The Art Collections of the Cariparma Foundation

Palazzo Bossi Bocchi, site of the Foundation since 1995, also houses its Art Collections.

The space, designed and set up to bear witness to the history, culture and art of the city of Parma, is now part of the artistic-cultural itineraries of Parma.

The works displayed come from acquisitions made first by Cassa di Risparmio and later by the Foundation, promoting over the years a collecting policy aimed at preserving local memory: this enduring commitment is focused on protecting – and at times returning to the city – an artistic legacy that, inevitably, would have been dispersed and taken elsewhere; through the years, the collections have also been enriched by many private donations.

The collection consists prevalently of works by local and foreign artists who worked at the courts of the Farnese and Bourbon dukes, of Maria Luigia, of the restored Bourbons dukes, and in the post-unification period up to our days.

In artworks such as the magnificent self-portrait by Parmigianino, a Lanfranco painting that evokes Caravaggio’s style, Boselli’s still lifes set in the Po Valley area, Parma transfigured by Bruno Zoni, and the ongoing dialogue with the informal naturalism of Goliardo Padova, the Art Collections of the Cariparma Foundation offer a wide perspective on art, and particularly on local artistic culture. Here are displayed, for example, the 17th-century portraits of the Farnese dukes, those by Van Loo in the Bourbon period, and the outstanding 19th-century pictorial cycle by Giambattista Borghesi that has been reassembled in one of the more fascinating halls of the exhibitions.

In the exhibition rooms of Palazzo Bossi Bocchi we can admire paintings, sculptures, cabinet work and furnishings that tell the ducal story of the city, and of a taste that developed and changed from one court to the next.

Significant bequests to the Foundation have expanded the scope of the collection, which now goes well beyond the local borders and reveals the sophistication of a number of private art collections in Parma. The Garbarino collection includes splendid ceramics, while the Cozza collection has enriched Palazzo Bossi Bocchi with several works by Flemish painters.

Renato Bruson and his wife have made a recent donation: an outstanding collection that is extraordinary for its focus on Italian paintings of the second half of the 19th century, a body of work which can be acquired by museums almost exclusively through bequests. Paintings by Fattori, Lega, Borrani, Signorini, Ciardi’s and Fragiacomo’s lyrical lagoon views and fourteen works by Boldini constitute a remarkable addition to the Foundation’s already considerable artistic holdings.

Finally, the basement of the palace houses a fascinating section dedicated to the history of coins and banknotes.

Palazzo Bossi Bocchi is open to the public during temporary exhibitions, on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons (3:30pm-6pm) and all-day on Sunday (10am-12:30pm and 3:30pm-6pm) from March to the end of May and from September to mid-December.

Admission to the museum is free.

Advance booking is required for groups (museo@fondazionecrp.it).

There is disabled access throughout the museum with ramps and lifts.

Within the opening hours of the museum, the Foundation offers educational activities in the context of the “School in the museums” project, as well as lectures, guided visits and conversations about art inspired by the diverse art collections displayed in Palazzo Bossi Bocchi.