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Since Italy has over half of the artistic masterpieces in the world, you probably already have a list a mile long of "must-see" artistic treasures. But sometimes there are special shows that are just as unique and unrepeatable, so we hope you can fit one or more of them in!
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1900: Art, photography, fashion, design and architecture (through April 25, 2010 at Palazzo del Governatore and Galleria San Ludovico and Scuderie della Pilotta, Parma, open Tuesday-Sunday 10am-7pm; Saturday 10am-midnight). If you are planning to visit Parma, make sure to include this massive exhibit in your stay. Hundreds of works, comprising all forms and media, create a fascinating overview of the last century's artistic output from all corners of the globe. |
| Burri and Fontana, Matter and Space (through May 16, 2010 at Fondazione Puglisi Cosentino, Palazzo Valle, Catania, open Tuesday-Sunday 10am-1:30pm and 4-7:30pm; Saturday 10am-1:30pm and 4-9:30pm). Dedicated to two titans of 20th-century Italian art, this unusual show presents a side-by-side comparison of the artists' works, with the aim of documenting a time period in which poetic expression was being expressed by Burri through the use of material and by Fontana through the use of space. The 100 artworks are displayed in the elegant Baroque halls of Palazzo Valle. |  |
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From Braque to Kandinsky and Chagall. Aimé Maeght and his artists (through June 2, 2010 at Palazzo dei Diamanti, Ferrara, open daily 9am-7pm). One wonders what 20th-century art would have been if Aimé Maeght had not lived. A Parisian editor of fame and exquisite taste, he sought out, discovered, fostered and nurtured such future giants as Bonnard, Matisse, Léger, Braque, Chagall, Miró, Calder and Giacometti, all of whose works are featured in this world-class exhibit. Over 100 paintings, sculptures, ceramics, drawings, etchings and photographs provide a spectacular glimpse into the artistic ferment that made Paris the most exciting place on earth for many decades, thanks also to the efforts of Maeght. |
| From Fattori to Previati: A Private Collection Discovered (through June 6, 2010 at GAM, Villa Saluzzo Serra, via Capoluogo 3, Genoa, open Tuesday-Sunday 10am-7pm). The extraordinary collection of 19th-century paintings amassed by the Swiss businessman Riccardo Molo has been squirreled away out of sight for over 75 years. Now is your chance to explore the tastes and thoughts of a consummate connoisseur, whose possessions include works by Previati, Mosè Bianchi, Segantini, Delleani, Cabianca, Pasini, Fattori, Dalbono and many more. |  |
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The Pre-Raphaelites and the Italian Dream (through June 6, 2010 at MAR, via di Roma 13, Ravenna, until March 31, open Monday-Friday 9am-6pm; Saturday and Sunday 9am-7pm; after April 1, open Monday-Thursday 9am-7pm; Friday 9am-9pm; Saturday and Sunday 9am-7pm). Founded in England in 1848 to advance the style and spirit of early Italian painting, the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was a group of painters who were reacting against what they considered the unimaginative and artificial historical painting of the 18th and early 19th centuries, and seeking to express a new moral seriousness and sincerity in their works. Led by Dante Gabriel Rossetti and later joined by Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris, they used a symbolism, imagery, and mannered style that often suggested a faux-medieval world. This marvelous show traces the influence of those early Italian painters as far back as Beato Angelico and Perugia. |
| Caravaggio (through June 13, 2010 at Scuderie del Quirinale, via 24 Maggio, Rome, open Sunday-Thursday 10am-10pm; Friday and Saturday 10am-11:30pm). Suffice to say: do not miss this collection of the great chiaroscuro artist's works gathered from around the globe. You can skip the interminable audio guide -- the notes on the wall in English provide an excellent accompaniment to the visual splendor of the show. |  |
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Flowers. Nature and Symbols from the 1600s to Van Gogh (through June 20, 2010 at Musei San Domenico in Forlì, open Tuesday-Friday 9:30am-7pm; Saturday and Sunday 9:30am-8pm). This exhibit about the way flowers have been used to create symbolism through the ages provides a perfect excuse to admire a host of works by the greatest masters of all times. |
| De Chirico, Max Ernst, Magritte, Balthus (through July 18, 2010 at Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, open daily 9am-8pm; Thursday 9am-11pm). Few Italian artists had such an important impact on 20th century art as Giorgio de Chirico. His ‘metaphysical’ works were like a pebble thrown into a pond, whose waves rippled through the world of art in concentric circles, becoming weaker in time, but still felt decades later. The young artist Giorgio de Chirico first became aware of a new way of seeing the world while visiting Florence at the age of twenty-one: ‘on a clear autumn afternoon I was sitting on a bench in the middle of piazza Santa Croce […] I had the strange impression that I was looking at all these things for the first time, and the composition of my picture came to my mind’s eye [...] the moment is an enigma to me, for it is inexplicable’. This ‘illumination or ‘revelation’—as De Chirico called it—informs his pictures of the 1910s and 1920s. As the century hurtled towards World War I, this experience of alienation prompted De Chirico—long before his peers—to paint what he called the ‘great silence’. De Chirico’s paintings of windswept piazzas, with solitary figures and statues staring blindly into space, continued to haunt artists long after De Chirico painted his Enigma of an Autumn Afternoon in 1909. This show offers 100 of the most famous works of metaphysical and surreal art, gathered from private collections and museums around the world to show the influence of De Chirico's art on modern art in general. |  |
Our list is anything but complete: if you know of other exhibitions or events you think people should hear about, please drop us a line.