Die Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen Dresden trauern um Egidio Marzona (1944-2026)

On 15 March 2026, the Italian art collector and patron Egidio Marzona (born in Bielefeld in 1944) passed away in Berlin, surrounded by his family and friends, following a serious illness.

Over a period of more than 50 years, Egidio Marzona amassed one of the largest collections of twentieth-century art, which is now housed in the Archiv der Avantgarden in Dresden and the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz in Berlin.

He purchased his first works of contemporary art at a young age and became active as a gallery owner in Bielefeld and Düsseldorf. From the 1970s onwards, as a publisher under the name Edition Marzona, he produced publications on the Bauhaus, photography, typography, and architecture.

As time went on, he devoted himself exclusively to developing and expanding his art collection, which initially focused on the contemporary art movements of the time: Minimal Art, Conceptual Art, Land Art, and Arte Povera.

He gradually expanded his collection to cover the entire twentieth century and, at the same time, he compiled an extensive archive of letters, photographs, ephemera, magazines, and books, as his interest lay not only in the artworks themselves but also in the process of their creation.

Between 2002 and 2014, the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz acquired (partly through purchase, partly through donation) his collection of over 600 artworks and 40,000 archival items relating to Minimal Art, Conceptual Art, and Arte Povera. It is currently housed at the Hamburger Bahnhof – National Gallery of Contemporary Art, the Neue Nationalgalerie, the Kupferstichkabinett and the Kunstbibliothek, and is set to become part of the forthcoming Berlin Modern, which is currently under construction.

In 2014, Marzona was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal State of Berlin.

In 2016, he donated his archive on the avant-garde movements of the twentieth century, along with the associated collection, to the Free State of Saxony. To house the donation, which comprised 1.5 million objects, the Saxon government commissioned the Spanish-German architectural firm Nieto Sobejano to convert the Blockhaus on the bank of the River Elbe in Dresden. In 2024, the Archiv der Avantgarden - Egidio Marzona (ADA) was opened as part of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden. It serves as both a research institute and a museum, encompassing works of all genres from the era of Geometric Art Nouveau to Postmodernism, as well as from the fields of literature, politics, philosophy, film, dance, and theatre. In 2024 – the year of its opening – the ADA was voted Museum of the Year by the German section of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA).

For Marzona, it was of fundamental importance to make his collections available to the public – in the spirit of art as a common heritage.

Among other things, Marzona was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Museum of Modern Art/PS1 in New York and was one of the co-founders of the KW Institute for Contemporary Art (Kunst-Werke Berlin).

The year 2018 saw the establishment of the foundation Marzona Stiftung Neue Saalecker Werkstätten in Naumburg an der Saale. The foundation created the Design Akademie Saaleck (dieDAS) for the purpose of fostering innovative designers, craftspeople, architects, and artists by awarding grants, in which it is supported by the German national government and the federal state of Saxony-Anhalt. The Saaleck Workshops, built by Paul Schultze-Naumburg, are currently being renovated under a masterplan by the Danish architect Dorte Mandrup and will in future accommodate dieDAS’s internationally oriented fellowship programmes.

In Villa di Verzegnis in Friuli, his paternal family’s ancestral home, the collector established a sculpture park in 1989 featuring works by artists including Bruce Nauman, Richard Long, Sol LeWitt, and Carl Andre.

Egidio Marzona is survived by his partner, a daughter, and a granddaughter. His son, Daniel Marzona, passed away in 2024.

Barbara Klepsch, Saxon State Minister for Culture and Tourism: ‘The sad news of Egidio Marzona’s passing has affected me deeply. Through his unique life’s work as a gallery owner and art collector, he built up, over the course of decades, one of the most significant collections of twentieth-century art. By donating his extensive and extraordinary collection to the Archiv der Avantgarden in Dresden, he demonstrated his strong attachment to Saxony as a centre of culture. We are very grateful to him for this, as it has made Dresden an international focal point for engagement with avant-garde art. At this time of great sadness, my thoughts are with his family, to whom I would like to express my deepest condolences.’

Bernd Ebert, Director-General of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden: ‘I am immensely grateful that I had the opportunity to meet Egidio Marzona in person and to discuss with him his eventful life as a gallery owner, publisher, and art collector, as well as his vision for the Archiv der Avantgarden. His desire that the extensive collection be catalogued academically and made widely accessible will continue to be fulfilled for years to come by the researchers at the Archive and the SKD team, in keeping with his wishes.’

A book of condolence is now available at the Archiv der Avantgarden – Egidio Marzona (ADA) until 24 March 2026, daily from 3 pm to 7 pm.