Municipal art gallery
Francesco Tabusso
The Origins
Opened in 2016, the Francesco Tabusso Municipal Gallery, in its permanent exhibition, houses over one hundred works by the most significant contemporary Piedmontese artists from the post-war period to today.
The first promoter of this collection was Francesco Tabusso (1930–2012), an artist of international standing, particularly tied to the territory of Rubiana since early childhood. The Gallery is only 500 metres from the family villa, built in 1906 and purchased by his grandfather Alfredo in 1926, which had always been his privileged reference point for summer stays: many of his works were born here, created in the garden of the residence or in the attic studio.
The Messa valley, surrounded by the massifs of Sella and Civrario, with its forests crossed by rich streams of water, exerted a great influence on the Master: the green that stands out in its many shades in several of Tabusso's works – as in "Cantico delle Creature", the imposing altar piece at the Milan church of San Francesco al Fopponino, painted right here in Rubiana in the summer of 1975 – is tangible proof of the memory – always alive in the Artist – of the constant frequentation of our mountains and our woods.
Recognising and wishing to honour the affective bond with the Valmessa locality and the role it played in the Master's aesthetic vision, the Municipality granted the Painter honorary citizenship in 2006, who, in gratitude, wanted to establish, the following year, the prize "Tales and Woods", a painting workshop for the fifth-year pupils of the Giuseppe Simone Girodo primary school.
In this initiative, Tabusso was supported by numerous friends – Artists of the calibre of Francesco Casorati, Giacomo Soffiantino and Tino Aime – each of whom donated one of their own works to the municipal administration: from here, over time, the first exhibition nucleus of the Gallery originated, subsequently expanded by new donations from the same Artists or by the wishes of families and collectors.
The current exhibition was made possible thanks to the availability and professionalism of Architect Massimo Venegoni of Studio Dedalo in Turin and the economic support offered by entrepreneurs Giacomo Bonù (Agla Power Transmission) and Lorenza Giordanino (Finder), who wanted to share and support the educational and preparatory purpose that is at the heart of our Gallery.