The Panza Collection

Italian real-estate investor Giuseppe Panza di Biumo and his wife Giovanna are among the most widely recognized and important art collectors of American and European art since the mid-20th century. Starting in the late 1950s, the Panzas began to amass a renowned group of more than 2,500 works in all media that centers on a predominantly Conceptual and Minimalist aesthetic, often focusing on artists’ works in depth. Many of the artworks the Panzas collected over the years are now iconic examples of the periods they represent.

Joseph Kosuth (American, born 1945). ‘Three Color Sentence,’ 1965. Red, blue, and green neon tubing, 48 1/2 inches (123.2 cm) long. Collection Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York; The Panza Collection and George B. and Jenny R. Mathews Fund, by exchange, George B. and Jenny R. Mathews Fund and Charles Clifton Fund, by exchange, 2008 (2008:53.31a-b). © Joseph Kosuth, courtesy Sean Kelly Gallery, New York.

Installation view of Looking at Tomorrow: Light and Language from the Panza Collection, 1967–1990 (October 24, 2015–February 7, 2016), with works by Sol LeWitt, Jan Dibbets, and Joseph Kosuth. Photograph by Tom Loonan.

The Panzas’ collection has been shared worldwide through exhibitions as well as the placement of works in museum collections throughout the United States, including the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.; The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum of Art, New York; and The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. The Panza Collection at the Buffalo AKG Art Museum includes 116 works by more than 30 artists and was built in stages through an acquisition of 71 works in 2008, three works in 2011, and an additional 45 works in 2015. In 2007, the museum presented works from the first acquisition in the exhibition The Panza Collection: An Experience of Color and Light and, in 2015, it presented selections from the most recent acquisition in Looking at Tomorrow: Light and Language from the Panza Collection, 1967–1990.

Artists whose works are featured in this collection include Anne Appleby, Art & Language, Stuart Arends, Robert Barry, Alfonso Fratteggiani Bianchi, Max Cole, Hanne Darboven, Walter De Maria, Jan Dibbets, Dan Flavin, Ruth Ann Fredenthal, Hamish Fulton, Gilbert & George, Jene Highstein, Roni Horn, Douglas Huebler, Robert Irwin, Joseph Kosuth, David Lamelas, Sol LeWitt, Timothy Litzmann, Eric Orr, Stephen Prina, Winston Roeth, David Simpson, Phil Sims, Robert Therrien, Anne Truitt, Jan Vercruysse, Lawrence Weiner, and Ian Wilson, among others.

  • Related Exhibition

    The Panza Collection: An Experience of Color and Light

    November 16, 2007–February 24, 2008

  • Related Exhibition

    The Long Curve: 150 Years of Visionary Collecting at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery

    November 4, 2011–March 4, 2012

  • Related Exhibition

    Looking at Tomorrow: Light and Language from the Panza Collection, 1967–1990

    October 24, 2015–February 7, 2016

  • Related Event

    Panel Discussion: “Collecting The Panza Collection”

    Sunday, November 15, 2015, 11:30 am

  • Related Event

    Honoring Panza: Film Screening and Discussion

    Thursday, December 3, 2015, 7 pm

  • Related Publication

    The Panza Collection: An Experience of Color and Light

  • Related Publication

    The Long Curve: 150 Years of Visionary Collecting at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery