CASA MUSEO RENZO SAVINI

Renzo Savini, the creator of this amazing and precious miscellany of high craftsmanship artifacts and naturalistic finds, did not like to be defined as a collector. He searched, gathered and often stored his collection without needing to show it to anybody else. There are a number of texts in literature centred on characters for whom collecting is a central aspect of their life. Kaspar Utz, the protagonist of Bruce Chatwin's famous novel, based his existence exclusively on the study and acquisition of Meissen ceramics right from an early age, a behaviour that was considered a ‘perversion' by his family doctor. His entire life would revolve around this love and would lead him to collect entire crates of these small ceramic pieces without verifying the contents, becoming himself a prisoner of his immense collection. Collecting personally for him meant giving life to objects that would otherwise, instead, die in a crystallizing museum case. "Private ownership confers on the owner the right and the need to touch. As a young child will reach out to handle the thing it names, so the passionate collector, his eye in harmony with his hand, restores to the object the life-giving touch of its maker".

The collection conserved in this house waiting to be discovered, reminds us of the sixteenth and seventeenth-century Wunderkammer (cabinet of curiosities) found in various European courts, collections of wonders in which the objects sought out were not only artifacts, but also elements taken from nature and then inserted in a well-structured setting. In the sixteenth century, the idea of collecting with encyclopaedic intent took root, a microcosm available to the human eye, such as, for example, the Venetian cabinets described by Marcantonio Michiel or Gabriele Vendramin. Elements that invited curiosity and wonder, to be found both in artefacts and natural objects, also became of interest only from the second half of the 1500s: this was the origin of the Wunderkammer, at their highest expression at the court of Prague thanks to the determined will of Rudolf II.

The entrance opens into a vast room, an extensive space with large windows overlooking the very close trees in the garden that almost cancel the division between indoors and outdoors. The hall is divided into semi-walls in brick or wood or plastered and painted, designed specially for accommodating this rich and varied collection; antique and modern furniture act as a support and stage for curious toys, glass objects, fine sculptures and artefacts in terracotta from different eras. The Bastiano sofas, designed by Tobia Scarpa, flanked by the Sanluca armchair, designed in 1960 by Pier Giacomo and Achille Castiglioni, iconic seats produced by the versatile Dino Gavina, and other design objects present, are emblematic of the sophisticated attention and careful and vigil eye of the protagonist and creator of this dwelling. Here everything is scrupulously original and preserved in detail, in fact even the kitchen and bathrooms retain valuable tiles on the walls and floors, as well as the pink bathroom fixtures designed by Gio Ponti and produced by Ideal Standard (limited edition) together with the iconic bathtub towels.

Artefacts are suspended in the air, and fragments of Renaissance bas-reliefs were embedded by Savini in the internal and external walls. There are Baroque nativity statues by Giuseppe Maria Mazza and Giacomo De Maria, as well as those in Rococo style by Angelo Gabriello Piò. Positioned on large, long tables, the eighteenth-century Emilian school terracotta pieces dialogue with an Etruscan amphora and with late Baroque polychrome wooden sculptures. Full and opaque materials alternate with the transparencies of the ancient or modern glassware, like the large Venini 1964 chandelier or crystals from the 1950s.

The supporting walls received the same attention, painted in shades of crimson, cerulean blue or with green and ochre tones. Reflecting surface effects positioned in focal points project light and images that replicate without repeating. The viewer's gaze is in a continuous vortex; illusion and reality are in constant dialogue and create a musical rhythm.
The large eighteenth century "Sicilian Pupo" (puppet) is suspended near a Baroque putto. There are fifteenth century icons, engravings and late Renaissance and Baroque drawings on the walls, vibrant enough to take your breath away. A priceless drawing by Alessandro Tiarini attracts our attention, enchanting us with its chiaroscuro effects. Eras are crossed seamlessly: the two precious fifteenth century Madonnas with Child on wooden support, in which every compositional detail is finely painted following the eidetic principle, sit alongside the canvases by Telemaco Signorini, with shades of light and phenomenal colour, as well as those by Luigi Serra or Mario Vellani Marchi. Valuable paintings and sculptures dialogue with burin drawings and engravings, grand theatrical settings and tin, wooden, plastic or paper toys. A fine ‘Piavola de Franza', a large Venetian doll made of wood and papier-mâché made in the eighteenth century still with its original dress, necklace, bracelets and walking stick, is of particular interest. Dresses for displaying the models, fabrics and accessories in fashion at the time of the French Court were made for this ante litteram mannequin, like the one displayed in Venice for the ‘Festa della Sensa'. Not only artistic artifacts were included in this great carousel, but also simple objects attracted his attention, or elements taken from nature, particularly stones, in the same way as paintings, terracotta pieces, Etruscan finds, wooden sculptures, Renaissance capitals, antique paper flowers, dolls and toys.

As already mentioned, Renzo Savini did not define himself as collector; only true lovers of art refuse to give themselves a label. Defining things is necessary for us who come later so that the discrete and private research of the past is not lost between precious walls in the absence of its director and creator who made it live and dialogue in a story with an always open narrative.

Taken from the text by Maria Katia Tufano

RENZO SAVINI:
Painter – Artist – Collector

from Painting to Collecting:
"ART IN ART"

From painting to collecting through the creation of works that reflect the concept of "art within art" and through use
of the ancient with paper material, such as pages extracted from volumes from the 1500s or blown glass recovered from medieval windows.
The ancient that is expertly "extrapolated", "decontextualized" and "recontextualized" through fervent creativity and refined taste.
The use of palette, brushes, oil colors and tempera..
Renzo Savini's passion arises from an initial phase characterized by the creation of pictorial works and collages, and then passes through the collection of every kind of possibly destructured material, characterized by "fragments" or "parts" of larger complexes, such as : volumes, manuscripts, documents, glass, terracottas, stones, archaeological finds and everything that is part of knowledge; finally to then merge into the expansion of the concept of collecting and bordering on the acquisition of important pictorial and sculptural works, as well as valuable furniture.
The collection is however characterized by interesting eclecticism, ranging across eras and combinations and playing on contrasts and combinations.

Benedetta Savini

Benedetta Savini, Benedetta Savini, born in Bologna on 19/07/1966, humanistic studies, graduated in modern literature, then studied graphology for 10 years with different specializations, general graphology, expert graphology, developmental graphology and aptitude graphology.
Benedetta, eldest daughter of Renzo Savini and Pasquina de Beni. The creator and promoter of this great project which involved the valorisation and cataloging of her father's entire collection. With meticulous work of recovering much of the material lying around in various properties, in addition to what was already exposed.
The House Museum has obtained the recognition brand issued by the Department of Culture of the Emilia Romagna Region, as a house of Illustrious Personages, following a rigid census, according to the Houses and Studies of Illustrious Personages of the Emilia Romagna project.
The project defines and lists the privileged places in which artists, writers, musicians and collectors have lived and worked.
The Savini House Museum has also become part of the "National Association of Houses of Memory", another organization that brings together the houses and studios of those who have contributed to the development of cultural heritage on the national territory.
Benedetta Savini is the promoter of this "project" which involves opening to the public, thus allowing the use not only of the material, but also of the environment.
The visitor lives a total "immersive" experience, which allows him not only to admire the works, but also to "fully experience" all the spaces of the house.
In fact, unlike a museum, the House Museum retains and preserves the soul of the person who lived there and inspired it. The House Museum preserves the "genius loci" which can only be grasped there, in that special place.
Benedetta is not only the creator, and promoter, but also the curator of the collection and is also curator of exhibitions and various cultural projects in collaboration with other museums and cultural institutions.
The absence of real or virtual barriers between the visitor and the works of art and design, favors a highly emotional and impactful experience.
The visitor is transported on a journey that crosses centuries and currents of thought, styles and fashions.
Benedetta's project does not stop only at this, but also includes the "transmission" not only of historical information, but also and above all of the emotion that each object and painting can arouse in everyone, as she was the first person to be marvel and amazed by its magic.
The playful effects of the lights and shadows, that filters through the branches of the trees in the garden and the large windows, create astonishing and different effects at all times of the day. The shape of the building come to life, emotions flow.
This is how Benedetta acknowledges and transmits her love for her father on a daily basis.