The masterpieces of the Italian ‘Novecento’ on show in Tirana

The National Gallery of Art in Tirana will host a special event dedicated to Italian 20th century art. The exhibition, featuring over 100 masterpieces on loan from the Modern Art Gallery in Rome, will run from January 16 to April 2, 2017. Strongly promoted by Albania’s public institutions, the exhibition was made possible thanks to a partnership between private and public bodies including the Office of the Prime Minister of Albania, the Italian Embassy in Albania, the Italian Cultural Institute in Tirana, the Albanian Ministry of Culture, the Municipality of Tirana, the National Gallery of Art in Tirana, and for Italy, Roma Capitale, and the  Department for Cultural Growth – Capitoline Superintendence, in addition to the fundamental contribution given to the event by the Fondazione Terzo Pilastro – Italia e Mediterraneo. The Arthemisia Group, a world leader in the field of art and culture, will be in charge of coordinating, producing and organizing the event. The exhibition, curated by Arianna Angelelli, Maria Catalano and Federica Pirani, will be an invitation to explore the artistic culture that was born in Rome and in the rest of Italy in the first half of the 20th century through the sculptures, watercolours, and drawings on show. Sublime female figures, portraits of famous individuals, still lifes, views of the Eternal City and of the Roman countryside pay tribute to the fame and talent of great artists such as Giacomo Balla (Portrait of Nathan, 1910), Carlo Carrà (Football Game, 1934), Giorgio de Chirico (Combattimento di gladiatori, 1933-1934), Filippo de Pisis (Still Life – Pesci e bottiglia, 1925), Giuseppe Capogrossi (Giuochi, 1935), Renato Guttuso (Tetti di Roma, 1957-59) and Adolfo De Carolis (Woman with flowers – Naked lady with roses, 1910). Just to list a few more names of the more than the 60 artists on show: Antonio Donghi, Afro, Duilio Cambellotti, Franco Gentilini, Felice Casorati, Enrico Coleman, Fortunato Depero, Vittorio Grassi, Achille Funi, Carlo Levi, Giacomo Manzù, Alberto Savinio, Tato and Giulio Turcato. The exhibition will be organized into six sections, creating a continuum between the different art movements that spanned the 20th century: Late Naturalism Symbolism; Roman Secession; Futurism and Aeropainting; the Italian Tradition and Dialogue with Ancient Art; the Roman School; Figuration and Abstraction. Visitors will begin their exploration from the symbolist suggestions at the turn of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20^th century, passing through the quest for renewal and modernity that inflamed the promoters of the Secession during the first decade of the 20^th century, and moving on to the decomposition of Futurism and Aeropainting during the 20s and 30s. They will be guided through the many art movements that thrived during those same years (Magic Realism and Metaphysics), which revived Italian ancient art and its artistic tradition. Visitors will then be offered an in-depth view of the Roman School with a selection of masterpieces from Italian 20th century art. Finally, they will be ushered into the period of Figuration and Abstraction that characterized Italian culture in the 40s and 50s.