Magazzino Italian Art: A Unique Museum Tucked In The Hudson Valley

Magazzino Italian Art is located in the historic village of Cold Spring, New York, across the Hudson River from West Point.

This unique museum—the only one of its kind in the United States—specializes exclusively in postwar and contemporary Italian art. As such, it offers visitors a chance to experience the beauty and diversity of Italian art and culture close to home.

The museum’s impressive holdings include works of art from the 1950s to the present by Giovanni Anselmo, Alighiero Boetti, Pier Paolo Calzolari, Luciano Fabro, Jannis Kounellis, Mario Merz, Marisa Merz, Giulio Paolini, Pino Pascali, Giuseppe, Penone, Michelangelo Pistoletto, and Gilberto Zorio.

When one visits the museum, one can’t help but wonder how this gem ever came to be sited on five acres of farmland in the Hudson Valley countryside.

The Patrons

The husband-wife team of Nancy Olnick and Giorgio Spanu, passionate art collectors, slowly began acquiring art that appealed to their senses, building a priceless private collection over three decades. They began exhibiting their work in 2000 at the Museum of Arts and Design in Manhattan, sharing their distinctive Murano glass collection in an exhibition titled “Venetian Glass: 20th-Century Italian Glass From the Olnick Spanu Collection.”

After visiting Castello di Rivoli, the contemporary art museum in Turin, Italy, they became interested in the avant-garde Arte Povera (“poor art” in Italian) movement, which extended from the mid-1960s to the early 1970s.

This rebellious genre of artists used everyday objects and materials to create paintings, sculptures, and photographs, an approach that challenged their contemporaries to break with rigid art traditions. Broadening their collection, the couple acquired many large-scale pieces that were simply too large to keep in their home.

From Private to Public

Olnick and Spanu recognized that art is meant to be shared. So, in 2017, they created this museum, which they view as an extension of their home and family.

Their ambitious goals for what grew into the non-profit Magazzino Italian Art included the following:

• Raising the profile of Italian art in the U.S.,
• Promoting Italian artists,
• Advancing research and scholarship focused on Italian art, and
• Inspiring future generations of art lovers.

In 2023, the museum opened its library and research center to promote scholarship on Italian art, architecture, and design. The Germano Celant Research Center at Magazzino is named after the art critic and historian who coined the term Arte Povera.

The library holds over 5,000 publications, including rare books and archival materials. Each year, the center awards a visiting fellowship to a recent PhD graduate interested in pursuing postwar and contemporary Italian art studies while working with the museum team.

An Engaging Space

The museum’s two architecturally stunning buildings include a renovated dairy warehouse (in Italian, magazzino means warehouse) and a new contemporary building designed by Spanish architect Miguel Quismondo and his mentor, award-winning architect Alberto Campo Baeza.

High ceilings, exposed beams, and large windows flood the galleries with natural light and showcase the exquisitely landscaped surroundings.

The museum’s galleries, occupying over 33,000 square feet, allow enough space for intimacy and reflection. Instead of labels and words, the museum allows each visitor to subjectively interpret what they are viewing.

Warm and knowledgeable staff, many of whom are art students from nearby educational institutions, are always nearby to answer questions and share their expertise with visitors.

In addition to the permanent collection, the museum’s expansion to the second building, the Robert Olnick Pavilion (named after Nancy’s father and opened in 2023), has allowed it to host rotating exhibitions of Italian art from different artists.

Linking Art and Community

From the beginning, the museum’s co-founders recognized the vital importance of building strong ties with the international art community, their neighbors in Cold Spring, and the surrounding communities in Putnam County.

The museum sponsors educational programs and events for the public throughout the year, which include lectures, workshops, guided tours, film screenings, concerts, and artist talks.

This year marked the opening of Cafe Silvia, the museum’s restaurant in the new building, envisioned as a social hub for lively interaction among locals, other visitors, and the museum team.

This Italian-style coffee bar and trattoria is helmed by talented Italian chef Luca Galli, born and raised in northern Italy, near Milan. The chef has a unique background. He’s worked at Harry’s Bar in London and interned at San Domenico in New York City, but for most of his career, he found a niche cooking exclusively for Italian museums and patrons of art and fashion. Diners at the trattoria can’t help but feel like they’ve landed somewhere special in the Bel Paese.

Chef Galli’s seasonal, farm-to-table menu features inventive cuisine that reimagines traditional Italian recipes. Whenever possible, food products are sourced locally from Hudson Valley farmers or flown in from Italy. The amiable chef often comes out of the kitchen to chat with diners, many of whom become regulars. He also can be seen tending to his herb and vegetable garden outside the glass dining room doors, which lead to a stable of Sardinian donkeys.

As part of its community outreach, the museum hosts a special lunch series at Cafe Silvia titled “Viaggio con Luca: The History of Regional Italian Culture.” Each Friday throughout the summer, Chef Galli prepares a specialty dish showcasing the diversity of Italian regional cuisine. Diners are able to taste the dish over a relaxing lunch and learn about its history and traditions. Tickets, priced at $50 each, are available online and include free admission to the museum.

Looking To The Future

Each year, this museum has grown in size, number of visitors, breadth of its holdings, and prestige in the international art community. In no small part, this has been due to its visionary founders’ expertise and commitment.

When Valentino recently opened its Madison Avenue Flagship store, Magazzino Italian Art was asked to curate an in-store exhibition of the work of Italian painter Mario Schifano (now on exhibit at the museum through August 9, 2024). Following the exhibition, the Valentino Foundation awarded the museum a significant grant.

Although Olnick and Spanu have set up a trust to ensure the museum’s viability after they have gone, the continued expansion of this one-of-a-kind museum will depend on future grants and donations.

The couple who started it all remain humble. “We’re novices,” says Giorgio Spanu. “The museum has already grown well beyond our greatest expectations.”

IF YOU GO

The Magazzino Italian Art museum in Cold Spring, New York, is open Friday through Monday from 10 AM to 6 PM. Admission is $20 for adults and $5 for children ages 5 to 12.

Museum members receive discounts on tickets, free shuttle service between the museum and the Metro North train station in Cold Spring, and other perks, as well as the opportunity to support the continued growth of Italian art and culture.

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