Stefano Civati, 42 years old, has made an abiding passion into a metier.
A lawyer (repentant) and a collector of contemporary art - he owns over three hundred works in Italy and New York. Today he is an art consultant. The story begins when, in his twenties, he started to collect paintings by Italians of his own generation, seeking, obsessively, to buy their best and most representative pieces as the artists grew in stature.
He continued selling and buying until, in 1997, he went to New York for five years.
He worked in the gallery of Annina Nosei, lived in the apartment once occupied by Basquiat, and became well acquainted with the main American artists, dealers, and collectors. With a slim budget, he acquired a still young Shirin Neshat, Ghada Amer, Serrano, Di Corcia and Tracey Emin. He then enriched his collection with great contemporary masters, such as Warhol, Basquiat, Clemente and Twombly.
Thanks to his experience and flair, he started working as a consultant. He manages some private collections overseas and studies the markets to provide meticulous service in the purchase and sale of artworks. In the last few years, he has invested in Oriental artists and, in particular, in Chinese artists.
For him the art market is a game with very precise rules which are necessary to know. In 2007, he opened his Italian operating base in Milan. On occasion of the inauguration - attended by a select group of collectors and investors - he displayed 12 works by Andy Warhol, coming from the Warhol Foundation.
The office is born of the need to create deeper relationships with the growing number of people and institutions in Italy that are becoming interested in collecting or investing in art, providing a focused and professional service.