Stefano Cecchi Trust Collections
THE
EXCLUSIVE
AND PRIVATE
FINANCIAL
ART CLUB.
THE
EXCLUSIVE
AND PRIVATE
FINANCIAL
ART CLUB.
/ NEXT PARTNERS EVENT
/ ABOUT US
FPA/FPA4 LLP is a non-speculative financial vehicle that collects and manages the works of the Stefano Cecchi Trust Collection.
FPA was created and established by Stefano Cecchi to offer private equity the chance to access his collection, with the aim of expanding investment flows and creating further artistic value on a long term basis without speculative purposes in the short term.
/ MANAGEMENT
The company is controlled by Stefano Cecchi and his British holding company as key shareholder, designated partner, founder & CEO.
/ ADVISORY
FPA is advised by the partner advisor RFK Redfish Kapital, a company listed on the Paris Stock Exchange, with which it publishes semi-annual reports on the performance of the various sectors.
/ an
exclusive
partners
club
The idea of an Exclusive Private Financial Club is at the heart of the entire structure.
A limited number of members and/or family office are accepted during the year following direct introduction by at least two people who have been members of Fondo per l’Arte for a year.
The minimum entry ticket for 2024 is set at Euro 1.000.000 for each new member, with the possibility to exit after five years from the date of subscription.
/ ABOUT THE FOUNDER
Stefano Cecchi (Turin, 1971), entrepreneur and creative manager, grew up in the USA and in Great Britain, where he graduated in 1993, the same year he began his entrepreneurial activity. He opened and developed fashion agencies in London in the 1990s (Wild, Next London). In 2000 he founded a record label (Cecchi Records – 60 current albums), bringing Buddha Bar to Italy and launching music architecture projects for top fashion houses
(Fendi, Tod’s, Zegna, Vogue, Diesel, Maserati, Swatch).
He contributed to the creation of clothing brands (Hydrogen, BKFX, Melody Maker) and the opening of
department stores (San Carlo dal 1973).
During the decade from 2000 to 2010, he worked with over 100 multinational companies, developing complete projects that include everything from press campaigns to co-marketing, co-branding, image and corporate identity work.
In April 2010, he was invited to present the “Lifetime Achievement Award” to the career of Michael Jackson
which he gave to his sister La Toya.
From 2010 to 2015, he published two books, one autobiographical (PLAY) and the other an anthology of his projects
(10 years, 1000 projects), and he went into partnership in the Middle East with Sheikh Al-Thani (NBK) and
Alifood International.
In 2015, he took on the role of Marketing Director of the Borsalino company where he designed the Marketing Plan during the acquisition by the Haeres Equita investment fund. In 2016/2017, he was appointed Brand Ambassador for the GCC Qatar region by Tankoa Yachts. At the same time he was appointed Brand Ambassador for Baglioni Hotels and Balich Worldwide Shows. Since 2017, along with his institutional roles, he has devoted his time and attention almost entirely to the Food & Beverage sector.
His next move was to plan the relaunch of the family food & beverage brand Cecchi 1936; together with the RFK (RedFish Kapital) investment fund, he has revived the historical brand, sold by his family to Nestlé in 1973.
Just two years after its rebirth, the NewCo opened its capital to a second investment fund, HIND (Holding Industriale), which acquired the majority share: the operation generated an evaluation worth ten times the initial capital.
As of 2021, he is focused on asset-backed investments and has set up the London-based private equity vehicle “Fondo per l’Arte / Stefano Cecchi Trust Collection”, which invests in post-war & contemporary art.
/ ARTISTS
The Collection represents the work of over 110 artists from the post-war + contemporary period united by a precise narrative.
Christo. Joseph Kosuth. Cindy Sherman. Julian Schnabel. Shusaku Arakawa. Joseph Beuys. Richard Long. Paul Jenkins. Hans Hartung. Georges Mathieu. Jannis Kounellis. Pier Paolo Calzolari. Michelangelo Pistoletto. Giulio Paolini. Gilberto Zorio. Mario Merz. Giovanni Anselmo. Alighiero Boetti. Marco Gastini. Enrico Castellani. Agostino Bonalumi. Carla Accardi. Vanessa Beecroft. Hermann Nitsch. Francesco Clemente. Sandro Chia. Mimmo Paladino. Nicola De Maria. Enzo Cucchi. Giorgio Griffa. Julião Sarmento. Andy Warhol. Robert Rauschenberg. Jim Dine. Daniel Arsham. Hugo McCloud. Anne Imhof. JR. Omar Ba. Mimmo Rotella. Mario Schifano. Alain Jacquet. Jacques Villeglé. François Morellet. Paul Delvaux. Hsiao Chin. Vik Muniz. Nan Goldin. Nobuyoshi Araki. Refik Anadol.
/ ARTWORKS
Selection
The works listed below are a narrative selection of the 135 acquired works by Stefano Cecchi Trust Collection.
None of them are in any way offered for sale through this website, nor any other platform.
/ ART
MOVEMENT
The collection embraces the major European art movements that have emerged since 1956, with some acquisitions of works by the greatest American and Asian masters.
ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM. ABSTRACTIONISM. ACTION PAINTING. AMERICAN, BRITISH, FRENCH and ITALIAN POP ART. ARTE POVERA. AZIMUTH. CONCEPTUAL ART. FORMA 1. INFORMAL ART. KITSCH ACTIONISM. LAND ART. MINIMALISM. MODERNISM. NEO-DADA. NEO-EXPRESSIONISM. NOUVEAU REALISME. OP ART. POST MODERNISM. TRANSAVANGUARDIA. VIENNESE ACTIONISM. VIDEO ART.
/ BOOKS
Portrait by GIAN ENZO SPERONE
7 October 2022“
When I first met him, Stefano Cecchi astounded me with the sheer frenzy of ideas that he expressed without restraint, like fireworks.
I immediately thought he must be related to Emilio Cecchi the great Anglicist (etcetera) who discovered Dino Campana, “our finest poet” and James Joyce’s Ulysses (whom I had even tried to meet at the outset of my adventure in art).
This was not the case, Stefano Cecchi was not related to Emilio, not even distantly.
This said, a distant kinship of soul, seems to be emerging. He talks to me incessantly about the artists and painters he is discovering, rediscovering or studying. He rushes off to galleries and art fairs all over the world and I don’t know how he finds time to breathe.
Dear Stefano, welcome to that highly diversified family of neurotics, which also includes art freaks.
Art, after all, creates anxiety, unlike benzodiazepines, and is every bit as addictive as these meds, but no one wants a cure. At least that is my understanding.
As for your specific choices, I can’t comment because of the well-known problem of insider trading, but what I have heard you say resonates strongly with my own views.
In the long run (I don’t know how long) art always rewards passionate people. You just never have to stop to weigh up the precision of your intuitions.
Collecting art is like venturing out into the ocean with a small boat equipped with just a few instruments for defense and control, and with the North Star (of art) to guide us. Your previous experiences, as far as I know, were already in some way the prelude to a continuation of art.”
+ EXTEND TO SEE MORE
Portrait by MARCO VOENA
7 October 2022“
Stefano Cecchi is a futurist. He could quite easily join the famous group of five artists of the great Italian movement of the turn of the century: Russolo, Carrà, Marinetti, Boccioni and Severini.
Quick on the uptake and intuitive, he’s just like his mother, who inaugurated multi-stores of fashion in Italy many years ahead of anyone else in the field.
It must be in their genes.
From fashion to music to art, a path bound to creativity. This is the mixture that has forged Stefano, the collector. In less than two years, he has created a collection that is a sort of history of 20th century Italian art, in open dialogue with international artists of the caliber of Rauschenberg, Christo and Hsiao Chin, to name but a few.
He wanted to share his passion with others, giving birth to the “Cecchi Trust Collection”. We collect for many reasons, and the reason that fascinates Stefano is the stories we share with the artists.
Their stories are our stories. Their life is our life. But they are always one step ahead. Stefano in his hometown, Turin, which has become an international location thanks to art, has some illustrious predecessors: the legendary Ricardo Gualino, the incomparable Giovanni and Marella Agnelli and the extraordinary collections of the Galleria d’Arte Moderna (which owns one of the most important Warhols) and the Castello di Rivoli. It is on this sea that the Cecchi collection sails.
The horizon seems close but will never be reached. “
+ EXTEND TO SEE MORE
PREFACE BY STEFANO CECCHI
Transavanguardia Enchanted
“
It’s been a few years now since I embarked on this exciting journey. The Stefano Cecchi Trust Collection has consistently expanded, and I’m proud, without being presumptuous, to say it has carved its own distinct identity. What began as a mere passion for collecting soon transformed into a structured discipline.
Studying, keeping up to date, travelling and, above all, meeting artists and gallery owners, have been the elements of an ongoing education that have taught me to look at art in a systemic way.
This process has sharpened my vision: to encapsulate emblematic artworks of post-war European avant-gardes within the Stefano Cecchi Trust Collection. From Arte Povera to Azimut, Forma 1, Gruppo Zero, Pop Art and Transavanguardia, I’ve meticulously chosen pivotal pieces from each movement, assessing their theme, execution date, method, size, provenance, exhibition history, and, of course, bibliographic references.
This third publication of the Stefano Cecchi Trust Collection, preceded by two general catalogues, results from dedicated research, acquisition, and cataloguing focused on a specific art movement. Transavanguardia Enchanted showcases eight captivating pieces that epitomize this lively artistic movement, which emerged in the late 1970s from the vision of critic Achille Bonito Oliva.
The first Transavanguardia work to become part of the Stefano Cecchi Trust Collection was Sposa di Chlebnikov sorella di Blok by Nicola De Maria, sourced from Switzerland, having arrived there via a Turin gallery. It was soon accompanied by two more of De Maria’s masterpieces. When the time came to go deeper and continue my research into this particular artistic movement, which reclaimed the language of painting at the end of the Seventies, I flew to New York, where I was able to admire four masterpieces by Chia, Clemente, Cucchi and Paladino. It goes without saying that they were all part of Gian Enzo Sperone’s private collection. It was far from easy to convince him: great collectors don’t need to sell and often really don’t want to. I put all my persuasive skills to the test, but if I succeeded, it was only because I promised Gian Enzo that I would lovingly care for the artworks, have them travel to museums and exhibitions, and feature them in a book with a major publisher, creating the first spin-off of the Stefano Cecchi Trust Collection. By this point in time, I had collected seven exquisite Transavanguardia artworks, all of them magnificent. Only one extraordinary piece was missing to complete the collection as depicted in the catalogue. My quest led me back to Switzerland, specifically to Levy Gorvy in Basel, targeting Clemente’s 1982 creation, Rudo from North East South West. Though perfect for the collection, ticking all the boxes, I had a slight hesitation during the negotiations. The only authority on the artwork’s parity with the collection’s other gems was Gian Enzo Sperone, so I called him “The answer to your question is on the verso of the work” replied Gian Enzo’s seraphical voice from the house-museum in Sent, “Call me back”. I diligently asked Levy Gorvy’s staff to take down the Clemente from the wall and look at the verso. I couldn’t believe it: right there, on the verso of Rudo from North East South West, was a yellowed strip of paper, dated 1982, with the words Gian Enzo Sperone – New York written on it. When you reach the end of your journey, you tend to come back to where you started, drawing a big circle. Clemente’s masterpiece now sits alongside the other Transavanguardia treasures in the catalogue. With this achievement, I recommence my journey, content in having fulfilled my New York commitment, and sure that this is only the first in a long series of spin-offs.
+ EXTEND TO SEE MORE
PREFACE BY STEFANO CECCHI
Forma 1
“
Welcome to the world of Forma 1 ! As an art enthusiast and collector, I take immense pleasure in presenting you with this collection, created and curated with love and dedication.
Within these pages, you will find eight masterpieces created by artists whom I deeply admire: Carla Accardi, Antonio Sanfilippo, Piero Dorazio, Giulio Turcato, Achille Perilli and Piero Consagra.
The genius and avant-garde spirit of the representatives of the Forma 1 movement have left an indelible mark on the world of contemporary art: showcasing their works in this collection is a privilege and a great honour for me.
Forma 1 holds a special place in my heart, not only for its intrinsic beauty but also for the profound connections it establishes with international artistic movements. Dorazio’s vibrant colour field paintings, juxtaposed with works by Americans Morris Louis and Kenneth Noland, are an example of this intercultural dialogue, enriching our understanding of artistic expression. I recall my astonishment in front of a large private collection in New York, which housed some masterpieces by Louis and Noland: they seemed to have been created hand in hand with our Dorazio!
Finding eight works linked by a precise narrative, telling the poetic of Forma 1 throughout the years and across various media, was not an easy task. However, through meticulous curation and deep study of artistic processes, I, along with my team, have succeeded in creating a harmonious dialogue. The result, let me say, is a pulsating collection of energy and cohesion that fully reflects the spirit of this movement.
In this second spin-off of the Stefano Cecchi Trust Collection, I am delighted to have included these treasures, whose demand in the international market continues to grow, driven by the Accardi and Dorazio prices. Alongside their exceptional artistic value, each of the works in this collection has a unique story, linked to the journey of exploration and evaluation that led me to acquire them. It all started with Accardi, followed by the two Dorazios that I had to chase between Paris and Milan. It was easier to find the works of Consagra and Turcato, coming from the galleries of two “friends”, while the Perillis, from a highly private Roman collection, arrived in pairs purely by coincidence (and a bit of luck, I might add). I had lost all hope of finding the “right” work by the master Sanfilippo, whom I love so much that I wanted it on the cover. I eventually did, thanks to the tenacity of my assistant: one autumn evening in 2023, she insisted that I attend a vernissage, despite my fatigue. During the event, I met a gallery owner friend, who lamented never having had me among his clients. Jokingly, I said to him: “If you have a great Sanfilippo from ’50/’51, I’ll buy it right away”. “Behind you, dear Stefano” he replied, and hence, I completed the collection!
The journey of these artists is truly extraordinary: they have been exhibited in major galleries such as Marlborough, Galerie Stadler, Bussola and, of course, Sperone; they have been hosted by international museum institutions including MoMA, Pompidou, Tate, Guggenheim New York, Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice and GAM in Turin. They have participated in the Venice Biennale and Documenta in Kassel. Each artwork carries with it a rich history, testifying to its importance and cultural legacy.
As I prepare to share the collection with all of you, I feel an immense sense of pride and satisfaction.
From the beginning of this challenge to today, through the joy of preparing the Forma 1 catalogue, every step has been a choice of love.
I am grateful for the opportunity to share this passion with you and I hope that these works enchant and inspire all those who admire them.
+ EXTEND TO SEE MORE
/ REPORTS
0.0% + 0%
Moic + nav fp1 expected
0% + 0%
Moic + nav fp2 expected
0% + 0%
Moic + nav fp3 expected
FP1 0.0%
FP2 0.0%
FP3 0.0%
Average capital gain on artworks sold*
*The collection has sold just 27 artworks in the last two years, with the aim of increasing artistic and financial value.
The average capital gain on the sale of each artwork was
• FP1 97.1%
• FP2 96.3%
• FP3 83.1%
compared to the purchase price.
ACQUIRED ARTWORKS
135+3
ARTWORKS
€20163676
Net Asset Value
€61886192
4 - year Projection
€100772384
8 - YEAR PROJECTION
/ EVENTS
PAST EVENT
/ APRIL 2024
monte carlo partners night
Private dinner and FPA4 presentation @ Buddha Bar / Amazónico – Monte Carlo.
PAST EVENT
/ APRIL 2024
FORMA 1 PRESENTATION
Forma 1 Collection and Book Presentation @ Moretti Fine Art – Monte Carlo.
video
PAST EVENT
/ NOVEMBER 2023
ARTISSIMA 2023
Transavanguardia Enchanted Book presentation, Stefano Cecchi Trust Collection in Piazza San Carlo Torino.
PAST EVENT
/ SEPTEMBER 2023
MCCC Partners day
Private lunch, Tennis exhibition and presentation of the banking program to FPA members @ Monte Carlo Country Club.
PAST EVENT
/ APRIL 2023
Monte Carlo Partners night
Private dinner and presentation @ Buddha Bar Monaco – Monte Carlo.
PAST EVENT
/ MARCH 2023
INSTITUTIONAL VIDEO PRESENTATION
Institutional video online launch event.
PAST EVENT
/ NOVEMBER 2022
Artissima 2022
Book presentation, Stefano Cecchi Trust Collection in Piazza San Carlo Torino.
PAST EVENT
/ JUNE 2022
MILANO DESIGN WEEK
InBetween – Fondo per l’Arte – Stefano Cecchi Trust Collection – Casa Baglioni Milano.
/ REFERRALS
Dott. Guido Polito, Investor
CEO Baglioni Hotels & Resorts
“I have known Stefano for over 20 years and we have embarked together on many successful projects, always led by his vision and passion for new challenges.
When he mentioned the possibility to invest in his Collection of contemporary art and explained the way he wanted to professionally organize it and open it to private equity, I loved the idea immediately. I am proud to be one of the first partners and am confident that we are writing a new success story.”
+ EXTEND TO SEE MORE
Dott. Riccardo Maria Monti, Investor
President Triboo Group – Executive VP of Fondazione Italia Cina
“Stefano Cecchi has an instinctive talent for identifying the most interesting pieces of art, roaming every corner of Europe to find them and gaining the confidence of numerous owners and collectors.
He has also proved, as usual, to be a great negotiator in this complicated ecosystem of Galleries, curators, merchants and collectors, some of whom are flamboyant while others are very “publicity-shy”.
It has been a pleasure for me, considering that I am far from being an expert in modern and contemporary art, to invest in this highly successful and immensely intriguing initiative.”
+ EXTEND TO SEE MORE
Dott.sa Anna Maria Maggi, Investor & Collector
CEO Fumagalli Group
“When I met Stefano Cecchi for the first time, I was immediately struck by his overwhelming passion for art, his desire for knowledge and his forward-looking approach.
What emerged later was even more surprising: Stefano Cecchi has a vision accompanied by seriousness, completeness and ambition, reaching levels of national and international excellence. His project follows in the footsteps of the great twentieth-century collectors and is enriched with cutting-edge management criteria. For me and my partners it was a fortuitous meeting which has led to a solid partnership.”
+ EXTEND TO SEE MORE
Avv. Prof. Stefano Zonca, Investor
Partner at Boies Schiller Flexner Italy
“When you have the opportunity to meet Stefano Cecchi it is truly impossible not to be overwhelmed by his energy and determination, which leverage his extensive knowledge of contemporary art, his excellent personal and reputed position in the market and, above all, his vision which rewards both our souls and our investments.
What I have learned and understood from my conversations with Stefano is second only to what I know I can still develop with him in the future.”
+ EXTEND TO SEE MORE
Dott. Francesco Rosetti, Investor
Partner at Double Consulting
“Lovers of old masters sometimes have difficulty in approaching modern art, so when I was introduced to Stefano, I was a little bit sceptical about his initiative.
But already after the first meeting, his enthusiasm, his curiosity and his great energy changed my mind and made me discover a world that was unknown to me and that I learned to love.
Always looking for the best works of art, Stefano has created a wonderful collection that is not only a great investment but offers a charming insight into the world of contemporary art.”
+ EXTEND TO SEE MORE
Dott. Paolo Pescetto, Investor & Partner
President Arkios Italy – Redfish Kapital – Lecture of Finance at Università Bocconi and Politecnico di Milano
“Stefano is a great business Partner, a stickler for detail and guided by a clear strategic vision.
He is a specialist in art collection and a charismatic leader with the ability to entertain relationships with influential people as well as everyday colleagues.
Stefano is also a dear friend with whom I enjoy a host of activities that have nothing to do with business and a dinner with him is always time well spent!”
+ EXTEND TO SEE MORE
Gian Enzo Sperone, Collector
Co-Founder Sperone Westwater New York
“When I first met him, Stefano Cecchi astounded me with the sheer frenzy of ideas that he expressed without restraint, like fireworks.
I immediately thought he must be related to Emilio Cecchi the great Anglicist (etcetera) who discovered Dino Campana, “our finest poet” and James Joyce’s Ulysses (whom I had even tried to meet at the outset of my adventure in art).
This was not the case, Stefano Cecchi was not related to Emilio, not even distantly.
This said, a distant kinship of soul, seems to be emerging. He talks to me incessantly about the artists and painters he is discovering, rediscovering or studying. He rushes off to galleries and art fairs all over the world and I don’t know how he finds time to breathe.
Dear Stefano, welcome to that highly diversified family of neurotics, which also includes art freaks.
Art, after all, creates anxiety, unlike benzodiazepines, and is every bit as addictive as these meds, but no one wants a cure. At least that is my understanding.
As for your specific choices, I can’t comment because of the well-known problem of insider trading, but what I have heard you say resonates strongly with my own views.
In the long run (I don’t know how long) art always rewards passionate people. You just never have to stop to weigh up the precision of your intuitions.
Collecting art is like venturing out into the ocean with a small boat equipped with just a few instruments for defense and control, and with the North Star (of art) to guide us. Your previous experiences, as far as I know, were already in some way the prelude to a continuation of art.”
+ EXTEND TO SEE MORE
Dott. Marco Voena, Collector
Co-Founder Robilant+Voena
“Stefano Cecchi is a futurist. He could quite easily join the famous group of five artists of the great Italian movement of the turn of the century: Russolo, Carrà, Marinetti, Boccioni and Severini.
Quick on the uptake and intuitive, he’s just like his mother, who inaugurated multi-stores of fashion in Italy many years ahead of anyone else in the field.
It must be in their genes.
From fashion to music to art, a path bound to creativity.
This is the mixture that has forged Stefano, the collector.
In less than two years, he has created a collection that is a sort of history of 20th century Italian art, in open dialogue with international artists of the caliber of Rauschenberg, Christo and Hsiao Chin, to name but a few.
He wanted to share his passion with others, giving birth to the “Cecchi Trust Collection”.
We collect for many reasons, and the reason that fascinates Stefano is the stories we share with the artists.
Their stories are our stories. Their life is our life. But they are always one step ahead.
Stefano in his hometown, Turin, which has become an international location thanks to art, has some illustrious predecessors: the legendary Riccardo Gualino, the incomparable Giovanni and Marella Agnelli and the extraordinary collections of the Galleria d’Arte Moderna (which owns one of the most important Warhols) and the Castello di Rivoli.
It is on this sea that the Cecchi collection sails.
The horizon seems close but will never be reached.”
+ EXTEND TO SEE MORE
In recognition of his capacity for entrepreneurial innovation and creating neologisms, Enciclopedia della lingua italiana Treccani dedicates an entire paragraph to him:
Enciclopedia della lingua italiana Treccani
“… a term invented by Stefano Cecchi, an ambitious young entrepreneur from Turin who, after having consolidated a fashion empire…”
Capital
“No one suits the term enfant prodige more than him.”
Il Sole 24 Ore
“Food, fashion and music are one and the same thing for Cecchi known as the ‘poster boy’ of young Italian entrepreneurs.”
PANORAMA - MONDADORI
“A manager in the ascendant who mixes high fashion, art, music and high tech, he has revolutionized the city’s commercial profile.”
SKY TV’S – E! NEWS
He was listed in the Top Ten of successful thirty-year-olds.
/ CONTACT
/ ACCREDITED GALLERIES
Sperone Westwater. Galerie Perrotin. Moretti Fine Art. Robilant + Voena. Hauser & Wirth. Spruth Magers. Galerie Templon. Galerie Buchholz. ChertLüdde. Galleria Fumagalli. Cardi Gallery. Galleria Tucci Russo. Galleria Massimo Minini. Massimo De Carlo. Gagosian. David Zwirner. Sean Kelly. Pace. Tornabuoni Arte. Acquavella. Thaddeus Ropac. Konrad Fisher. Ben Brown Fine Arts. Ldgr. Galerie Lelong. Skarstedt. White Cube. Gladstone Gallery.
/ ACCREDITED
AUCTION HOUSES
Stefano Cecchi Trust Collection and Fondo per l’Arte are accredited to
Christie’s, Sotheby’s, Phillips, Bonhams, Dorotheum, Van Ham, Artcurial, Il Ponte, Finarte auction houses.
Christie’s, Sotheby’s, Phillips, Bonhams, Dorotheum, Van Ham, Artcurial, Il Ponte, Finarte auction houses.
/ EXTERNAL CONSULTANTS & ART ADVISORS
Disclaimer
Fondo per l’Arte and the Stefano Cecchi Trust Collection do not make use of external consultants in any way. Relations with private collections, accredited galleries and auction houses are handled directly by the management of the SCTC. No person outside the management of FPA / SCTC is in any way eligible for this role.
Any statement to the contrary shall be deemed false.
For clarification and verification please write to the following email:
