Roberto Barni (Pistoia, 1939 – )
In 1986, the artist Roberto Barni arrived at Celle with his first environmental work titled Happy Days, an enormous composition in tempera on canvas consisting of five painted panels, each measuring 4 meters in height and 2.70 meters in width, dimensions conceived to engage the entire wall of the former wine cellar of the farm.
In 1987, Roberto Barni conceived the sculptural intervention Mute Servants for the space beneath a magnificent plane tree between Villa Celle and the farmhouse. As this represented a new line of expression within his production, he accepted the invitation to temporarily exhibit the work at the 1988 Venice Biennale, which focused on the theme “The Place of the Artist.”
