Galleria Torbandena, founded in 1964 in Trieste, deals with the 20th European and American art as well as with international contemporary art.
Since 1977 it has been headed by Andy and Alessandro Rosada. The former comes from the Milan scene of informal painting and Spatialism, the latter, who formed himself in Trieste - key city of the Mitteleuropean culture - concentrated the activity of the gallery, in the 80s and 90s, on the currents of Slovenian and German Neo-expressionism.
Referring to the 20th century a special attention has been reserved to the work of Afro, Zoran Music, Edo Murtic, Giuseppe Zigaina, Miela Reina, leading personalities of the Visual Poetic of the North-East. During the years of its activity the gallery has also given great space to the Italian Figurative Tradition either in painting - from de Chirico to Morandi, from Sironi to De Pisis - and the sculpture - Arturo Martini, Marino Marini, Marcello Mascherini, Giuliano Vangi. But the basic informal culture has contributed to characterise it as an attentive observatory on great movements of Abstraction: Hantung, Tobey, Manzoni, Tàpies, Afro, Vedova.
Concerning the international scene it is a pleasure and a honour to recall the exhibitions dedicated to the first American graffiti artist (1981); to Tadeusz Kantor (1982); to Hans Hartung (1984); lthe first italian display of Austrian New Painting (1985); the tribute to George Grosz (1994). And furthermore the great historical avant-gardes of the 20th century featuring names such as Picasso, Klee, Kokoschka, Chagall, Rosenquist, Chuck Close and the other contemporary artist shocased in the international art fairs as well as in the Triestine space.
In most recent times the concentration on the big scene of contemporary art has become more intense, alternating the offer of emerging foreign artist, later followed with great attention also by museum and foundations, Anselm Kiefer, Miquel Barcelò, Jean-Michel Basquiat, José Maria Sicilia.
Among the most recent exhibitions there are the first-ever italian personal one dedicated to Gao Xingjan (2003), painter, theatre director and writer - awarder the Nobel prize for Literature in 2000 - and the one dedicated to Giorgio Morandi showcasing the works created in the years 1913 - 1963 coming from important private collections.
Galleria Torbandena has collaborated with art museums and foundations either in Italy and in Europe in the creation of contemporary art projects. It has been participating in ARCO (Madrid), in Arte Fiera (Bologna), ART BASEL, ART COLOGNE e ART MIAMI. For many years now presenting art-pieces of the historical avant-garde along with the works of its emerging artists, some of whom have already gained a renowned reputation in the new artistic scene: Cveto Marsic, Carlos Lizariturry, Thomas Muller, Simon Edmondson, Gonzalo Gonzàlez.