Fondazione Tito Balestra, Museum of modern and contemporary art in Longiano, Italy

The Fondazione Tito Balestra is a museum of modern and contemporary art housed in the rooms of the Malatestiano Castle in Longiano. Its collection holds about 2,300 works, mostly paintings and graphic works, with a large group by Mino Maccari covering 1920 to 1976. The works are displayed in the castle's restored rooms.

Tito Balestra, a poet of the Italian twentieth century, gathered 2,300 works, largely through exchanges and friendships with artists of the post-war years. After his death in 1976 his family and friends kept the collection intact, and in June 1982 they inaugurated the founding foundation in a modern building on Via Giovanni XXIII. In 1986 his widow Anna Maria De Agazio donated the collection, the comune of Longiano constituted the foundation under mayor Giuseppe Canali, and in 1989 it received legal recognition and moved into the Malatestian Castle.

The collection grew out of exchanges and friendships between Tito Balestra and artists of the post-war period, with a large group of paintings and graphic works by Mino Maccari covering 1920 to 1976. Balestra, a poet, avoided the market and fashions, choosing each work himself. After his death in 1976 his brothers Romano, Giorgio, Piero and Laura and friends including Mino Maccari and Vanni Scheiwiller worked to keep the collection together.

The museum occupies the Malatestiano Castle in Longiano's historic centre; the collection is on the upper floor, reached by stairs. The foundation's legal recognition dates from 1989, and the castle became its home that same year after restoration. The surrounding village is compact and best explored on foot.

The collection began with Tito Balestra's personal friendships rather than purchases on the art market. He was wary of fashions and dealers, and after his death in 1976 his brothers Romano, Giorgio, Piero and Laura, together with friends such as Mino Maccari and Vanni Scheiwiller, worked to keep the 2,300 works together instead of dispersing them.