Villa Menafoglio Litta Panza, or Villa Orrigoni Menafoglio Litta Panza, is a villa located in Biumo Superiore, overlooking the city of Varese. It is known for its contemporary art collection.
Villa Panza History
Villa Panza, known worldwide as a center of contemporary art, has origins that date back to the eighteenth century, when the Marquis Paolo Antonio Menafoglio identified the ideal place for his country house on the top of the Biumo hill in Varese.
Enlarged thanks to the subsequent works of Luigi Canonica in the early nineteenth century and Piero Portaluppi in the 1930s, the residence took on a new destination when Count Giuseppe Panza from the 1950s began to create a 20th century art collection, which became over time known all over the world. Over 150 works by American artists coexist in harmony in the halls and large stables, with Renaissance furnishings and precious collections of African and pre-Columbian art. A perfect dialogue that reflects the intuition and sensitivity of Giuseppe Panza, who identified the guiding principle of his artistic choices in the clear and almost transcendent light of the place.
The wing of the rustic buildings is emblematic in this sense, which now houses an amazing gallery of site-specific environmental works of art, almost a temple dedicated to the luminous element. Among these, the works of Dan Flavin stand out, of which the collection boasts the largest concentration of perpetually exhibited works, James Turrell and Robert Irwin. they have designed new installations specifically for these spaces.
Home to international exhibitions, Villa Panza offers a sensory experience, with activities dedicated even for the little ones. Here you can spend an entire day immersed in art, between the 33,000 square meters of park enriched with works of Land Art and the "Luce" Restaurant.