their installations on site. The 67 works they
left behind are a perfect union of nature and creativity,
such as the by now famous maze, devised by
Bob Morris.
"Currently there are a number of initiatives
similar to the one here at Celle — says Gori
— although site-specific art, such as our park
in Celle, is often confused with art that is placed
on site, rather than being created for it."
Indeed Fattoria di Celle is much more than an open-air
art collection. It is a sculpture park where each
artist has been specially commissioned to create
his or her work as an integral part of the surrounds.
The
centuries-old trees and green parkland are the natural
backdrop to these huge installations in bronze,
resin, stone, marble and cement which are guaranteed
to delight even the most sceptical visitor. If you
want to visit the park send a fax to -39- 573-479486,
explaining why you would like to view the installations,
although don't be disappointed if your appointment
is for Spring 2002 as the park closes to the public
on September 30th.
Fattoria
di Celle — Read about the Gori Collection
and view some of the magnificent installations online.
Sculpture
Parks — If you like Fattoria di Celle
then you'll want to know the addresses of some of
the main sculpture parks in Italy.
THE SURVIVOR'S 
"We
don't want day-trippers calling here out of curiosity.
They only end up getting bored and leaving. It takes
3-4 hours for a complete visit and you need to be
prepared to spend some time queuing up." These are
the words of Giuliano Gori, the 65-year-old
businessman and collector who converted his extensive
farmland at Fattoria di Celle into a fabulous
open-air museum, without a view for profit.
The
centuries-old trees and green parkland are the natural
backdrop to these huge installations in bronze,
resin, stone, marble and cement which are guaranteed
to delight even the most sceptical visitor. If you
want to visit the park send a fax to -39- 573-479486,
explaining why you would like to view the installations,
although don't be disappointed if your appointment
is for Spring 2002 as the park closes to the public
on September 30th.