Laura Mattioli (born 28 May 1950) is an Italian art historian, a collector and a curator. Since 2013, she has been the President of the Center for Modern Italian Art in New York City.[1]
Mattioli was born in Milan, Italy. Her father was the Milanese collector Gianni Mattioli, who started collecting during the Second World War, building his collection in 1943, after he saw the first massacre of Jews carried out by the Nazis in Italy. In 1949, he acquired 87 works from fellow Italian collector Pietro Feroldi.[2]
Mattioli's childhood was unconventional and most of her younger years were spent with nannies and, rather than friends, artists, critics and intellectuals her parents would see regularly including modernist Mario Sironi, art historian Fernanda Wittgens, Giorgio Morandi, Fortunato Depero, Giacomo Manzù and Marino Marini .
Her art education includes studying at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan (PhD in History of Art), Università degli Studi in Milan (BS in Art History) and Liceo Giuseppe Parini in Milan.
Mattioli had not planned to be involved in art. Her father had other ideas and had Laura begin training in art history with a family friend.[3]
From 1975 to 1981, she taught at the Università degli studi di Milano and at the Accademia Carrara from 1992 to 1999. Along with teaching, Mattioli has organized many exhibitions including:
In 2003, she wrote an essay for the book "The Mattioli Collection: Masterpieces of the Italian Avant-garde"[9] by Italian Art Historian Flavio Fergonzia.
In 1999, she edited Foppa e la Cappella Portinari, Milan, which includes her essay, "I restauri: interventi e interpretazioni (The restorations, interventions and interpretations)."
Since 1983 she has been the curator responsible for the collection of her father, Gianni Mattioli.[10]
Mattioli established the Center for Italian Modern Art, a public nonprofit exhibit and research center, in 2013.[3]