NEW YORK, May 23, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Lavazza supports a new exhibition at Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum as part of an ongoing commitment to arts and culture worldwide. The exhibition titled, "Artistic License: Six Takes on the Guggenheim Collection," is the first-ever artist-curated exhibition featured at the museum, coinciding with the 60th anniversary of the Guggenheim's iconic Frank Lloyd Wright-designed building. The exhibition will be open to the public until January 12, 2020.

The presentation celebrates the Guggenheim's extensive collection of twentieth-century modern and contemporary art, with works selected by six contemporary artists, all of whom have previously had solo shows at the museum. Support of Artistic License provides Lavazza with yet another opportunity to continue to drive arts and culture projects worldwide, which has been a brand tradition for more than 25 years. This marks the sixth exhibition supported by Lavazza at the iconic Guggenheim Museum in New York in six years.

"Lavazza and the Guggenheim share a commitment to building new communities that connect people, ideas and experiences," said Francesca Lavazza, fourth-generation member of the family at the helm of the company and member of the Lavazza Board of Directors. "For Lavazza, this project represents not only a progressive and crucial step towards supporting and enhancing arts and culture, but also a reaffirmation of our role as ambassadors of creativity, innovation and sharing."

In addition to supporting the art exhibitions in the museum, Lavazza has a presence in the Guggenheim's café and, in the Museum's acclaimed restaurant, The Wright, providing visitors with an authentic Italian coffee experience.

Lavazza's sponsorship of the Guggenheim began in 2014 with the support of the exhibition Italian Futurism, 1909–1944: Reconstructing the Universe. Since then, Lavazza has supported five more exhibitions in the New York museum. Francesca Lavazza, was invited to join the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation Board of Trustees in 2016. In 2017 Lavazza expanded its commitment to the Guggenheim Foundation by forging a strategic collaboration with the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice.

About Lavazza's commitment to the arts and culture
Lavazza has a rich history of celebrating the arts through various initiatives. In 2018, the brand opened the Lavazza Museum within the new headquarters based in Turin, named Nuvola Lavazza. The immersive space, open to the public, contains multimedia installations that speak about the world of coffee.

Further, Lavazza has collaborations with leading art museums that include: Guggenheim Museum in New York (USA), Peggy Guggenheim Collection (Venice), Musei Civici Veneziani in Venice (Italy) and State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg (Russia). Lavazza also supports the Museum of Cultures in Milan, the Merz Foundation, Camera (Italian Center for Photography) and Circolo dei Lettori in Turin. The annual Lavazza Calendar, a visual representation of Lavazza's passion for art, has been shot by the likes of Platon, Helmut Newton, Annie Leibovitz, David LaChapelle and Steve McCurry among others.

About Lavazza Group 
Established in 1895 in Turin, the Italian coffee company has been owned by the Lavazza family for four generations. Among the world's most important roasters, the Group currently operates in more than 90 countries through subsidiaries and distributors, with 63% of revenues coming from markets outside of Italy. Lavazza employs a total of over 4,000 people with a turnover of €2.0 billion in 2017.

Lavazza created the concept of blending — or in other words the art of combining different types of coffee from different geographic areas — this continues to be a distinctive feature of most of its products. The company also has over 30 years' experience in production and sale of portioned coffee systems and products. It was the first Italian business to offer capsule espresso systems. Lavazza operates in all business segments: at home, away-from-home and office coffee service, always with a focus on innovation in consumption technologies and systems.

Lavazza has been able to develop its brand awareness through important sponsorships perfectly in tune with its brand internationalization strategy, such as those in the world of sport with the Grand Slam tennis tournaments, and those in fields of art and culture with prestigious museums like New York's Guggenheim Museum, St. Petersburg's Hermitage State Museum and Melbourne's National Gallery of Victoria.

Companies that form part of the Lavazza Group include France's Carte Noire and ESP (acquired in 2015 and 2017 respectively), Denmark's Merrild (2016), North America's Kicking Horse Coffee (2017), Italy's Nims (2017), and Australia's Blue Pod Coffee Co (2018). At the end of 2018, following an acquisition, the Lavazza Professional business was created, which includes the leading Office Coffee Sector (OCS) and Vending systems Flavia and Klix.

SOURCE Lavazza