Magazzino Italian Art Founders Nancy Olnick and Giorgio Spanu receive the Rinascimento+ Award

Magazzino Italian Art Founders Nancy Olnick and Giorgio Spanu received the Rinascimento+ Award on Saturday at Palazzo Medici Riccardi in Florence. The award recognizes collectors and patrons who have distinguished themselves in the contemporary art world through their patronage and support of artists, art and society.

The Rinascimento+ Award (‘rinascimento’ meaning ‘renaissance’) evokes the spirit of groundbreaking Renaissance patrons such as the Medici, Sassetti, Tornabuoni, Gondi, Rucellai and Strozzi. It was from the passions of enlightened individuals, their tastes, their refined thinking, that modern museums were born, starting with the Uffizi. The private dimension extended to the public one, and a privilege originally experienced in the private sphere was shared with a wider audience. The award forms part of the Museo Novecento’s broader program to foster a vital and vibrant contemporary art scene in Florence, one of the cradles of Western art.

Francesca Bazoli, Giorgio Spanu and Nancy Olnick.

In their acceptance speech, Nancy and Giorgio emphasized the important of sharing art, and their roles, not as collectors, but as temporary guardians of artwork.

Together with Magazzino’s founders, this year's edition was also awarded to Francesca Bazoli, Luca Bombassei, Carlo Clavarino, Sir Mark Haukhol and Elena Tettamanti.

This year's award was created by artist Namsal Siedlecki, whose work is also in the Magazzino’s collection.