After the summer break, the art world comes back to life with a rich selection of significant exhibitions across Europe. Here are the ones not to be missed.
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Alphonse Mucha: The Seduction of Art Nouveau - Museo degli Innocenti, Florence - from October 27, 2023, to April 7, 2024
The exhibition of Alphonse Mucha at the Museo degli Innocenti in Florence is a unique opportunity to get to know one of the fathers of Art Nouveau better. Over two hundred works will accompany visitors on a journey into the Belle Époque, when Paris, between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, dominated the world stage, and Mucha was the most renowned artist. It was in the Ville Lumière that he perfected his artistic skills and began a new chapter in his life, crossing paths with Sarah Bernhardt, the most famous and fascinating actress of the time, who entrusted him with the responsibility of portraying her image, contributing significantly to his popularity. Shortly after, companies like Nestlé and Moët & Chandon would compete for his services in promoting their products, giving rise to unforgettable advertising campaigns. However, despite his success, Mucha's commitment to patriotism and social causes never waned. In 1910, he returned to Prague, dedicating himself for almost two decades to the Slav Epic, his most significant masterpiece. Organized in collaboration with the Mucha Foundation and under the patronage of the Municipality of Florence and the Embassy of the Czech Republic, Alphonse Mucha: The Seduction of Art Nouveau will open on October 27.
Mark Rothko - Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris - From October 18, 2023, to April 2, 2024
Twenty-four years after the 1999 exhibition at the Musée d'Art moderne de la Ville de Paris, a major retrospective dedicated to Mark Rothko will open at the Fondation Louis Vuitton on October 18, 2023. This event brings together a collection of approximately 115 works selected from major international institutional and private collections, ranging from the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC to the Tate Gallery in London, and even from the artist's family collection. The chronological arrangement within all the spaces of the Foundation allows for a journey that tells the entire artistic evolution of Rothko, starting from his early figurative paintings to his famous abstract works. It's worth noting the series of mural paintings commissioned to Rothko by the Four Seasons in New York, designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe within the Seagram Building in Manhattan, which the artist decided not to deliver and later donated to the Tate Gallery in London.
Leandro Erlich Beyond the Threshold - Palazzo Reale, Milan - from April 22, 2023, to October 4, 2023
Virtual buildings to climb, houses suspended in emptiness, escalators twisted like threads of a giant ball of yarn: Milan welcomes, for the first time in Europe, a monographic exhibition of Leandro Erlich. The immersive and interactive installations by the Argentine artist explore the relationship between reality and illusion and stem from a profound and conceptual artistic research that manifests itself through the skillful use of paradox. Erich's works, often based on perspective games and optical illusions, invite the audience to interact in surprising ways. The exhibition can be visited until October 4, 2023, at Palazzo Reale Milan.
Anish Kapoor Untrue Unreal - Palazzo Strozzi, Florence - from October 7, 2023, to February 4, 2024
Starting on October 7, 2023, the Palazzo Strozzi Foundation will inaugurate a grand exhibition of Anish Kapoor. Guided by Arturo Galansino, General Director of the Palazzo Strozzi Foundation, the exhibition will trace a path in close collaboration with the artist, through majestic installations, intimate spaces, and suggestive forms, generating an engaging dialogue with the architecture and visitors of Palazzo Strozzi. Exploring both historical works and recent productions, the exhibition serves as an invitation to delve into Kapoor's art. The rooms of Palazzo Strozzi will transform into concave and convex spaces, simultaneously whole and fragmented, encouraging visitors to examine and question their perceptual and sensory sensations.
Frans Hals - The National Gallery, London - from September 30, 2023, to January 21, 2024
After more than thirty years since the last major exhibition in the UK, Frans Hals returns to the forefront at the National Gallery with a new dedicated exhibition project. Organized by the National Gallery in collaboration with the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and the Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museums zu Berlin, and with the special participation of the Frans Hals Museum in Haarlem, the exhibition will bring together approximately fifty of the finest works by the renowned Dutch painter, including the exceptional and unprecedented loan (the first time ever) of his famous painting "The Laughing Cavalier" (1624), granted by the Wallace Collection. The exhibition will follow a mainly chronological display, with sections dedicated to genre paintings and small-scale portraits. A separate space will be reserved for Hals' extraordinary group portraits from the Frans Hals Museum in Haarlem, works that have rarely left the city four centuries after their creation. After being displayed in London from September 30, 2023, to January 21, 2024, the exhibition will subsequently move to Amsterdam, where it will be hosted at the Rijksmuseum from February 16, 2024, to June 9, 2024.
El Greco - Palazzo Reale, Milan - from October 11, 2023, to February 11, 2024
Milan is preparing to inaugurate its first retrospective dedicated to El Greco. The ambitious exhibition project, set to begin on October 11, 2023, at Palazzo Reale, aims to explore the wide range of works produced by the Cretan artist, presenting a selection of over 40 pieces, many of which come from prestigious international institutions. Promoted by the Municipality of Milan with the patronage of the Embassy of Spain in Italy, this exhibition represents the result of collaboration between the two nations. The exhibition path provides a comprehensive overview of the artist's production and is divided into sections dedicated to the crucial places where he lived. The goal is to highlight the artist's work through an innovative historical-critical approach that focuses on the role of Italian models in his formative journey. Central to the exhibition is the theme of the labyrinth, which evokes the Cretan myth and serves as a symbolic representation of El Greco's personal and artistic journey. A journey that, in many ways, is still shrouded in mystery.
Icônes: Punta della Dogana, Venice - from April 2, 2023, to November 26, 2023
"Icônes" is the title of the exhibition that opened its doors on April 2 at Punta della Dogana in Venice. Curated by Emma Lavigne, General Director of the Pinault Collection, and Bruno Racine, Director and CEO of Palazzo Grassi-Punta della Dogana, the exhibition presents a carefully selected collection of significant works from the renowned Pinault Collection, along with site-specific installations and creations by 30 artists from different generations. Through a journey of more than 80 artworks, the collective invites deep reflection on the concept of an icon in contemporary art. The exhibition, featuring works by artists such as Danh Vo, Sherrie Levine, On Kawara, David Hammons, Agnes Martin, Donald Judd, and Maurizio Cattelan, will be open for visitation until November 26, 2023.
Cover Image: San Martino e il mendicante Olio su tela (1597 – 1599 circa) di El Greco. Mostra El Greco, Palazzo Reale.
Written by Kooness
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