text Sabrina Bozzoni
Luca Ricchi, director of Bel-Air Fine Art in Florence
Bel-Air Fine Art finally has a space in Florence. Tell us how this bold, all-Florentine venture came to be.
It was a major step for us – bringing together Renaissance art and some of the most captivating expressions of contemporary creativity in a single experience full of extraordinary emotion.
Three places to truly breathe in art in Florence, from your point of view.
Without stating the obvious by naming the Uffizi Gallery – which I consider the number one museum in the world – I’d say Santa Maria del Fiore, Piazza della Signoria and Palazzo Vecchio, the Accademia Gallery, and also Palazzo Portinari Salviati, the home of our gallery, which was once the residence of Dante’s famed Beatrice.
An artist you would bet on today, and why.
I’d recommend focusing on artists who are part of new art movements like Post-Pop, New Pop, and Street Art. A few names that stand out are Mr. Brainwash, Patrick Rubinstein, Cédric Bouteiller, Jisbar, and Richard Orlinski.
Your first memory of art—one that stayed with you for life.
I was born in the province of Bergamo, and one unforgettable memory is my first visit, at age 14, to the Colleoni Chapel in the old town. And of course, I’ll never forget my first time at the Louvre.
A dream – and a nightmare.
My dream is to spend a day with Leonardo da Vinci. My nightmare? That humanity might one day lose its ability to feel emotion when standing before a work of art – any work of art.
Florence is…
The birthplace of the Renaissance, a city with a modern outlook, open to new ideas – the ideal place to showcase our contemporary artists.
