Galleria d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea (Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art), Pisa

You will find the Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art in the Lungarno Mediceo building, not far from the National Museum of San Matteo. This fascinating gallery, more commonly known as Centro Art Moderna, opened its doors in 1976, but its founder, Nilvano Sbrana, had been interested in modern art since the nineteen forties and he gathered together artists and private collectors to help him build the first gallery of its kind in the city. The gallery boasts 200 square metres of exhibition space, separated into three spacious rooms. The permanent collection comprises over 15000 paintings, sculptures, lithographies, etchings and photos, with over 1000 of them on view in rotating exhibitions.

The collection covers the period from the mid 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century. The gallery also hosts exhibitions put on by private collectors, featuring works by Volpi, Tozzi, and Annigoni among many others. The temporary exhibitions display works by artists from all over Italy and several from other European countries. These exhibitions pay particular attention to Tuscan art from the second half of the 20th century to the present. You can admire offerings by artists including Franco Banti, Mario Meucci, Aspren Simonelli and Luca Squarciapino. Today the gallery is run by Maximilian Sbrana, who is an expert at finding new talent. The exhibitions are always well attended by collectors and art critics.