26 September 2024

In Monza the exhibition "From Renoir to Picasso, from Miró to Fontana"

120 masterpieces of graphics of the '900 on display at the Orangerie of the Royal Palace of Monza

From September 28, 2024 to February 23, 2025, the Orangery of the Royal Palace of Monza hosts an extraordinary exhibition entitled "From Renoir to Picasso, from Miró to Fontana. 120 masterpieces of graphics of the '900" on one of the most lively and creative periods in the history of art of the last two centuries, through the works of the greatest Italian and international masters.

A precious opportunity to explore the expressive possibilities of the various printing techniques (from etching to lithography, from woodcut to pochoir) and to understand the close and collaborative relationship between artists and their trusted printers, a bond that often goes beyond the rigid distinctions between conception and execution.

Vasilij Kandinskij, Kleine Welten I, 1922, litografia a colori, 247 X 218 mm, 230 esemplari, Roethel n.164 Copyright © Ufficio Stampa Mostra

The exhibition explores the evolution of European art from the late nineteenth century to the post-World War II period, through the graphic works of its most famous protagonists, including Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, Paul Cézanne, Pablo Picasso, Vasily Kandinsky, Marc Chagall, Joan Miró, Alberto Giacometti, Jean Dubuffet, Alberto Burri, Lucio Fontana and many others.

Paul Klee, Seiltänzer, 1923, litografia a colori, 432 X 268 mm, 300 esemplari, Kornfeld n.95 Copyright © Ufficio Stampa MostraPaul Klee, Seiltänzer, 1923, litografia a colori, 432 X 268 mm, 300 esemplari, Kornfeld n.95 Copyright © Ufficio Stampa Mostra

The exhibition highlights, through over 120 original works (some of which are extremely rare or unique), the importance of graphics as an independent means of expression. Artists such as Picasso, Miró, Kandinsky and Dubuffet, in fact, considered graphics a valuable medium for their most daring artistic experiments, using printed paper to explore new techniques and concepts.

The exhibition itinerary symbolically starts from the second half of the nineteenth century, with works by key figures who influenced the art of the following decades, such as Manet, Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec and Cézanne, and then crosses the historical avant-gardes with their main interpreters: from Braque to Matisse, from Pechstein to Dix, from Kandinsky to Klee, from Miró to Giacometti, from Hartung to Dubuffet, up to the exponents of the second post-war period such as Vedova and Burri.

The exhibition also offers the opportunity to delve into the work of artists and movements who have experimented with graphics independently of other techniques. Particularly interesting is the section dedicated to Cubist graphics, which presents works of extraordinary importance and rarely exhibited to the public, such as Nature morte à la bouteille de Marc (1911) by Picasso, Composition aux deux personnages (1920) by Fernand Léger, La table (1930) by Louis Marcoussis, Nature morte (1922) by Juan Gris, La ville (Toul) (1914) by Albert Gleizes, Zwei weibliche Akte (1921) by Alexander Archipenko and Valencia (1927) by Henri Laurens, among others.

Another significant section of the exhibition is the one dedicated to the Bauhaus school, with works by Vasily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Lyonel Feininger, Oskar Schlemmer, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy and Natalia Goncharova, as well as graphics by exponents of the German Die Brücke movement, such as Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Christian Rohlfs, Max Pechstein, Emil Nolde and even Raoul Dufy, who, after a stay in Munich, was influenced by the suggestions of this group and created L'amour (1905-1910), a woodcut that blends the primitive harshness of the expressionists with the softer harmony of the French Fauves.

Emil Nolde, Prophet, 1912, silografia, 321 X 222 mm, 20/30 esemplari, Schiefler n. 110 Copyright © Ufficio Stampa Mostra

The exhibition also dedicates space to the great tradition of Italian graphic design, with cubo-futurist works by Gino Severini (La modiste, 1916), metaphysical works by Carlo Carrà and Giorgio de Chirico, and engravings by masters such as Giuseppe Viviani (Dogs and cabins, 1965) and Luigi Bartolini (La fragile conchiglia, 1936). The Italian scene is also enriched by artists who have seen graphics as an autonomous field of expression, such as Giorgio Morandi, Marino Marini, Massimo Campigli, Zoran Music and the two great poets of the Informal, Emilio Vedova and Alberto Burri.

Umberto Boccioni, La madre che lavora all’uncinetto, 1907, acquaforte e puntasecca, 372 X 310 mm, solo esemplari di prova, Bellini n. 14 Copyright © Ufficio Stampa Mostra

The review is curated by Simona Bartolena with Enrico Sesana and Luigi Tavola, and is produced and created by ViDi cultural in collaboration with the Villa Reale and Parco di Monza Consortium, with the patronage of the Municipality of Monza and the contribution of Bper Banca, as well as the support of Trenord as travel partner. Accompanying the exhibition is a catalogue published by Ponte43 for ViDi cultural.

Information on the exhibition "From Renoir to Picasso, from Miró to Fontana. 120 masterpieces of graphics of the '900"

Where: Villa Reale di Monza, Orangerie, viale Brianza 1. Dates: September 28, 2024 to February 23, 2025. Hours: Monday and Tuesday closed. From Wednesday to Friday 10-13/14-18, Saturday, Sunday and holidays from 10 am to 7 pm. (The ticket office closes one hour earlier). Tickets: Full price: €12.00; Reduced: €10.00; School ticket: €5.00; Children (7-12 years): €5.00; Free: disabled visitors (disability greater than 74%) and 1 accompanying person only in case of non-self-sufficiency; children up to 6 years old; school group guide (2 per group); adult group leader (1 per group); holders of Lombardy Museums subscriptions.

By Nicole Villa, Avion Tourism Magazine

Visual: Vasily Kandinsky, Kleine Welten I, 1922, colour lithograph, 247 X 218 mm, 230 copies, Roethel no.164

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