Gagosian Opens Gallery in Rome

ROME—The American millionaire and megadealer Larry Gagosian is "waking Rome up" by opening the largest gallery in the city dedicated to contemporary art reports the London Times. The gallery is on the same street as Rome's contemporary art museum, which has been shuttered for four years. "It is moribund, and has been closed for four years for supposed refurbishment, with its collection hidden away," said Claudio Strinati, superintendent of art museums in Rome. "Even I cannot find out why. Larry is really waking Rome up.” Gagosian already has galleries in London, New York, and Beverly Hills. Pepi Marchetti, recruited from the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, will run the new venue. The gallery, which opened with an exhibition of work by  Italian-based Cy Twombly, held a reception that attracted art, film, and fashion stars, some of whom hailed the new gallery for enhancing Rome's cultural life. However, some dealers did not welcome the addition. “I see a danger in doing things the Yankee way," said Massimo Minini, an art dealer from Brescia. "Gagosian is a black hole, a gravitational force which sucks in any artist in its orbit.”