TRADE, APPRAISAL AND PURCHASE OF ANTIQUES
Tuscan by birth and Milanese by adoption, Giorgio Baratti is an expert in ancient art who has worked for decades in the field of antiques and art appraisal.
An internationally established antiquarian and perfect connoisseur of Art History, Giorgio Baratti has been working in the antiques sector since 1964, first between Pisa and Florence, then in Milan, where he founded Giorgio Baratti Arte Antica in 1982.
A profound connoisseur of art history and always attentive to the evolution of collecting, over the years he has consolidated his activity, establishing himself as one of the most respected and recognized professionals nationally and internationally.
The professionalism acquired over a long and qualified experience has led him to mature in-depth and diversified skills, prompting him to continuously search for valuable works of art as well as antiquities of undoubted historical and aesthetic value to offer to collectors and enthusiasts.
This relentless antiquarian research and proposal has been accompanied by an equally relentless focus on the appraisal of works of art and antique objects, distinguishing itself in both areas and soon becoming a point of reference for the most advanced trends in collecting.
On the strength of a qualitatively rigorous and refined proposal, Giorgio Baratti Antiquario offers a repertoire of antiquities that is as select as it is multifaceted, ranging from paintings to sculptures and from furniture to large collections.
Giorgio Baratti has been a consultant to the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the National Gallery in Washington, and the National Museum in Warsaw, as well as a Consultant to the 1993/1994 Giorgio Mondadori Editore Catalog of Antiques No. 3 and 4. For several years he was on the Board of Directors of Finarte and later, until 2002/2003, General Superintendent of Antiques Departments.
His galleries have taken part in numerous market exhibitions, the most important of which include the MINT (Milan International Antiques and Modern Art Fair), the INTERNAZIONALE in Via Turati at the Permanente in Milan, the GOTHA in Parma, International Collecting at Palazzo Venezia, Rome, and the Biennale di Antiquariato in Florence. Among the museum institutions that have acquired works that have passed through Giorgio Baratti in recent years, the Paul Getty Museum in Malibu and the Louvre Museum deserve mention. Baratti's vast expertise and mature experience accredit him as curator of numerous private collections of major patrons both domestic and international.
The promotion of the works is also done through exhibitions accompanied by catalogs and loans on the occasion of major museum exhibitions. From Feb. 6 to April 11, 2010, the municipality of Cesena paid tribute to the figure of Giorgio Baratti with a scholarly exhibition curated by Prof. Massimo Pulini entitled Lo Studiolo di Baratti, where some of the art works in his possession were exhibited and published. Prof. Andrea Emiliani, Prof. Claudio Strinati, Prof. Giancarlo Sestieri, Prof. Giancarlo Gentilini and Prof. Nicola Spinosa spoke about Baratti.
The collection of artwork housed in the Giorgio Baratti Antiquario gallery consists mainly of paintings by Italian and foreign artists.
Far from negligible is the almost unprecedented nature of many of the works on display: by virtue of scrupulous study and equally thorough critical examination, Giorgio Baratti's activity has taken the form of a continuous art-historical investigation, breaking free from the conventional model of the exhibitor of objects already included in the commercial circuit.
This exploratory imprint has made possible not only the enrichment of the artistic heritage and figurative culture of the past, but above all has yielded the recovery of priceless works of art of historical and aesthetic value: finds that go beyond mere commercial activity to directly invest art history.
In addition to paintings from the 14th to the 19th century (with emphasis on the figurative culture of the 17th century), the gallery displays numerous important sculptures of high period as well as valuable furniture from various historical periods and geographical origins.
Rare Renaissance furniture, Giorgio Baratti's personal passion, stands out in particular: "beyond market convenience there is also a duty to preserve those artifacts that represent our roots and culture."
In Giorgio Baratti's many years of experience, there are almost countless exhibition initiatives, artistic events and collaborations that have involved him, personally affecting him and constantly enriching his professional background.
However, it is obligatory to mention some of the most notable ones, such as consulting at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the National Gallery in Washington and the National Museum in Warsaw. Among the various market exhibitions in which he has exhibited selections from his collection are the Biennale Internazionale dell'Antiquariato in Florence, AMART | Mostra Antiquariato Milano as well as GOTHA in Parma.
Without limiting himself to mere commercial activity, Giorgio Baratti has participated through loans of absolute value in prestigious exhibitions set up by museums as part of major expositions: even at these junctures to impose itself is the character of promotion and dissemination of works of art, favoring visibility and accessibility otherwise reserved for a privileged few. And it is always in this perspective of increased visibility and accessibility that several museum institutions have exhibited some of his works, providing them with correct and appropriate placement.
The Studiolo of Baratti
In 2011, the Republic of San Marino, in the setting of Palazzo Arzilli, mounted an exhibition in his honor entitled "Corpo, Amore e Sentimento," bringing together for the occasion a collection of paintings published in the catalog of the same name. Constantly balancing antiques and collecting, Giorgio Baratti's work was also honored by the City of Cesena through an exhibition entitled "Baratti's Studiolo," held in the Municipal Art Gallery and critically curated by Prof. Massimo Pulini. Hosting numerous works collected over decades of in-depth and passionate research, the exhibition celebrated a professional career marked by sensitivity to beauty and art-historical values. Finally, among the recent events embellished with works from the Baratti collection, it is worth mentioning the presence of some paintings in the exhibition "Machiavelli and his time" at the Vittoriano, the exhibition of four works in the Museum of the City of Rimini and that of a tapestry from a cartoon by Jacob Jordaens in the Museum of Fine Arts in Brussels.
A personal and professional investigation, that of Giorgio Baratti, resulting in the creation of a singular traveling museum in which talent, vocation and experience are allied in the preservation of beauty and memory. Impossible, then, to separate the professional dimension from the exquisitely human one: the image of the antiquarian is inextricably linked to the spirit of research and the human leaven that have always nourished his patrols in the territory of art. An adventure fueled by the need to safeguard, enhance and disseminate the historical heritage inherited from the contemporary world.
