Ornellaia Vendemmia d’Artista 2016, from large formats $312,000 to the Gugghenheim Foundation

When modern patronage meets the passion for great wine: the online auction of the large formats of Ornellaia Vendemmia d’Artista 2016, “La Tensione”, has raised $312,000, with the bottles signed by the art of Shirin Neshat awarded online by Sotheby’s, divided into 11 lots, capable of collecting a large sum, which has been entirely donated to the Solomon R Foundation. The project is part of the Guggenheim’s “Mind’s Eye” program, created by the Guggenheim’s education department, which helps blind and visually impaired people to experience art through the use of all their senses.
This is how the work of support for the culture and art of Ornellaia continues, with the project Vendemmia d’Artista, since 2006, has donated a total of over two million dollars to support the most important museums and cultural foundations around the world, from the Whitney Museum in New York to the Poldi Pezzoli Museum in Milan, from the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin to the H2 Foundation in Hong Kong and Shanghai, from the Royal Opera House in London to the AGO Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, from the Fondation Beyeler in Basel to the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, to the Solomon R. Guggenheim in New York.
“The appreciation of great wines, as well as the enjoyment of art - said the CEO of Ornellaia, Giovanni Geddes, at the ceremony in Venice in Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, the place of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection - requires the involvement of all the senses, and that’s why we thought of supporting a project of great value as “Mind’s Eye”. In this way, it is possible to help adults with disabilities to experience art through activities that, through the use of the senses, provide a model of access to art that can be implemented throughout the world and an inheritance for future generations”.
Richard Armstrong, Director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Foundation, commented: “The founding mission of the Guggenheim was to collect and exhibit art that was not simply modern, not just new, but revolutionary. Thanks to Ornellaia, we can involve an even wider audience in this mission”.