Galleria Vittoria, Rome: an interview with Tiziano M. Todi

16/09/2018

Author: Caterina Stringhetta

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Tiziano Todi – photo credit Elena Datrino

GALLERIA VITTORIA, ROME: AN INTERVIEW WITH TIZIANO M. TODI

The Galleria Vittoria located in Via Margutta in Rome is one of those places which have livened up the Roman cultural environment since the 1970s.
The first exhibition was that of Pericle Fazzini, author of the bronze sculpture depicting the “Resurrection of Christ” (1977) which is now on display in the Sala Nervi in the Vatican, and since then the Galleria Vittoria has never stopped, making room for major Italian and foreign artists.

I interviewed Tiziano M. Todi who represents the third generation of the Galleria Vittoria and who really began moving his first steps in the artistic environment when he was a child.
Here is what he told me about the past and the future of the Galleria Vittoria.

Galleria Vittoria, Rome

Tiziano Todi con al collo un’opera di Umberto Mastroianni. Sullo sfondo Tiziana Todi – photo credit Elena Datrino

Caterina Stringhetta: The history of the Galleria Vittoria began in 1950s and you represent the third generation of this historic gallery, which since the times of the “dolce vita” has been promoting and enhancing art and artists.
Are gallerists born or made?

Tiziano M. Todi: I couldn’t tell if gallerists are born or made. But if, like me, you grow up and spend your childhood getting emotional and starting while touching Umberto Mastroianni’s sculptures or admiring material works by Luigi Montanarini with hiscoloursand shades or your bad moods pass if you look at works by Pericle Fazzini or Mario Ceroli, that is, at this point is difficult, once you’ve grown up, to renounce those feelings, and your spontaneous reaction is to transform them into your job.

Caterina Stringhetta: Art has always been a family passion, shared especially with your mother. But I imagine that there are always conflicts, discussions and satisfactions.
How can you cope with the role of gallerist, your desire for leading the Galleria Vittoria towards the future and family relationships?

Tiziano M. Todi: My grandfather and especially my mother are two points of reference for my path in art.
Today I’m in great conflict with my mother but that always leads to a teaching and an improvement, she allows me to experiment and make mistake always being by my side. There’s a great exchange and she is always open to new proposals. Over the last years my presence has produced a change of direction in the artistic mark of the gallery by promoting young and emerging artists.

Caterina Stringhetta: The Galleria Vittoria has always alternated the promotion of young artists with the proposal of works of historical masters.
Do you remember a particular moment of the Galleria Vittoria, maybe linked to an artist the gallery has helped to launch or to confirm on the art scene?

Tiziano M. Todi: I remember the moment I started my own art collection.
I was 5 or 6 years old and my mother brought me to the studio of Antonio Fiore- UFAGRA’. While they were talking about work, I saw a 20×30 cm canvas that I decided would be mine.
I didn’t know that that small work of art was one of Fiore’s first works, and nothing could make me change my mind. Still today we work together with UFAGRA’, a Futurist artist who has surrendered to not get his work back.

Caterina Stringhetta: Which is, instead, the relationship of the Galleria Vittoria with the Web and social media? Do you think they are useful instruments to promote art and attract a new kind of collecting?

Tiziano M. Todi: I handle the relationship with social media, and I recognize it’s a very important place where you can promote the gallery’s activities and artists; of course it is a field you have to be present and constant.
Through social media we have attracted young collectors who have bought their first work by discovering the gallery online and that has proved that communication, if done properly, is effective.