Corporate collections, the alliance between art and business that serves economic and cultural growth

From Carlos Garaicoa to Marinella Senatore via Chiara Sorgato and Zanele Muholi. What a revelation! Italian companies are on the ball when collecting contemporary art, choosing international and Italian artists with great potential for growth. Who would have thought it? Certainly at fairs you meet collectors, often they are entrepreneurs, but it is by no means taken for granted that when choosing works they select the right names, i.e. those with a solid career path. Entrepreneurs do not lack flair when they choose the work of a young artist or decide to offer him a residency or a scholarship. There are also many historicised artists in corporate collections, many masters from de Chirico to Manzoni, from Fontana to Burri and Castellani, from Cucchi to Arte Povera. The photograph of the contemporary creative universe present in companies, capable of enriching them, emerges from a qualitative survey that mapped the Corporate Art Collections of Italian companies promoted by Confindustria as part of the Technical Group for Culture, at the instigation of the President of the Technical Group for Culture Antonio Alunni and the Vice-President for Environment, Sustainability and Culture Katia Da Ros. The project brings to light the contribution of Italian companies to art by focusing research on collections that bring together works by authors dated between 1870 (the conventional date for the beginning of modern art) and 2024. The result is contained in the book Il segno dell'arte nelle imprese. Le collezioni corporate italiane per l'arte moderna e contemporanea published by Marsilio Arte, with the patronage of the Ministry of Culture and the support of IntesaSanpaolo, edited by Ilaria Bonacossa with Marianna Agliottone, Costantino D'Orazio and the writer.

What emerges from this first snapshot of the art of the present in Italian companies? The survey mapped 57 collections. The pleasant surprise is to discover that collecting for a company means sharing the contemporary art works it has purchased or commissioned with its territory and its employees. In fact, collections dialogue at least twice a year with the public, in most cases they are installed in companies but sometimes they are present in the private homes of entrepreneurs. "There is a lot of young art produced after 1980 in the collection, many installations have been promoted by entrepreneurs, especially the new production of site-specific works," explains curator Ilaria Bonacossa. The great variety in the ownership of the collections, as well as the absence of specific regulations on corporate collections at a national level, prompted us to bring together under the label of 'corporate collections' those collections that were owned by or at the disposal of the company, its founder, its director or an entity/foundation promoted by the same subjects and dedicated to the management and promotion of the collection," she explains. "We extended the research not only to Confindustria member companies in order to offer a broad and transversal mapping capable of putting a first step in the history of Italian corporate collections. Entrepreneurs, from north to south, collect for passion. Some, like the Art Hotel Gran Paradiso in Sorrento, began supporting Italian art as early as the 1970s. For others, like Luigi Bonotto, it all started with meeting artists. Many started after 2000, many collaborating with artists to produce works in companies such as the Fondazione Casoli (Elica), promoting residencies or prizes for young artists. In most cases, the collections are linked to personal experience - some focused on a single author such as those of the Bracco Foundation and Asolo Costruzioni e Restauri - rarely aimed solely at quoting art on the market. Almost all companies testify to a willingness to lend works to exhibitions and museums, confirming their desire to participate in the cultural life of the country. There is no industry sector more committed to this effort: it cuts across many sectors from metallurgy to space, from tourism to construction, from finance to manufacturing, from agriculture to services, and so on. Art finds a home everywhere, and in the book we read the stories of women and men who have encountered art and artists on their journey, in a dialogue that has enriched their company and their team.

"Art finds support in the enterprise through the financial support derived from sponsorships or acquisitions of works; the enterprise, in turn, finds in art a great ally, capable of contributing to the development of broad and original visions. Art ignites creativity by fostering innovation, not only through product design, but also through the design and realisation of corporate spaces and places. Art strengthens the bond between companies and their communities,' writes Alunni in the introduction to the book. And it is understood that: "the art industry in Italy has a great economic potential," Alunni explains, "which to be effectively exploited requires the promotion of business investment in art and culture through the definition of effective and stable regulatory tools, in line with those of other leading countries internationally. This is why an intervention by the legislator is desirable: 'to define and regulate corporate art collections, through specific provisions on corporate income with reference to the purchase and sale of works of art,' he concludes. Patronage must also be promoted more, echoes Katia Da Ros. "The tax lever can be an opportunity to do this but it must be simplified and strengthened. We believe that the art bonus can be improved with an extension of the perimeter of accessible assets. Today, private entities make up the largest number of subjects managing art collections also for public purposes: we should favour liberal donations supported by the art bonus for them too". All the more so because today it is natural to think that Corporate Art Collections can be fully included in the criteria of social responsibility and ESG-related disclosures in the social balance sheet.

Many have already included them in the budgets of a new model of entrepreneurship inspired by 'Corporate Cultural Responsibility', which sees companies as an engine for the affirmation of not only economic, but also civil, social and cultural growth of the country.

"Il segno dell'arte nelle imprese. Le collezioni corporate italiane per l'arte moderna e contemporanea" published by Marsilio Arte will be presented in Turin on 6 May at the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo at 2.30 pm. Among those present will be Marco Gay, president of Confindustria Piemonte, and Federico Mollicone, president of the Chamber's Culture Commission. Presenting the book will be Antonio Alunni, Ilaria Bonacossa, Luca De Michelis (ad Marsilio Arte) and Katia Da Ros, who will conclude the round table discussion.