A total of 150 galleries are participating in the 15th edition of the ArtVerona art fair, which opened Friday at the Veronafiere convention centre. The fair, which runs through Sunday, October 13, offers an increasingly skilled panorama of the Italian art market, from the more established modern sector to emerging artists. The fair is divided into five sections, with 115 galleries in the Main section, featuring modern and contemporary art, and those of the Research section, which includes two sections dedicated to foreign galleries. 

"Following Lithuania, this year we're aiming at another scene of great interest, that of the Czech Republic and Slovakia," said ArtVerona Project Manager Sara Benedetti.
Grand Tour is a section dedicated to the vision of six galleries and gallery owners who, from Italy, opened a branch abroad, or came from abroad and opened in Italy.
Alongside this section are the two sections focusing on young artists, with 16 galleries in the Scouting section and eight galleries in the Raw Zone section.
"At ArtVerona, there are more than 1,000 artists featured, with 14 independent spaces, 30 spaces for the publishing industry, and many events in the city," Benedetti said. Art is culture, but it is also business. "There are more than 500 collectors being hosted during these days in the city's hotels, which testifies to the fact that ArtVerona generates revenue for the economic fabric of the territory," she said.
This year's edition has important new galleries participating as well as many returning participants, due to the recognition of a project that invests in the potential of the Italian system.
This also takes place through a constant dialogue between the various expressions of collecting, which are on display year-round with the fair's road show in Italian cities. In addition, there is a new development called Collecting, a course dedicated to new collectors, created by Adriana Polveroni, now in her third year as the fair's artistic director.
"When this type of fair reaches a level of quality such as this, the cultural aspect certainly isn't secondary, but it's the quality and the cultural level that pull in the economic element so that there are worthwhile economic returns for exhibitors," said Giovanni Bonetti, vice president of Angamc, the National Association of Modern and Contemporary Art Galleries.
"We are talking about a market that's buzzing, that is attracting a lot of attention and represents an appealing form of investment," Bonetti said.
This is a market made up of large gallery owners, the auction system, and events such as ArtVerona, which, to celebrate its 15th anniversary, is expanding the art fair experience with a special opening of the adjoining Gallerie Mercatali, a magnificent example of industrial architecture. The Veronafiere itinerary continues with Free Stage, the section dedicated to artists who aren't yet represented by a  gallery, this year with eight promising participants sent by Alberto Garutti and with 14 project spaces selected for the 10 Independent Spaces section curated by Cristiano Seganfreddo. Finally, the ArtVerona programme of talks explores the value of Italian collecting and examines its prospects through a selection of guests who bring various stories of relationships between art and business, family collecting and new generation collecting, and large and small budgets.

In collaboration with:
Veronafiere