The Giuseppe Altana Picture Gallery is one of the most important examples of industrial archaeology in Sardinia. The building was built at the end of the 1800s to house the first power unit in Sardinia to generate electricity for public lighting in the city.
It currently houses the permanent collection of contemporary art owned by the Municipality of Ozieri and temporary exhibitions.
The Picture Gallery is named after the artist, Giuseppe Altana (1886 – 1975), whose work is on show in the first room.
His artistic style is part of the Piedmont landscape movement with a verista and naturalist imprint.
The works of the artist, Pietro Tinu (1923 – 1999) are on display in the second room. Eclectic artist and experimenter, his art was initially figurative later evolving into an informal style dominated by geometries and matter and tonal chromatisms.
The permanent collection also includes works by artists who are now internationally renowned like Battaglia, Ceccobelli, Cotani, Di Stasio, Galliani, Panzino, Passa, Pinelli, Pizzi Cannella, Ricci, Tacchi e Lai, and important representatives of Sardinian, Tuscan and Umbrian nineteen and twentieth century art (like Somelli, Mazzaccherini, Valori and others).
An important exhibiting space for contemporary art exhibitions, the Picture Gallery has hosted artists like Liliana Canu, Giovanni Sanna and Iacopo Scassellati.
