“Art of the Treasure Hunt”, a result of collaboration between passionate art and wine lovers, features works by international artists displayed in the finest wineries of Chianti. Paintings, sculptures, installations and photographs punctuate the oenological grand tour through sensations.

The participants of the hunt travel across the area relishing its aromas, colours and sets. Their experience oscillates between the old and the new – they contemplate contemporary art in the shadow of ancient cellars while savouring new oil and tasting ageing wine. The blend of the past and the present inspired the topic of this year’s edition of the project. Artworks on display trigger reflection on time – the events of today and our relationship to history.

There is something about the Tuscan genius loci, the epic landscapes with their magnificent architecture that allows us to forget about the present moment, to function beyond chronology.

Yet, the great tradition of Humanism stemming from its very place reminds us that we are responsible for the times we live in, an approach at the core of “The Art of the Treasure Hunt”, an art exhibition conceived as a charity event.

The soul of an artist is unfathomable. When I pass from a portrait of my grandmother Marie-Thérèse to one of his ceramics or sculptures, I travel in his mind and guess each time a moment of happiness that it is that of the man or the artist he was.

When it comes to an engraving, I understand the difference between talent and genius. It is at this moment I recognize that there will always remain a part of mystery.

A woman who had met Pablo told me once : “his eyes pierced me”. Pablo Picasso knew how to see through reality to show us the truth. And I can not!However, unlike other humans, the artist offers us his works that reflect his spirit. My grandfather Pablo Picasso is the one who most expressed his talent from one work to the next, always inspired by what surrounded him.

From one artistic period to the next, he testified of his personal life but also of his political commitments.

We know the rules and forces of nature. There is a beginning and an end. Summer 2018 Art of the Treasure Hunt portrays the various visions  that  artists have chosen to reflect of their daily lives in awe, with innocence, humour, poetry, sadness…

Rules are being broken as we tamper with Nature and the result is always the same-it hastens the end. Angélique Stehli in her “1044 C ” photos displayed  in the Chapel of Colle Bereto looks at man at the  end of his Game: death. Magdalena Abakanowicz’s “Bambini” are a group of 83 children -headless, lost, without identity….the portrait of war,displacement…homelessness. Is she telling us this is the result of war? A man made game which hastens the end as we tamper with the passage of life. Next to the “Bambini” at Castello di Brolio, “Pascale’s Dolls”, Pascale Marthine Tayou  fascinates us and makes us smile  and  happy in his joyful portrait of a fantasy life as does the playful work of Alfredo Pirri at Borgo San Felice. Raul de Nieves’ drunken sculpture resting on wine barrels... The  beautiful Tuscan countryside where wine has been made since centuries hosts contemporary art i.e. today’s vision in yesterday’s setting. Unique locations where the six wineries are located produce wines aged and judged at 90 points and above on the wine scale of 100 points. What do we do with our time? What will we remember?
‍
Come and see for yourself under the Tuscan sun. A big thank you to the artists. Time is the Game of Man… Play it well and enjoy it.