The most beautiful autumn exhibitions in Florence
From Tony Cragg at the Museo Novecento to Olafur Eliasson at palazzo Strozzi: many good reasons to visit the city overlooking the Arno
An itinerary through the museums in and around Florence to discover the exhibitions not to be missed this fall.
THE MYTH OF THE NIOBE ON SHOW AT THE OFFICE GALLERIES (until 12 March 2023)
Next to the thirteen famous statues in the Medici collection, another sculptural group of Niobids recently discovered in the thermal sector of an ancient Roman villa can be admired. The slaying of the children of the tragic protagonist of the mythological tale is represented by the thirteen famous statues from the Roman era now preserved in the hall of the same name in the Gallery. They are joined by nine others from a recently discovered sculptural group at Ciampino. The Niobids from the Medici collection depict one of the most tragic stories of ancient Greek myth, the murder of Niobe's twelve children at the behest of the goddess Latona, offended by Niobe's pride in her offspring. They are compared today with the other sculptural group, currently preserved in the Sanctuary of Hercules Victorious in Tivoli, an architectural complex that is part of the Villa Adriana and Villa d'Este Institute.
THE MYTH OF NIOBE STARS IN AN EXHIBITION AT THE UFFIZI GALLERIESELLIOTT ERWITT - PHOTOGRAPHS (20 October to 22 January 2023)
The genius, irony and surreal gaze of Elliott Erwitt in the iconic shots that have made him one of the most famous photographers of all time. In Florence, a retrospective of the great master of photography with the exhibition Elliott Erwitt Photographs at Villa Bardini.
USA. New York City. 1974ESCHER (until 26 March 2023)
A major exhibition dedicated to the brilliant Dutch artist Maurits Cornelis Escher is on view at the Museo degli Innocenti in Florence until 26 March 2023. An anthological exhibition - with about 200 works and the most representative works that have made him famous all over the world - that recounts the genius of the Dutch artist with the most iconic works of his production such as Hand with Reflecting Sphere (1935), Bond of Union (1956), Metamorphosis II (1939), Day and Night (1938) and the series of the Emblemata, which belong to the common imagination referring to the great artist.
Vincolo d'unioneMODUS, A JOURNEY THROUGH THE ART OF FASHION
In the area that hosts the immense treasure of the Giorgini Archive (photographs, documents, clothes and accessories related to the exploits of Gioanni Battista Giorgini, the Tuscan businessman to whom we owe the birth of the made-in-Italy brand and Italian fashion shows) during the first two weekends of December, Roberto Capucci's kaleidoscopic dress-sculpture, dedicated to Giovanni Battista Giorgini, will be on view for the first time. The dress-symbol of Italian fashion is embedded in a fascinating journey of original black and white shots from the 1950s and 1960s, from the Archives, as well as books and catalogues recounting the birth of Italian fashion and Italy's post-war economic recovery. The setting for this experience is Villa Schneiderf in Bagno a Ripoli, a historic and panoramic residence in the hills of Bagno a Ripoli, just outside Florence; a wonderful private residence (3-4 and 10-11 December 2022, from 3 to 7 p.m., via Vicchio e Paterno, 15, Bagno a Ripoli Firenze, Asociazione Nomya - #wunderkammertesirossella - Nuovo Archivo Giorgini - For info: 334 2581402).
Abito-scultura di Roberto Capucci 2001 (courtesy Archivio Giorgini)JEAN ARP. LARME DE GALAXIE (from 11 November to 15 February 2023)
A work by Jean Arp, one of the great masters of the 20th century, resurfaces from the deposits of the Florentine Civic Museums. Once again, the virtuous relationship between the Museo Novecento and the academic world has given rise to an important rediscovery: Larme de galaxie (1962), a small masterpiece donated by the Alsatian artist to the city of Florence in the aftermath of the dramatic flood of 1966, has come back to light after about three years of study and research conducted by Emanuele Greco, curator of the exhibition Jean Arp. Larme de galaxie.
Larme de galaxie (1962)ALBERTO MAGNELLI. ARMOCROMIE (from 11 November to 15 February 2023)
The monographic exhibition, dedicated to the master of international abstractionism, is part of the exhibition cycle that, on a regular basis, intends to outline brief portraits of great artists of the 20th century. The exhibition allows us to rediscover the artist's complex creative parabola, starting with the display of the entire bequest that Magnelli himself, on his deathbed, destined for his hometown, Florence.
ALBERTO MAGNELLI. ARMOCROMIEMR. ARBITRIUM AT BASILICA DI SAN LORENZO (until 30 November)
Don't miss Mr. Arbitrium, the monumental sculpture by Emanuele Giannelli, in Florence until 30 November. It can be found on the outer left side of the Basilica of San Lorenzo, while the sculptural group I Sospesi has been installed in the cloister of the Laurentian architectural complex. Mr. Arbitrium, conceived with all the muscles in tension and intent on either supporting the building or pushing it away in a decisive manner, is the sculpture that represents the ambivalent game Giannelli has intended to play in his work: the double meaning that characterises the work, between pushing or supporting. To cling to history in order to protect and enhance it, or perhaps to move away from it in order to free oneself from such a cumbersome weight? Although we will not know the outcome, we leave with the awareness of an arbitrary choice, like its name.
Mr Arbitrium photo Massimo SestiniECO-ESISTENZE: FORME DEL NATURALE E DELL'ARTIFICIALE (until 7 December)
At the IED headquarters, the exhibition Eco-existences: forms of the natural and the artificial, which through the work of seven artists - Leone Contini, Simone Donati, Claudia Losi, Elena Mazzi, Eléna Nemkova, Caterina Sbrana and Nicola Toffolini - investigates the convergence between natural and artificial spaces, and the way these places are perceived and experienced by communities. The project was created in connection with the exhibition Olafur Eliasson: In His Time and is the result of a collaboration between the Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi and the Master in Curatorial Practice of IED Florence. In addition to the exhibition, realised in the IED Florence premises, transformed by the artists into an exhibition space, Eco-existences includes a rich programme of events, lectures and workshops that will involve the public in a number of places in the city and in Palazzo Strozzi's workshops.
Leone Contini, IED, ECO-ESISTENZELA PIETA' DI MICHELANGELO. LO SGUARDO DI AURELIO AMENDOLA FRA NATURALISMO E ASTRAZIONE (until 9 January 2023)
At the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, in the Sala del Paradiso, until 9 January 2023, the exhibition by Aurelio Amendola. Having completed the restoration of Michelangelo's Pietà, known as the Bandini Pietà, in September 2011, kept in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo in Florence, the Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore commissioned a photographic campaign of the sculptural group to Aurelio Amendola, a great interpreter of Michelangelo's work and a world-famous author. The fruit of this work is now presented in the Museum's Sala del Paradiso, where an exhibition is being held for the first time. On display are thirty-two black and white photographic images, printed in large format. A sequence of images that, on the one hand, touches the senses of anyone who observes his photos, and on the other, helps a critical eye to discover previously unseen details.
Pietà Bandini - Firenze 2022 ©Aurelio AmendolaHENRI MOORE IN FLORENCE (until 31 March 2023)
A tribute 50 years after the memorable exhibition at Forte di Belvedere in 1972. The city pays homage to the English master with Family Group and Large Interior Form exhibited respectively in two of the city's symbolic locations: Piazza della Signoria and on the churchyard of the Abbey of San Miniato al Monte, in dialogue with Florence's historical and artistic heritage.
Photo: Henry Moore ArchiveTONY CRAGG. I'M A SCULPTURE FAN! (until 15 January 2023)
A large monographic exhibition presenting a selection of sculptures and works on paper in the cloister of the Museo Novecento. The project is conceived as a mediation tool aimed at presenting not only the works but also the creative process of the English master, one of the most famous exponents of contemporary sculpture.
Early Form Michael RichterPASSIONE NOVECENTO (until 8 January 2023)
Palazzo Medici Riccardi, dove è nato il collezionismo moderno all’epoca di Cosimo il Vecchio e di Lorenzo Il Magnifico, ospita una prestigiosa selezione di opere di maestri del XX secolo provenienti da collezioni private fiorentine e toscane, con l’intento di collegare la grande tradizione rinascimentale del collezionismo e mecenatismo alla passione per l’arte del Novecento ancora coinvolgente nella nostra epoca. La mostra ospita opere di: Giorgio de Chirico, Giorgio Morandi, Alberto Savinio, Arturo Martini, Fausto Melotti, Lucio Fontana, Alberto Burri, Paul Klee, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Louise Burgeois, Alighiero Boetti, Daniel Buren, Damien Hirst, Cecily Brown, Ai Weiwei, Tracey Emin e altri.
Cortile Palazzo Medici RiccardiI MAESTRI DEL NOVECENTO: DA GUTTUSO A VEDOVA. OPERE DALLA COLLEZIONE ALBERTO DELLA RAGIONE (until 8 January 2023)
The exhibition project at the Museo Novecento was born with the intention of making accessible a selection of masterpieces exhibited for the first time in Sicily and coming from one of the most important collections dedicated to 20th century Italian art: the Alberto Della Ragione Collection, more than two hundred works donated by engineer Alberto Della Ragione to the city of Florence after the violent flood that hit the city in 1966.
I MAESTRI DEL NOVECENTO: DA GUTTUSO A VEDOVA. OPERE DALLA COLLEZIONE ALBERTO DELLA RAGIONE ATTRAVERSO OF SIGNORINI AT FIRENZE (until 31 January)
Warriors, Dancers, Flying Horses and an unprecedented ancestral mask make up the exhibition itinerary of the exhibition ATTRAVERSO. Antonio Signorini, which inaugurates the new Oblong Contemporary Art Gallery in Florence. Through his works Signorini recounts the styles of ancient civilisations: dancers, guardians, horses that take shape in the space where they intersect with refined harmony and elegance.
ARCTURUS e SUN - Antonio Signorini, Firenze OLAFUR ELIASSON: NEL TUO TEMPO (until 22 January 2023)
The largest exhibition ever held in Italy dedicated to one of the most original and visionary contemporary artists of our time. Renowned for immersive installations that put the visitor at the centre, Olafur Eliasson at Palazzo Strozzi invites us to reflect on the idea of a shared and relational experience of reality.
OLAFUR ELIASSONTRANS FORMAM - ERWIN WURM (until January 2023)
Erwin Wurm's works are exhibited in the spaces of Galleria Poggiali in a project entitled Trans Formam. The exhibition, the first complete and articulated in Italy, brings together around twenty-two works, most of them expressly realised, to give an account of the multifaceted quality of the Austrian artist's sculptures, together with a series of oils on canvas executed for the occasion. These are distorted, exaggerated, inflated objects that portray central aspects of contemporary society such as the car, massified food, the home, consumerism, reinterpreted with irony and acumen through the alteration of their usual version.
Erwin WurmPASSIONE NOVECENTO. DA PAUL KLEE A DAMIEN HIRST (Until 8 January 2023)
The exhibition Passione Novecento. From Paul Klee to Damien Hirst, which from 24 September 2022 to 8 January 2023 will be hosted at the prestigious venue of Palazzo Medici Riccardi, where modern collecting was born at the time of Cosimo il Vecchio and Lorenzo Il Magnifico. The exhibition, curated by Sergio Risaliti and promoted by the Metropolitan City of Florence, hosts a prestigious selection of works by 20th-century masters from Florentine and Tuscan private collections. A journey through twentieth-century art built on a love for modern and contemporary art that continues, through a fil rouge, the history of the city in which artistic events and those of private collecting have been intertwined over the centuries, sowing in the territory a predisposition sensitive to the avant-garde and its most advanced experimentation. A precious opportunity to admire works by Paul Klee, Giorgio de Chirico, Giorgio Morandi, Alberto Savinio, Lucio Fontana and Alberto Burri, together with those by Andy Warhol and Roy Lichenstein, Cecily Brown and Tracey Emin. Thanks to the passion of collectors, born in particular in the 'rooms' and studios of Palazzo Medici, the autonomy of works of art was established, appreciated for themselves, cared for, contemplated and treasured.
Cortile Palazzo Medici RiccardiMOSTRA PLESSI. EMOZIONI DIGITALI (Until 18 November)
Tornabuoni Arte is dedicating to Fabrizio Plessi, one of the most important Italian video art artists, an exhibition that brings together more than thirty works from projects from the 1970s to the 1990s, up to the artist's most recent video production. Plessi is considered a pioneer, one of the first experimenters of digital matter in Italy, so much so that he has been defined as "the aborigine of digital". He is an artist who has been able to combine nature and artifice, art and technology, giving life to poetic creations of great evocative impact, where the primordial elements such as water, fire, lightning, and earth constantly recur in an unstoppable flow of images. In addition, from Wednesday 21 September 2022, those walking in Florence, along the very central Via Tornabuoni, will unexpectedly find themselves admiring an unprecedented video installation by Fabrizio Plessi that will animate the façade of Palazzo Bartolini Salimbeni, home of the Roberto Casamonti Collection.
Plessi Acqua