States of Mind Poetics of the self from Previati to Boccioni
From the dawn of the modern age, when scientists and writers competed to explore the darkest depths of the psyche, some restless and visionary artists experimented with a new visual language in order to open up the realms of the imagination and dreams and give expression to the states of the mind. The exhibition slated […]
L’arte per l’arte
Carlo Bononi. The Last Dreamer of the Ferrarese School
Carlo Bononi. Although virtually unknown to the public today, in the past, the name Carlo Bononi drew the attention of artists, patrons, scholars, and art lovers. A prolific, great artist, restless experimenter and indefatigable traveler, Bononi occupies an extremely important role in seventeenth century art history. Bononi’s career spanned the era in Italy from the […]
Orlando Furioso 500 years What did Ariosto see when he closed his eyes
«Quando entro nel Furioso, veggo aprirsi una tribuna, una galleria regia, ornata di cento statue antiche de’ più celebri scultori […], di cristalli, d’agate, di lapislazzuli e d’altre gioie, e finalmente ripiena di cose rare, preziose, meravigliose» Galileo Galilei What did Ariosto see when he closed his eyes? Which artworks acted as muses to his […]
L’arte per l’arte
De Chirico a Ferrara. Metafisica e avanguardie
“Hyper original,” to Salvador Dalí, moving to the point of tears, for René Magritte: Giorgio de Chirico’s painting won over some of the greatest surrealist artists and was enormously influential on twentieth century art. De Chirico was the brilliant inventor of metaphysical painting, one of the most important artistic trends in the modern period, in […]
Video Art at Palazzo dei Diamanti. 1973-1979 1973-1979. Reenactment
From the 1970’s to the 1990’s, Ferrara was an internationally renowned laboratory for video art experimentation. The Centro Video Arte, directed by Lola Bonora with assistance from Carlo Ansaloni and technical support from Giovanni Grandi, fostered experimental works by artists of such stature as Fabrizio Plessi, Christina Kubisch, Angela Ricci Lucchi, Yervant Gianikian and Marina […]
La Rosa de Foc Picasso and Gaudí’s Barcelona
Lively and charming, creative and rebellious, early twentieth century Barcelona was known as “la rosa de foc”, the “rose of fire”. A new fervour kindled the artistic and cultural scene, where giants Picasso and Gaudí stood out against the background of a fiery social tension that sparked conflicts and attacks. Sealing Barcelona’s rise was the […]
Matisse, la figura. La forza della linea, l’emozione del colore
“What interests me most is neither still life nor landscape but the human figure. It is through it that I best succeed in expressing the nearly religious feeling that I have towards life” Henri Matisse, 1908 Matisse’s creative genius changed the course of Twentieth century art; his distinctive ideas left their mark on all artistic […]
Zurbarán (1598 – 1664)
Along with Velázquez and Murillo, Francisco de Zurbarán was one of the great painters of the Golden Age of Spanish painting, and the refined naturalism of his work left a lasting legacy on European art. Combining the mysticism of his time with the realism rooted in the traditions of his country, he produced compositions that […]