The Gabbiano Gallery was founded in 1967 by the publisher Alberto Mondadori, Laura Mazza and Sandro Manzo. Since then, the gallery has been located in Rome at Via della Frezza 51.

In 2007 it was renovated based on American architect Stephen Rustow's project, while the works were directed by the Italian architect Gloria Arditi.

In 1982 Sandro Manzo opened an office in New York where he currently lives and works.

The gallery to date has done 200 shows of Italian artists such as Morandi, Pirandello, Mafai, Clerici, Guttuso, Guccione, Matteo Pericoli and many others. As well as international artists such as Bob Rauschenberg, Mel Bochner, Ed Ruscha, Sam Francis, William Bailey, Balthus, Larry Rivers, Yannis Tsaroukis, Manolo Valdes, Georges Braque, Edward Kienholz, Sophia Vari, Roy Lichtenstein, Sam Francis, Fernando Canovas, George Lilanga, Shoja Azari, Shahram Karimi, and Abbas Kiarostami.

For each show an illustrated catalogue has been printed with essays written by art critics, writers and film makers such as Giovanni Testori, Giuliano Briganti, Giovanni Carandente, Luigi Carluccio, Achille Bonito Oliva, Vittorio Sgarbi, Lorenza Trucchi, Federico Zeri, Jean Leymarie, Roberto Tassi, Susan Sontag, Alexander Stille, Carlo Levi, Michele Prisco, Alberto Moravia, Raffaele La Capria, Giorgio Bassani, Fedele D'Amico, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Patrizia Cavalli, Alfonso Gatto, Valerio `Magrelli, Francesca Sanvitale, Leonardo Sciascia, Fiamma Arditi, Enzo Siciliano,

Furio Colombo, Giorgio Bocca, Corrado Augias, Federico Fellini, Valerio Zurlini, Elio Petri, Eduardo De Filippo and many others.

The Gabbiano has also printed several art publications. Among the many, the gallery published a large edition of reproductions of Guttuso's scenes and costumes for "Il contratto" by Eduardo De Filippo. In 1971 the gallery published a monograph on Piero Guccione, along with texts by Enzo Siciliano's and Susan Sontag.

Since 1975 the Gabbiano has participated in National and International Art Fairs such as: the Fiac in Paris, Art Basel, the Chicago Art Fair, Art of the 20th Century at the New York Armory, and Arte Fiera Bologna.