A year ago we told you about our five favourite open-air works of art, staying strictly on Italian soil. From Niki de Saint Phalle‘s Tarot Garden in Tuscany to Burri’s world-famous Cretto in Sicily, via the Labyrinth of Ariadne, the Monster Park in Bomarzo and the Giardino Sonoro in San Sperate, Sardinia. This year we broaden our discourse and widen our horizon to Europe, focusing on art parks. Huge natural containers of open-air works of art. From France to Norway to Scotland, but without forgetting some Italian stops, we will discover some hidden treasures that hold works by great artists such as Louise Bourgeois, James Turrell, Damien Hirst, Salvador Dalí and Tracey Emin.
#1 Château La Coste, Provance (France)
One of the favourite summer destinations for Europeans – and not only – is undoubtedly the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region. Right here hides a magical place for lovers of art, but also of wine. It is the Château La Coste, a luxurious resort with a huge vineyard, two restaurants and an art collection assembled by collector Paddy McKillen. Most of the works are open-air, including some by archistars such as Renzo Piano, Frank O. Gehry, Jean Nouvel, Tadao Ando and Richard Rogers, but also permanent works such as one of Louise Bourgeois’ famous spiders. Crouching Spider is installed on a water surface and, like Maman in front of the Guggenheim Bilbao, is a tribute to the mother. Still on the maternity theme, one of our favourites from Château La Coste is the one on the cover here, Mater Earth by Prune Nourry. A female form rests in the meadow as if her body were emerging from the earth.
#2 Ekebergparken, Oslo (Norway)
If you come to Norway, you can’t miss Ekebergparken, just a few minutes from the centre of Oslo. A natural park that houses contemporary art sculptures by the likes of James Turrell, Dan Graham, Sarah Lucas, Salvador Dalí, Damien Hirst, Roni Horn, and even Louise Bourgeois with a very romantic work. Our beloved Niki de Saint Phalle, author of the Tarot Garden in Capalbio, also stands out. The park is always open and admission is free.
#3 Jupiter Artland, Edinburgh (Scotland)
Just outside Edinburgh is Jupiter Artland, a park housing over thirty permanent sculptures by artists such as Tracey Emin, Anish Kapoor, Christian Boltanski and Charles Jencks. In addition to the permanent open-air exhibition, Jupiter Artland has a rich seasonal programme of exhibitions and cultural events. We already talked about this place in 5 art pools and where to find them. In fact, this is where Gateway, the colourful pool by Joana Vasconcelos, is located. We also really like the work I Lay Here For You by Emin, hidden in the woods that speaks to our vulnerability.
#4 MACCA, Peccioli (Italy)
For the last two stops, we return to Italy. We start in Tuscany with the MACCA, the Museo D’Arte Contemporanea a Cielo Aperto di Peccioli (Museum of Contemporary Art in the Open Sky of Peccioli) opened last year. The space houses around seventy contemporary works, including those by Vittorio Corsini, Marcella Del Signore and Maria Perbellini-Christian Pongratz. Now emblematic of the place are the four giants, sculptures between five and nine metres high created by Naturaliter Snc, a leading company in the field of museum installations.
#5 Parco dell’Arte, Idroscalo Milan (Italy)
Let us finish this short list with the city of Milan. Perhaps not everyone knows it, not even the Milanese, but at Idroscalo there is an Art Park with open-air sculptures by some of the most important national artists of the 20th century. From Enrico Baj to Giacomo Manzù, from Mauro Staccioli to Alik Cavaliere. But that’s not all, a little further on, skirting the artificial lake, is the Museo dei Giovani Artisti (young artists), more open-air sculptures created by some students of the Brera Academy of Fine Arts.
