MAXXI adds six monumental works by Giorgio Griffa to its collection

MAXXI acquires six monumental works by Giorgio Griffa

The MAXXI – National Museum of 21st Century Arts has enriched its holdings with the acquisition of six monumental works by Giorgio Griffa. The group of works traces more than thirty years of the artist’s research, from the foundational Primary Signs cycle to the modular and chromatic experiments of the 2000s.

Significance of the acquisition

These works represent key moments in Griffa’s career: from the austere linearity of the 1970s to the expansive colour fields and modular complexity of later decades. Entering the MAXXI collection, they strengthen institutional recognition and allow deeper study of a distinctive trajectory in contemporary Italian painting.

The six acquired works

• Linee orizzontali (1973) – Raw canvases with minimal horizontal lines, emphasising the relationship between mark and surface.
• Segni orizzontali (1975) – Lighter Mediterranean hues and a more open weave of signs, part of the Primary Signs cycle.
• Linee orizzontali (1976) – A monumental variant where brush thickness and colour density create a different spatial effect.
• Arabesco Doppio (1986) – Large colour fields and ornamental-like signs that connect modern linear time with ancient circular motifs.
• Trittico con sette linee (1999) – Three panels in formal conversation, each varying a module of seven red lines against different colour fields.
• Quaranta tele (2001) – A singular work featuring a diverse alphabet of marks, points and strokes, conceived for multiple installation possibilities.

What visitors can expect

The acquisition allows visitors to experience Griffa’s practice as an ongoing process: gestures that are never fully conclusive, colour that resists total control, and forms that evolve through repetition and variation. The canvases, often unprimed, function as receptive spaces where colour and fibre interact in unpredictable ways.

Integration into MAXXI’s collection

Griffa’s works join MAXXI’s curated selection of twentieth and twenty-first century art and architecture. As part of the permanent collection, they provide new material for exhibitions, research and public programmes, enriching the museum’s interpretive framework.