Squadro Stamperia Art Gallery
Squadro Stamperia Art Gallery is a Bologna institution combining a working printmaking studio with a contemporary art gallery. Located in the city’s historic centre, it has for decades been a gathering point for printmakers, graphic artists, and collectors, presenting editions, original prints, and works on paper by Italian and international artists within a few minutes’ walk of the famous Piazza Maggiore.
At a glance
- Type
- Commercial art gallery and printmaking atelier
- Period
- Founded in the second half of the 20th century; active to the present
- Style
- Contemporary prints, editions, works on paper
- Location
- Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy
- Coordinates
- 44.4983° N, 11.3376° E
Overview
The gallery takes its name from the Italian word for a drafting set-square, an apt symbol for a space dedicated to the precision and craft of printmaking. As both a stamperia (print workshop) and a gallery, Squadro occupies a distinctive niche in Bologna’s rich contemporary art scene, one that has always had strong ties to craft, artisan production, and the applied arts. The combination of active studio practice and public exhibition makes it a living laboratory for graphic art rather than simply a retail space.
History
Bologna developed one of Italy’s most vigorous contemporary art markets in the postwar period, anchored by institutions such as the Galleria d’Arte Moderna and a dense network of private galleries. Squadro emerged from this context as a specialist in printed multiples and works on paper at a time when international interest in printmaking as a fine-art medium was growing. Over the years it has collaborated with both established Italian masters and younger emerging artists, building an archive of limited editions that document the evolution of Italian graphic art across several decades.
What you see
Visitors encounter a curated programme of temporary exhibitions mounted in the gallery spaces, alongside a back catalogue of prints, lithographs, etchings, screen prints, and mixed-media works on paper available for purchase. The studio areas, when visible, reveal the presses, plates, and tools of the printmaker’s craft. The ambience is unhurried and knowledgeable; staff are typically practitioners as well as dealers, able to discuss technique, edition size, and provenance in depth.
Cultural significance
In a city with over forty universities and a population historically inclined toward culture and the political left, galleries like Squadro have served as informal academies for generations of Bolognese artists and collectors. The printmaking tradition it champions is one of the great connective threads in Western art history, linking Renaissance woodcuts to contemporary digital-assisted etching, and Squadro’s programme keeps that lineage visible and commercially viable in the 21st century.
Practical information
- Address
- Via Rizzoli area, 40121 Bologna BO, Italy (check official website for current address)
- Hours
- Check official website or contact the gallery directly for current opening times
- Admission
- Gallery entry is typically free; works are available for purchase
Getting there
Bologna Centrale railway station is one of Italy’s main rail hubs, served by high-speed Frecciarossa and Frecciargento trains from Rome, Milan, and Florence. From the station, the historic centre is a 15-minute walk or short taxi ride. The gallery is in the compact medieval core of Bologna, navigable entirely on foot. Bologna also has a bus rapid transit network (BRT) connecting the station to the centre.