For the art lovers who are in Italy or are planning an Italian city break, here’s a selection of the best five art exhibitions.
Ai Weiwei. Libero at Palazzo Strozzi, Florence
The Chinese contemporary artist is ready to strike Italy with one the major exhibitions of this year. Ai Weiwei is the artist of the day - his monumental sculpure Tree is part of the collection of the New Tate Modern, recently opened this June. Palazzo Strozzi will present Italy’s first major retrospective dedicated to one of the world’s most celebrated and influential contemporary artists: Ai Weiwei. Libero. This exhibition includes more than 60 artworks among which key monumental installations, sculptures and objects, as well as videos and photography series produced throughout his career. Ai Weiwei. Libero will explore the artist’s creative genius but also to understand his personal narrative.
Ai Weiwei. Libero, from 23 September 2016 to 22 January 2017
He Xie, 2011, Courtesy of Ai Weiwei Studio
Picasso. Figure at AMO museum, Verona
AMO museum (Arena Museo Opera) will be the first stage of a new project by Musée national Picasso-Paris. One art work for every year of the Spanish artist during a span of over 70 years: from 1906 to the late ’70s. Overall 91 works will show the changes in style and themes Picasso faced during his artistic life.
Picasso. Figure, from 15 October 2016 to 12 March 12 2017
Francis Bacon. I confini della mente, Casa dei Carraresi, Treviso
The works of art hosted at Casa dei Carraresi come mainly from the Francis Bacon Collection of the Drawings Donated to Cristiano Lovatelli Ravarino. The exhibition will analyse several subjects the Irish artist explored: from popes to crucifixions, from portraits to self-portraits, using different styles. The exhibition is also the result of a partnership with the Sigmund Freud Museum in Vienna, since Bacon had been the interpreter of the damnation of the body and the soul in the modern humanity.
Francis Bacon. I confini della mente, from 15 October 2016 to 1st May 2017
Hokusai, Hiroshige, Utamaro, Milan, Palazzo Reale
To mark the 150th anniversary of the relations between Italy and Japan, Palazzo Reale will host the exhibition Hokusai, Hiroshige, Utamaro. 200 xylographies and illustrated books coming from Honolulu Museum of Art will explore the world of the three ukiyoe artists that influenced many other artists in Japan and in Europe. Moreover, to celebrate this anniversary, this year’s premiere of La Scala Theatre on 7th December will be Madame Butterfly, Puccini’s opera set in Japan.
Hokusai, Hiroshige, Utamaro, until January, 29 2017
Hokusai
Dalí. Il sogno del classico, Palazzo Blu, Pisa
Dalí is one of the most popular and controversial artist. An exuberant genius with a deep and serious concept of art, Dalí launched the evolution of contemporary art. The exhibition at Palazzo Blu insists on the influence that Italy, Reinassance and in particulary Michelangelo had on Spanish art. More than 150 artworks coming from Dalí Theatre-Museum in Figueres, Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg (Florida), the two major instiutions that host Dalí’s works, and Vatican Museums.
Dalí. Il sogno del classico, from 1st October 2016 to 5 February 2017.
Salvador Dalí
