GIOVANNI BOLDINI

Lo sguardo dell’anima

Curated by Tiziano Panconi

Palazzo Albergati, Bologna

29 october 2021 – 13 march 2022

On the occasion of the 90th anniversary of his death in Paris in 1931, Palazzo Albergati in Bologna is hosting an extraordinary exhibition dedicated to Giovanni Boldini, with over 90 magnificent works, from October 29, 2021 to March 13, 2022.

The charm of women, the sumptuous and rustling clothes, the Belle Époque, the salons: this is the overwhelming world of Giovanni Boldini, the genius of painting who more than anyone else was able to restore the rarefied atmosphere of an extraordinary era.

Literature and fashion, music and luxury, art and bistrot mingle in the sensual rhythm of the can-can and produce an extraordinary social and civil renaissance.

The anthological exhibition GIOVANNI BOLDINI. Lo sguardo nell’anima, developed on a chronological and thematic narrative register at the same time, presents a rich selection of works that best express Boldini’s manner, his ability to uniquely exalt female beauty and reveal the most intimate and mysterious souls of the noble protagonists of the time.

So here are famous works such as Mademoiselle De Nemidoff (1908), Portrait of the actress Alice Regnault (1884), The Countess Beatrice Susanna Henriette van Van Bylandt (1903), The Countess De Rasty lying down (1880 ca.), The voile blouse (1906 ca.).

Among the lenders of the works on display are the Museoarchives Giovanni Boldini Macchiaioli of Pistoia, which is responsible for cataloging the artist’s works, the Museo Giovanni Boldini of Ferrara, Musei di Nervi – Galleria d’arte Moderna – GAM of Genoa, Ca’ la Ghironda – ModernArtMuseum and many public and private collections.

A review that does not stop at the international experience and creative Boldini but, through some important works of comparison, also presents works by contemporary artists such as Vittorio Matteo Corcos, Federico Zandomeneghi, Gustave Leonard De Jonghe, Raimundo de Madrazo, Pompeo Massani, Gaetano Esposito, Salvatore Postiglione, José Villegas I Cordero, Alessandro Rontini, Ettore Tito, Cesare Saccaggi, Paul Cesar Helleu and Giuseppe Giani.

Curated by Tiziano Panconi, a leading expert on the artist, the exhibition enjoys the patronage of the Emilia Romagna Region and the Comune di Bologna, and is produced and organized by Arthemisia and Poema, in collaboration with Museoarchives Giovanni Boldini Macchiaoli of Pistoia, under the aegis of the Study Committee for the celebrations of the 90th anniversary of the death of Giovanni Boldini (1842-1931).

The “anniversary” exhibition is part of the celebrations for the 90th year since the death of Giovanni Boldini, under the aegis of a Study Committee appointed by the Comune di Ferrara and the Ferrara Arte Foundation, composed of renowned scholars, chaired by Vittorio Sgarbi and directed by Tiziano Panconi. Also part of it are Beatrice Avanzi (Mart, Rovereto), Loredana Angiolino, Maria Teresa Benedetti, Pietro Di Natale (director Ferrara Arte), Almerinda Di Benedetto (University Luigi Vanvitelli, Naples), Elena Di Raddo (University La Cattolica, Milan), Leo Lecci (University of Genoa), Marina Mattei, Gioia Mori (Academy of Fine Arts, Rome) and Lucio Scardino.

With the exhibition GIOVANNI BOLDINI. Lo sguardo nell’anima, the project “L’Arte della solidarietà” (The Art of Solidarity), carried out with Susan G. Komen Italia – the exhibition’s charity partner – is back on track. Combining art with health, beauty with prevention: this is the essence of a project that sees the pink color of Komen Italia blend with the masterpieces of art on display in the exhibition.

Concretely, a part of the proceeds coming from the sale of the entrance tickets of the exhibition will be devolved to the realization of specific projects of health protection; in this case they will be used to buy some “helmets” useful to avoid the hair loss during the chemotherapy, a theme of great sensibility for women.