Rosie Scammell/Reggio,
Italy@rosiescammell
July 1, 2016
Gioacchino
Campolo's assets were seized by Italian police. He was believed to be linked to
the Calabrian mafia
In his personal life, Gioacchino
Campolo was renowned for extortion and usury but in private he was an avid art
collector. It is not clear if he ever intended his collection to be viewed by
the public, but that decision was taken from him when Italian authorities
seized his assets, worth more than $400 million.
Campolo’s art collection was
among his assets, and four years later, it has gone on display at the Palace of
Culture in the southern Italian city of Reggio Calabria.
It includes works by Raphael,
Dali and one by Lucio Fontana, the father of the Spatialism movement, valued at
more than $1.67 million
“The collection was amassed with
money which was stolen from the people. We are giving back to the people that
which was taken,” says Eduardo Lamberti-Castronuovo, the local councillor for
heritage.
Campolo amassed his fortune by
supplying gambling machines and other activities. His assets were seized after
he was found guilty of criminal association, usury and extortion in 2011. and
sentenced to 16 years of house arrest. Police said he was also believed to be
associated with the Calabrian mafia, the ‘Ndrangheta.
Antonella Aricò, a guide at the
museum, says the art works which were found in Campolo’s kitchen, bathroom and
under his bed, served a dual purpose in the criminal’s mind, “To recycle the
dirty money and affirm his social status. He thought that in buying these
works, he would become noble and raise his social status,” she says.
Campolo sent his associates to
auctions and galleries to build his collection, with each of the 125 art works
coming with a certificate of authenticity. But numerous times he was tricked,
including the occasion he believed he had purchased Pablo Picasso’s “Jacqueline
in Black Hat.” The original instead hangs in New York’s MoMA, while a “not
authentic” note is marked below the copy in Reggio.
Within the collection there are
85 proven originals, while some have been marked as fakes and others are still
to be studied.
Lamberti-Castronuovo says a
mobster being duped is a powerful way to show young people criminals are not as
tough as they appear. “This man, who was considered a kind of king, a powerful
man, in effect was not powerful, because he was also cheated. In fact this
‘king’ has been titled, ‘the cheated cheat’,” he remarks.
The councillor also hopes the
museum will show young Calabrians that the riches earnedd by crime are easily
confiscated: “It’s as if we are saying to young people, ‘Look, if you steal, if
you are a mobster, sooner or later the state will come and take away everything
you’ve amassed.’ This is a great lesson,” he said.
Since opening in May up to 1,000
people a day have visited the Palace of Culture. In addition to the seized
artworks, the building also displays paintings by local artists, a series of
mosaics made by prisoners and a museum of religious artefacts.
The transformation of the palazzo
—which was built in the 1930s as the city’s orphanage —was funded by the
province and supported by volunteers who cleaned the building and hung the
pictures.
Around 10 museum guides now work
daily for free. Lamberti-Castronuovo says he is trying to get funding to pay
the multilingual guides. “It doesn’t make sense for this art gallery to exist
if there isn’t someone to explain. If you go there and see the art works and
you don’t know what it’s about, then it’s not a cultural exchange, it’s just
curiosity,” he says.
Finances aside, guide Antonella
Lanteri says the museum is proving a success among locals. “They’re coming and
contemplating, because something is finally happening here,” says Lanteri, who
emigrated from Australia to Calabria 24 years ago. “When we read in the
newspapers and we see on the telly that there has been a confiscation they are
really happy. They are trying to destroy organized crime and this is a very
strong symbol.”