The Municipal Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art was established by the Municipality of Arezzo in 1962, realizing the success achieved for several years by the “Arezzo Prize” dedicated to painting. The Gallery began its activity, organizing a series of exhibitions of great interest. At the same time, the collection of an original permanent collection of works by Italian authors - especially Tuscan - already established or emerging was started. The collected works were exhibited until the mid-1980s in Palazzo Guillichini, the first seat of the Gallery, and collected in a catalog entitled “The Municipal Gallery of Contemporary Art in Arezzo”, edited by Enrico Crispolti.

In 1994, the renovation project of the former Hotel Chiavi D'Oro adjacent to the Church of San Francesco was approved which led, at the end of 2003, to the inauguration of the new headquarters.

The Gallery currently hosts large temporary contemporary art exhibitions . The permanent collection, not on display, consists of works of considerable value created in the second half of the twentieth century in Italy.