Strawberries, cherries, grapes and melons are heaped up in abundance; bunches of flowers, posies and garlands celebrate the beauty of Mediterranean culture. Nevertheless, even in the most luxuriant splendour, a ‘memento mori’ lies concealed, reflecting its morbid charm.
Arcimboldo, Caravaggio, Strozzi...
Strawberries, cherries, grapes and melons are heaped up in abundance; bunches of flowers, posies and garlands celebrate the beauty of Mediterranean culture. Nevertheless, even in the most luxuriant splendour, a ‘memento mori’ lies concealed, reflecting its morbid charm.
‘Still World – Italian Still Life’, with masterpieces by Arcimboldo, Caravaggio, Baschenis, Porpora, Recco, the anonymous masters of Hartford, Acquavella or the mysterious Pensionante dei Saraceni, shows a facet of Italian painting which for many years has been unjustly neglected.
Nearly forty years have passed since the last big exhibition of Italian still life in Naples in 1964.
Scientific research has progressed in the meantime, and several new discoveries have been made.
The exhibition looks at the various cultural centres in Italy, from Lombardy through Tuscany to Rome and Naples, and presents the subdivisions within this extremely rich genre. It affords us a new view of the magnificence of Italian Baroque, at the same time demonstrating the great
difference between the Italian still life on the one hand, and on the other, the French or Dutch paintings in this genre.
Even in Italy, Natura Morta has been inadequately dealt with in the last few decades, as historical paintings are traditionally accorded more prominence there. In view of this, it is high time to make the first extensive presentation of the variety and creativity of Italian still life between the 16th and 18th centuries to the German public.
Many of the 200 or so works from three centuries of Italian painting are to be publicized and shown for the first time in an exhibition; these are new discoveries made by the curator of the project, Prof. Mina Gregori of Florence.
This large-scale presentation of Italian baroque still life will be on show in the Kunsthalle der Hypo-Kulturstiftung from 6th December 2002 to 23rd February 2003.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a comprehensive catalogue edited by Prof. Mina Gregori and Dr. Johann Georg Prinz von Hohenzollern with contributions by Elisa Acanfora, Daniele Benati, Stefano Casciu, Lucialla Conigliello, Alberto Cottino, Simone Facchinetti, Mina Gregori, Anna Orlando, Franco Paliaga, Nicola Spinosa, Claudio Strinati and Alberto Veca. The catalogue will be
available in the Kunsthalle. The catalogue is published by Electa.
Ilaria Maggi Pressoffice Electa Mostre tel 02.21563250 fax 02.21563314
Kunsthalle der Hypo-Kulturstiftung
München