Termoli award was born in 1955 as an Annual Award for Contemporary Art. Thanks to the constant and passionate interest of Achille Pace, since 1960 the event has become a real reconnaissance of artistic research in Italy, to which have collaborated illustrious names of Italian art critics such as Carlo Argan and Palma Bucarelli. Throughout the years, a considerable and valuable collection has been built, with the establishment of Civic Gallery of Contemporary Art in St. Antony square. The annual editions of the Termoli award have allowed Civic Gallery to acquire art works representative of research and experimentation of Contemporary Art from 1955 to the present.
The collection is a unique case in Italy for the documentation of the research sphere that goes from postinformal, to abstractism, to new figuration, to kinetic and programmed art. Currently the collection consists of more than 470 works of Contemporary Art, mostly painted works, but also sculptural works, realized with various techniques and materials. Among the most important works there are the sign of excellent authors such as Carla Accardi, Luigi Boille, Antonio Calderara, Aldo Calò, Franco Cannilla, Cosimo Carlucci, Nicola Carrino, Edgardo Mannucci, Achille Pace, Achille Perilli, Antonio Sanfilippo, Giulio Turcato, Giuseppe Uncini, Mario Schifano, Tano Festa, Franco Angeli, Luca Patella, Gino Marotta and much more.
In the future, the timing is still to be defined, MACTE, Museum of Contemporary Art in Termoli, located in Via Giappone, will host the entire Termoli award collection of the last sixty years.