Gabriella Belli (born 1952) is an Italian

art historian Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

and curator, currently director of the Foundation for the municipal museums of Venice (''"Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia"'').

Life

Gabriella Belli was born in

Trento Trento ( or ; Ladin and lmo, Trent; german: Trient ; cim, Tria; , ), also anglicized as Trent, is a city on the Adige River in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol in Italy. It is the capital of the autonomous province of Trento. In the 16th centu ...

, the overwhelmingly Italian speaking capital of Italy's bilingual

Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol it, Trentino (man) it, Trentina (woman) or it, Altoatesino (man) it, Altoatesina (woman) or it, Sudtirolesegerman: Südtiroler (man)german: Südtirolerin (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = Official ...

region. She graduated from

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

University A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

, producing a dissertation with Anna Ottavi Cavina on the history of court painting in nineteenth century

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. She then specialised in contemporary art criticism at the

University of Parma The University of Parma ( it, Università degli Studi di Parma, UNIPR) is a public university in Parma, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. It is organised in nine departments. As of 2016 the University of Parma has about 26,000 students. History During the ...

. Returning to

in 1981 she was appointed curator at the Buonconsiglio Castle Museum. In 1982 she was given responsibility for the project to transform the Palazzo delle Albere into what would become the nucleus, till 2011, of the

Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Trento and Rovereto The Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Trento and Rovereto (MART) (''Museo d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto'', in Italian) is a museum centre in the Italian province of Trento. The main site is in Rovereto, and contains m ...

. She held the post of commissioner at the

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

in 1995 and 2003, and became a member of the scientific committees for the Bolzano Museum of Contemporary Art and for the Bologna Modern Art Gallery. She has been involved since 1989 in the MART project. In 2002 she inaugurated the new

MART Mart may refer to: * Mart, or marketplace, a location where people regularly gather for the purchase and sale of provisions, livestock, and other goods * Mart (broadcaster), a local broadcasting station in Amsterdam * Mart (given name) * Mart (Syr ...

museum complex at

Rovereto Rovereto (; "wood of sessile oaks"; locally: ''Roveredo'') is a city and ''comune'' in Trentino in northern Italy, located in the Vallagarina valley of the Adige River. History Rovereto was an ancient fortress town standing at the frontier b ...

, becoming its first director. It was still under her direction that in 2009 the restored home for the Deperio Futurist Art Museum reopened. In 2011 she was appointed director of the Foundation for the municipal museums of Venice (''"Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia"''), a structure created to bring together the administration of several of the most important palace-museums in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

, including (but not restricted to) the

Doge's Palace The Doge's Palace ( it, Palazzo Ducale; vec, Pałaso Dogal) is a palace built in Venetian Gothic style, and one of the main landmarks of the city of Venice in northern Italy. The palace was the residence of the Doge of Venice, the supreme auth ...

, the Ca' Rezzonico Palace, the

Correr Museum The Museo Correr () is a museum in Venice, northern Italy. Located in St. Mark's Square, Venice, it is one of the 11 civic museums run by the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia. The museum extends along the southside of the square on the upper ...

, the Ca' Pesaro Palace, the Fortuny Palace-Museum and the Mocenigo Palace-Museum.

Recognition

In 2003, jointly with Novello Finotti and Cesare Montecucco, Belli was a winner of the Premio internazionale Civiltà Veneta (Venetian international arts prize). In 2011 she received from Guy Cogeval, on behalf of the French

Culture Minister A culture minister or a heritage minister is a common cabinet position in governments. The culture minister is typically responsible for cultural policy, which often includes arts policy (direct and indirect support to artists and arts organizati ...

a Knighthood of Arts and Literature and the ICOM Italy prize when she was named as the best museologist of the year.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Belli, Gabriella Italian art historians Italian art curators Directors of museums in Italy Women museum directors People from Trento Writers from Venice 1952 births Living people Women art historians Italian women curators