Paul Klee Magician, 1927 Louise and Walter Arensberg Collection
“Sisters in the atelier” by Beatrice Brandini
In Pisa, at Palazzo Blu: “Avant-garde. Masterpieces from the Philadelphia Museum of Art”, from 28 September to 7 April 2024, will be one of the most beautiful exhibitions to visit in Italy in autumn or winter, I’m sure…
Pablo Picasso Self-Portrait with Palette, 1906. A.E. Collection Gallatin
Jean Metzinger Tea Time, 1911 – 1912 Louise and Walter Arensberg Collection
50 works by 20 different artists, such as Duchamp, Kandinsky, Matisse, Mirò, Mondrian, Picasso and many other extraordinary artists, leave America to arrive at the Palazzo Blu in Pisa, where visual, sound and multimedia installations allow the works to be placed in a specific temporal space, helping the visitor to contextualize them. The exhibition is curated by Matthew Affron and set up in collaboration with Stefano Zuffi.
Pablo Picasso Man with Violin, 1911-1912 Louise and Walter Arensberg Collection
Jacques Lipchitz Sailor with guitar, 1914 Gift of Mrs. Morris Wenger
The time span of the works on display is quite short, in fact the first work on display dates back to 1906 (a self-portrait by Picasso) and the last one to 1940 (a Christ by Chagall), but it is a period full of events that revolutionized the world . In the apparent tranquility of the Roaring Twenties, there was hidden a fierce criticism of bourgeois society, increasingly bitter conflicts that led to the outbreak of the First World War.
Fernand Léger The Printer, 1919 Louise and Walter Arensberg Collection
Henri Matisse Woman sitting in an armchair, 1920 Louis E. Stern collection
This is why we talk about avant-garde, articulated, different, disputed and contested works, but, just like their authors, the artists have the constant desire to compare, telling us about the values and dangers of existence. The art is “fragile”, in its canvases, frescoes, ceramics, sculptures, but very powerful in its message, telling of his time.
Wassily Kandinsky Circles in a circle, 1923 Louise and Walter Arensberg collection
Marie Laurencin Leda and the Girdle, 1923, Gift of Mr. and Mrs Charles C.G. Chaplin
The Philadelphia museum is a very prestigious venue, it was Marcel Duchamp who chose it; charged with finding a suitable location for twentieth-century art, the artist indicated Philadelphia as the most suitable location. And it is significant that these masterpieces imbued with freedom started from Philadelphia, a city that two and a half centuries ago was the cradle of the revolution and American freedom.
Alexej von Jawlensky Abstract head: introspective – pink light, 1926, Louise and Walter Arensberg Collection
Jean Arp Configuration of two dangerous points, circa 1930. A.E. Collection Gallatin
The exhibition itinerary opens with a self-portrait by Picasso, in which a very young twenty-five-year-old artist portrays himself holding a palette, laying the foundations for what will inevitably and fortunately be his destiny.
Jean Hélion Composition, 1933 A.E. Collection Gallatin
Jean Hélion Composition, 1934 A.E. Collection Gallatin
The first part, characterized by a group of works prior to the First World War, offers us a great variety of themes but with a single intent, that of breaking with the academic past. Cubist Picasso with the man with the violin, Duchamp with the coffee grinder, anticipating surrealism. Subsequently we see Léger’s constructivism, the experience of the Bauhaus school with Kandinsky’s Circle within circles. To continue in the world of circus and magic with Klee and Mirò. You understand well how much material and how much beauty this magnificent exhibition is pervaded.
Piet Mondrian Composition with yellow and blue, 1932 and Composition with white and red, 1936 A.E. Collection Gallatin
The opening of this exhibition, produced and organized by Fondazione Palazzo Blu and MondoMostre, with the contribution of Fondazione Pisa, coincides with an intervention to redevelop and renew the spaces at Palazzo Blu. These works could also be exhibited in a stable, their grandeur and beauty would have emerged, but correct lighting and a pleasant environment are certainly an added value.
Pablo Picasso Bather project for a monument (Dinard), 1928 A.E. Collection Gallatin
Moment of the press conference with the curator of the exhibition Matthew Affron
The facade of Palazzo Blu
Thanks Palazzo Blu, I was literally ENCHANTED!
Good life to everyone!
Beatrice