florence, italy antiques fair 2007 - corsini palace - xxv international antiques fair of florence (xxv biennale dell'antiquariato)

The most outstanding autumn event in Florence is undoubtedly the Mostra Mercato Internazionale dell'Antiquariato, the oldest in Italy and one of the most important of its kind in the world.

About ninety prestigious international antiquarians will represented all the sectors of the antiques world, offering a broad panorama of schools and styles of every epoch and provenance.

The Mostra Internazionale dell'Antiquariato of Palazzo Strozzi was launched in 1959, in the prestigious premises of Palazzo Strozzi. The Fair was the brainchild of Luigi Bellini Sr., designed to attract to Florence the very best in the international antiques world, and it made its name by offering the choicest selection in the collecting and antiques sector. The overwhelming success of the first Fair, and of those which followed, marked the start of a market season increasingly oriented towards the Antiques Fairs. The originality of the idea, accompanied by an astute selection of the antiquarians, transformed the Fair into a cultural and fashionable event that could not be missed, to the extent that the Florentine Fair was visited both by the members of the international jet set and by a crowd avid for curiosities, knowledge and marvels.
The international triumph was triggered by the fact that it was held in Florence and was also accompanied for the entire duration by a series of highly attractive cultural and society events.
The difficulties in the utilisation of Palazzo Strozzi, where adaptation work was being carried out, meant that in 1977 the antiquarians had to move to Palazzo Giuntini (now the Grand Hotel), after which they returned to the original site up to 1993.
When Palazzo Strozzi became definitively unavailable in 1995 the Fair had to be moved to the Palazzo degli Affari, a fine building designed by Spadolini, but entirely unsuitable for an antiquarian fair of the level of the Florentine Biennale. For the following editions of the Fair, the choice fell on Palazzo Corsini sull'Arno, the current premises of the event. From 2001, when Giovanni Pratesi took over from Guido Bartolozzi, the Florence International Antiques Fair discovered a renewed impetus by:

• promoting strict controls on the works displayed;
• modifying the image of the Fair by entrusting the orchestration to the Maestro Pier Luigi Pizzi, who performed an authentic masterpiece of restyling, introducing a new pavilion in the entrance courtyard of the Palazzo;
• boosting promotion by setting up specialised Press Offices in the major cities of the world (Wiesbaden, London, Paris, New York);
• extending to the Italian exhibitors the same rights as their foreign counterparts, offering them advance examination of the works on display so as to provide them with export licences before the start of the Fair.

This year we celebrate the 25th edition of the Fair, and the organising Committee has prepared a fitting series of events. First and foremost, the publication of a book that will trace the history of the Biennale. This volume is divided into two sections, one dealing specifically with the important works displayed in past editions of the Fair which went on to become part of public and private collections. It has also been decided to set up a prize for a literary work on an historic-artistic theme, and two other minor prizes for a review and for a film short, of similar content. Other prizes have been set up for the most attractive stand, the finest painting, the finest sculpture, the finest objet d’art, and the finest article of furniture on display at the Fair The exhibitors who win these prizes must devote the prize money to the restoration of a work of art belonging to the public heritage.

» For more information on the fair see the official website of the International Antiques Fair
» For more information on the Corsini Palace see the Palazzo Corsini website