 |
| Florence |
Florence was to be a 48 hour trip and then when I thought perhaps Gianni could join me, I prolonged it to three days - or nearly. Which turned into four days as I was stuck at Pisa airport for nearly 8 hours before we were informed that the plane was canceled. Not because of the snow in Paris but because of an army plane which was grounded on the runaway.
If it hadn’t been for Gianni, I would have stuck to my usual ritual of exhibitions and for once taking in the Uffizi and that would have been it. Instead as you can see from the above map, we walked Florence and saw an awful lot.
 |
Santa Maria Novella
|
Not being overwhelmed with churches, although I would have liked to see the Basilica di Santa Novella but it wasn’t open the couple of times we went.
I liked the Ognissanti Church. (All Saint’s Church) Not very impressive from the outside but baroque in the inside. It’s a Franciscan order completed at the beginning of the 13th century. What I liked about it was it felt «lived in» and sure enough there were monks wandering around lighting candles: the Christmas creche was still in place and a nun appeared and disappeared.
 |
| Outside the Orgnissanti |
 |
| Inside |
However, Florence is a beautiful city. Although I have been there three times, I have never really visited it. So thank you Gianni.
 |
| From the Uffizi |
 |
| A nice little restaurant with a romantic view |
 |
| Piazza Signoria. |
 |
| Looking back |
From a modern art point of view it leaves a lot to desire in my book. I had gone specifically for the «Francis Bacon and the Existential Condition of Contemporary Art». The day we arrived and trying to find out hotel without a map, we noticed a poster for «The Thirties. The Art in Italy Beyond Fascism». I was excited about this as the exhibition «Art in War» which I had seen several times in Paris had really enthralled me.
The following morning it was raining so we headed, just around the corner to the Palazzo Strozzi for the two exhibitions, starting with the 30’s.
 |
| De Chirico - Southern Song - 1930 |
The exhibition explores the 1930’s through art of of over 40 leading artists, mainly Italian of course. Most of them I did not know at all. These paintings tell the crucial story of an era characterized by a vibrant art scene which was the case all over Europe. Although this exhibition is described as «the Italian Path to modernity» I hardly felt that as the art was with the exception of a few painters such as De Chirico,(1888-1978) his brother Alberto Savino whom I knew nothing about, Morandi...was extremely classical and realistic.
 |
| Departure of the Prodigal Son 1932 |
Alberto Savino (1891-1852) is known for
his «men with beasts» rather like collages as a matter of fact. Out of
interest, he was an an Italian writer, painter, musician, journalist,
essayist, playwright, set designer and composer!
Surrealism creeps in but certainly not as we saw with the French or even German artists. Then there is the contrast of George Grosz (1893-1959) from Berlin and Pietro Gaudenzi (1812-1891 who was from a noble family. Propaganda is the order of the day. There is a lot of that.
 |
| Grosz - After he Questionning 1935 |
 |
| Pietro Gaudenzi - Wheat - 1940 |
 |
| Rizzo - The Nomad |
Rizzo (1897-1964, Sicilian) with his «The Nomad» (1929) is certainly futurist but as Rizzo had just been appointed as secretary fo the Fascist Fine Arts Union I don’t know what happened to his art later.
 |
| Marion Mafa 1939 |
Mario Mafa (Rome 1902-1965) was inspired but the urban destruction and redevelopment promoted in Rome by the Fascist regime.
 |
| Woman iat the café 1931 |
The poster which brought us into the
exhibition was by Antonio Donghi (Rome 1897-1963). He was described as a
magical realist in Rome in the first half of the 1920’s. A term I have
not seen before. But I liked this portrait from 1931. There is something
very quizzical about her face.
Following the exhibition in Paris, this was a radically different art movement and the few European artists, even Otto Dix, stood out against the traditional approach of the Italian .
But perhaps this is the case as modern art appears to be different from the Northern European. When we visited the Modern Art Museum in the Palazzo Pitti, I looked for modern art. Starting in the mid 19th century and closing at the beginning of the 20th, is NOT my definition of such. So, I learnt as I had in Rome, that Italy is not to be visited for modern or perhaps contemporary art.
Francis Bacon is someone I will follow around the world. This exhibition was a selection of his paintings set against some unfinished works by the artist. Body, memory and identity. The work by the other artists explores questions which we all ask ourselves in relationship to our own interior. There were a couple of works I liked. Especially the photographs of Annegret Soltau who is a German artist using threads of black wool to cover her face or her body.
 |
| Annegret Soltau1979-76 |
Chiharu Shiora (Japanese) also works in wool thread. Her work «Inside-Outside» makes me wonder if we didn’t see her installations as the Biennale some years ago.
 |
| Shiora Inside-Outside 2008 |
 |
| Dr Joseph - 2011 |
Adrian Ghenie is Romanian and although I wouldn’t want his work on my wall, it is reminiscent of Bacon but much more detailed and stressful for that matter.
 |
| Nathalie Djurberg - from Internet |
The video of Nathalie Djurberg’s dolls (daughter and mother) was more upsetting that I can describe, yet I am pretty sure that I have seen these dolls elsewhere. She’s a Swedish artist and I think we saw her in Venice in 2009. Perhaps some people can smile - this is a comic destructive art that I find hard to take.
Bacon(1909-92) of course I enjoyed immensely even more so as most of the paintings came from private collections so I may not see them again. His work maybe distorted and stressful for some and I doubt if I would have been recognizable in a portrait, but I do prefer his to Lucian Freud’s
 |
| Seated figure 1974 |
 |
| Seated Woman 1961 |
 |
| Portrait of Henrietta Moraes 1969 |
 |
| Untitled - 3 figures 1981 |
I wish we had spent more time in the European section of the Uffizi as there were many artists we are looking at in the courses at the Louvre but somehow we got involved in the early Italians. The «modern Uffizi» is about to see the day too - and the renovations are very up to date - but no modern art I presume?
Commentaires