Amedeo Modigliani: L’Auto-Portrait (Autoritratto), 1919. MAC USP Museum de Arte Contemporânea da USP
Lulù by Beatrice Brandini
From 23 March to 15 September it will be possible to admire the only Self-Portrait painted by Amedeo Modigliani, among the most precious and valued works in the world, on the occasion of the Returns. From Modigliani to Morandi, which brings together for the first time nineteen works by the greatest masters of the Italian twentieth century that belonged to Alberto Della Ragione.
Carlo Carrà: La Camera Incantata, 1917. Pinacoteca di Brera
The exhibition at the Museo Novecento, conceived by Sergio Risaliti and curated by Eva Francioli, Chiara Toti and Risaliti himself, celebrates ten years since the inauguration of the museum, hosting this important exhibition dedicated to the history of one of its most valuable collections: the Alberto Della Ragione Collection.
Renato Guttuso: Crocifissione, 1940-41 Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea
Renato Guttuso: Donna alla finestra, 1942. Mart, Museo di arte moderna e contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto
During the press conference I understood the great emotion of all the curators of the exhibition, first of all Risaliti who was visibly moved to have one of the most important paintings of the twentieth century in Florence (in reality it is a return). The only self-portrait painted by Modigliani that had not been seen in Italy since 1946 and exceptionally loaned by the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Sao Paulo in Brazil.
Pietro Marussig: Donna con garofano, 1925. Collezione Privata
Renato Birolli: Nudo dal velo nero, 1941. Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea
The painting returns eighty years after its release from the Raccolta Della Ragione, purchased by the engineer in 1938, it was most likely resold in 1944. A very painful decision for the naval engineer who in August of the same year confided to Birolli the reasons that they had induced him to take that painful step. “Regarding the sale of Modigliani – wrote Della Ragione – I too am sure that I will regret it, but it is precisely this certainty that ennobles the sacrifice made not for me but for those who have the right to be able to count on me whatever happens. In fact, it was thanks to this sale that Della Ragione recovered the resources necessary to support other younger, more experimental artists who were certainly alone, without the possibility of emerging.
Massimo Campigli: Donne e cavalli: Le amazzoni, 1928. Deposito a lungo termine presso Ca’ Pesaro – Galleria Internazionale d’Arte Moderna – Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia
Amedeo Modigliani: L’Auto-Portrait (Autoritratto), 1919. MAC USP Museum de Arte Contemporânea da USP
The works on display are all of exceptional prestige, each of them deserves a specific room and an attached art history manual, such as The Enchanted Camera by Carlo Carrà, on loan from the Brera Academy, or the great Crucifixion by Renato Guttuso, on loan from Gnam, National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rome.
Moment of the press conference with the curators Chiara Toti and Eva Francioli, the deputy mayor Alessia Bettini and the director of the Museo Novecento Sergio Risaliti
Alessia Bettini with Sergio Risaliti
The nucleus of masterpieces that the Museo Novecento brings together in the Returns. From Modigliani to Morandi exhibition is truly unique: true cornerstones of Italian art of the first half of the 20th century, all of which once belonged to Alberto Della Ragione, fundamental for focusing on that system of aesthetic and ethical values he promoted with strength and generosity. A refined collector, he was among the first to dedicate himself in the 1930s to the purchase of works of modern art, contributing to the renewal of the taste of Italians still stuck in 19th century painting… Chiara Toti, curator of the exhibition.
Carlo Carrà: Il lago (O lago), 1929. MAC USP Museum de Arte Contemporânea da USP
Ardengo Soffici: Natura morta con ventaglio, 1915. MAC USP Museum de Arte Contemporânea da USP
In recent years the Museo Novecento has set up beautiful exhibitions, in the last period there have been successive exhibitions that celebrated modern and contemporary art, giving the city of Florence prestige, authority and credibility. Yes, since until a few years ago outside the Tuscan capital, and honestly perhaps precisely because of the Florentines themselves, Florence lived, settling down, on its prestigious past, evolving too slowly. I lived in Milan for work, I traveled a lot, in no European capital have I seen such a turnover of such important exhibitions; works, installations, sculptures, paintings…, by different and very significant artists. Thank you Museo Novecento for giving Florence this magical place that didn’t exist before you, I’m sure that it will still give us many emotions in the future.
A glimpse of the exhibition. Courtesy Museo Novecento
Good life to everyone!
Beatrice