The charming entrance of Dona Brusa Palace It dates back to the 14th century, and the stone staircase leads directly to the gallery, three large halls with multi-colored glass windows that overlook Campo San Polo in Venice. Tommaso Calabro had no doubts in his choiceafter having visited ‘only’ twenty or so Venetian palaces: «It is perhaps not as central as a gallery should be, but it has great charm and responds perfectly to the requirements: single entrance, large exhibition spaces and access to my apartment». Very elegant the house-workshop of the thirty-four year old gallery owner who has chosen to divide his time between Milan and Venice: «I decided to open a gallery here because it is a city different from all the others, a city very tied to art, which attracts collectors and interested people all year round, especially international ones, and with a universe complementary to Milan».
Thomas Calabro is a child prodigy of gallerists: born in 1990, after having directed the prestigious Nahmad Projects in London for three years, in 2018 he opened his gallery in Milan in a nineteenth-century and hyper-decorated building in the center, subverting the schemes of the white cube for art. The gallery’s interest has focused on surrealist and twentieth century artists, interest transferred to Venice when he decided to open the second gallery, with attached house.
The three exhibition rooms have heights of up to 6 meters, with a very large volume that allows the works, often of museum size, to breathe well. The floor is in pastellone, an archetype of Venetian flooring, a mixture of red lime originating from Trentino and natural pigments, traditionally used to cover the floors of lagoon houses with a continuous surface. «The rooms are perfect for the Harold Stevenson’s Great Works with whom I inaugurated the space», continues Tommaso. «The American artist (1929-2018), a close friend of Andy Warhol and known for his provocative paintings of male nudes, interested me because he worked with the gallery owner Alexander Iolas, who is part of my research, and in the 60s he had already worked in Venice with the gallery owner Iris Clert».
A door from the gallery opens directly onto the private part, and the house becomes the pulsating center of the inaugurations: the guests take a drink and settle down between the kitchen and the living room, surrounded by works of all kinds, and furnishings from different eras. The atmosphere becomes convivial: Tommaso allows us to wander around the rooms, and the paintings, often very important, become part of the conversations, in an osmosis between the current exhibition and the gallery owner’s more personal choices. «The focus remains and will remain Modern Art, in particular Surrealism, but by opening more locations – I also have a gallery in Feltre directed by my brother – I decided to tackle contemporary art with artists of my generationso thirty-year-olds. I worked with Flaminia Veronesi, Aldo Sergio is now on display in Milan, for the future I have Adelisa Selimbasic and Ismaele Nones in my agenda».
And large marble bathroom is the testimony of the architectural superimpositions of the building. Definitely closer to Carlo Scarpa than to the fifteenth century, the room has been restored and obviously the paintings have found a place there too. The large bedroom is decorated with the works of two surrealists: Leonor Fini (1907-1996) e Stanislaus Lepri (1905–1980). Described as one of the last representatives of the great pre-war generation of Parisian artists, Leonor Fini lived through Surrealism and the passionate life of those years as a protagonist, a friend of Max Ernst, De Chirico, Dalí, Miró, Picasso and Elsa Schiaparelli. Stanislao Lepri, a member of the Roman nobility and a diplomat, abandoned his career in favor of painting, following the decisive meeting with Leonor Fini, who would become his companion. Among the surrealists there is also the desk, a piece from the twentieth century that belonged to the famous Alexander Iolas. Above the desk is another work by Leonor Fini whose only owners were initially Iolas and subsequently Valentina Cortese.
«The location of the building is perfect for me», says Tommaso, «we are behind one of the hidden places of Venice, the Corte Petriananamed after the Patriani family, in Venice since the end of the 14th century. But we are also a stone’s throw from the Aman Venice, a super-luxury hotel in a beautiful area very close to the Grand Canal, and from Palazzo Manfrin, home of the Kapoor Foundation. It’s not bad to have neighbors like Anish Kapoor and meet them daily in the campo».
dove: Tommaso Calabro Venice, Campo San Polo 2177, tel. 0412433440
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