OUTDOOR ART: CATALOGUING THE PUBLIC CONTEMPORARY SCULPTURES IN FLORENCE

This paper reports the results of a project aimed at documenting contemporary outdoor sculptures in the city of Florence (Italy). A total of 80 public outdoor sculptures dating from 1910 to 2010 and including works by Folon, Botero, Moore, and Pepe, located over an area of 102 Km2 were catalogued in the various districts of the town. A comprehensive file was created for each sculpture with information on the location, artist, materials, historical and technical notes, state of conservation. Interviews with living artists (Onofrio Pepe, Piero Gensini, Roberto Coccoloni, Silvano Porcinai, Antonio di Tommaso, Roberto Barni, Giuliano Vangi, Marcello Guasti) were also carried out in order to glean information on the materials and techniques used, to better understand the "meanings" of their artworks and to obtain recommendations regarding the conservation procedures. The importance of information collected from artists together with the indications relating to the conservation of contemporary artworks are well known at an international level, aimed at a fruitful interaction between the arts and sciences as well as at planning appropriate maintenance procedures.