Observing Renzo Savini's collection, we're far removed from the idea of a methodological and analytical archive. A cultured man, born in Bagnacavallo in 1931, with a classical education, he first studied at classical high school at the College ‘Alla Querce' in Florence, and then took a degree in law at the University of Bologna where he met Nina de Beni, a student at the Faculty of Agriculture, who he would then marry.
His daily activity as a professional and father of a family was constantly characterised by a meticulous artistic approach with a very personal methodology. This careful research, begun in the 1960s, and concluded only after the death in 2018.
The creator of our collection knew how to discern abstract forms. A single stone in silicon was, in his eyes, a microcosm in which to catch signs and forms of the macrocosm. He brought out the energy inherent in these stones with an authentic staging in the arrangement, nature thus becoming an artifice as in the ephemeral settings of the late Renaissance.
Stones in dialogue and in tension between them and with the surrounding space.
Taken from the text by Maria Katia Tufano
Renzo Savini, born in Bagnacavallo, Ravenna, on 19 September 1931. A humanist with a classic education, he attended the exclusive Collegio alle Quercie in Florence, later graduating in Law from the University of Bologna.
A great collector and artist, he was ahead of his time due to his very high sensitivity, with great taste and ingenuity, he knew how to search, how to match elements, himself giving life to works of art constructed from "works of art" or rather "art in 'art".
The late owner of the house, an eclectic mind, a man of great culture, had a compulsion for research and collecting. At the same time, he knew how to see abstract shapes, that in nature express themselves as large stones, fragments and much more. In them he saw and with them expressed "the inexpressible".
Often these forms were positioned in unstable equilibrium almost giving the sensation of falling on the observer, or they seem to emerge directly from the earth. Vases suspended in empty space, and objects set in the walls, thus creating a mix of materials, contrasts and combinations between the shapes, between the infinite shadows they produce and finally contrasts between the eras they themselves represent.
He was ahead of his time for his eclectic taste with which he knew how to combine elements, breaking the rules and conventions; his work was "art within art", that is, the blend of elements he himself collected, almost spasmodically.
These combinations occurred with excellent meticulousness and punctuality, especially in the faithful use of support materials, such as nails from frames or glass often contemporary with the paintings. Fabrics, satins and brocades consistent with the era of the works to which they were applied.
His creative work ranged from wood carving to frames, from terracotta sculptures to ceramics and majolica. He was also above all a collector of curiosities, from walking sticks to puppets, from toys to wooden sculptures, from Emilian majolica to archaeological finds, from gilded mirrors to engravings or gigantic theater sets.
Every single object represented a fragment of his life and the moments by which it was marked. The continuous research expressed nothing more than the need to unite the fragments of one's own existence, as if to find its origin.
The assembly of the elements and objects represented the maximum expression of the Man / Artist, of his temperament, of his creativity, of his taste and of his refined knowledge and culture of his genius.