The Galleria Comunale d’Arte in Cagliari can be found in the Giardini Pubblici and is part of Cagliari’s Civic Museums network together with the Museo d’Arte Siamese “Stefano Cardu”, at the Palazzo di Città and the Passeggiata Coperta.
The building was built to house the Royal Armoury for the House of Savoy at the end of the XVIII century. In 1828, the architect Carlo Boyl di Putifigari modified the original construction giving it its current-day neo-classical front in limestone from Bonaria.
An elegant gable hangs above the main facade supported by three Carrara marble sculptures donated by Boyl himself.
In 1933, with decree no. 240 from the Chief Magistrate of Cagliari Enrico Endrich, the building’s purpose was changed in order to establish the Galleria Civica di Cagliari. This decision was strongly backed by the artist, Filippo Figari. So, the structure was restored and transformed into a museum space from a project by Ubaldo Badas.
The Gallery is home to a vast collection of works of art from the twentieth century. The first area consists of the civic collection of Sardinian artists, works purchased in the early 1930s. An entire room is set aside for the works of Francesco Ciusa, one of Sardinia’s most important artists in that century.
In the 1960s and 1970s, the director Ugo Ugo dedicated his time to creating the contemporary art civic collection, representative of the most important aspects of contemporary research at national and European level. This collection is currently housed in the “Sala Ugo” and displays works by Agnetti, Boriani, Campus, Casula, Cavaliere, Drei, Paolini, Pesce, Rotella and Tagliaferro.
In 1999, the permanent collection was dramatically enlarged thanks to the purchase of the “Ingrao Collection” with works by Italy’s most important twentieth-century artists. The Ingrao Collection includes, among other things, 31 works by Umberto Boccioni, as well as different works by Giacomo Balla, Mario Sironi, Fortunato Depero, Gino Severini, Filippo De Pisis, Carlo Carrà, Ottone Rosai and Mario Mafai.
An entire room, set aside for the works of Mino Maccari, is the most representative public museum exhibition of the artist’s work. Another room is set aside for the works of Giorgio Morandi.
The Gallery is annexed to the CARTEC – Cava Arte Contemporanea, an exhibition space created in the large caves next to the Gallery, which were formed after blocks of stone were extracted to build the medieval city.
In the Garden’s fountains, directly opposite the Gallery, you can admire some examples of the “Sleepers” cycle by the contemporary artist Mimmo Paladino.
