Museo d'Arte Moderna Mario Rimoldi

The Mario Rimoldi Museum of Modern Art in Cortina d'Ampezzo presents a collection of Italian painting and sculpture formed by local collector Mario Rimoldi. Its works range from artists associated with the interwar period to post-war figures.

Why it matters

Rimoldi collected works directly from artists and through the Venice Biennale at a time when public institutions were slow to acquire modern art. The collection is especially strong in Filippo de Pisis, Mario Sironi and Giorgio de Chirico, while also representing artists including Morandi, Campigli, Carrà, Depero, Martini, Rosai, Severini, Soffici and Vedova. Paintings by artists who visited or worked in the Ampezzo valley connect the collection to the landscape around Cortina.

What to notice

De Pisis is a central presence, with landscapes that include views of Cortina's parish church and bell tower, alpine roofs, meadows and spruce trees. The collection also includes works by Sironi and De Chirico, whose very different approaches reveal the breadth of Italian modernism. Sculpture by Arturo Martini and Marino Marini, as well as post-war work by Emilio Vedova and Emilio Santomaso, broadens the collection beyond painting. The museum's display rotates, with loans and temporary exhibitions supplementing the core holdings.

Context and history

Mario Rimoldi was born in Cortina on 13 April 1900. In 1923 he opened a travel agency on Corso Italia with his brother Arturo; its walls became an early setting for his growing collection. He met de Pisis in 1929 and hosted the painter at the family's Hotel Corona in 1937. The collection expanded through the 1930s and included hundreds of works by 1940. In 1974, his widow Rosa Braun carried out a donation of the collection's principal works to the Regole d'Ampezzo, the year the museum opened in the Ciasa de ra Regoles.