Situated in the quiet, lush greenery of the Villa Borghese, the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna is a grand, white, columned building preceded by a modern art sculpture inviting visitors to its haven of contemporary art. Founded in 1883, the present Galleria's home was built in 1911 as a Greek-like temple dedicated to the art it holds, following on the 20th century notion of the museum as a place of authority and an institution in which to view art. Committed to the archiving and exhibition of 19th and 20th century Italian aritists and international contemporary art, the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna continues to look to the present and uphold its mission to "represent 'living' art."
Museum curator Matilda and museum intern Allie were our hosts and guides to the Galleria's exhibitions. The 19th century Italian artists' exhibitions began with the Salone dell'Ercole, of which the centerpiece is Antonio Canova's Neo-Classical sculpture Ercole e Lica (Hercules and Lica) (1815). The surrounding rooms are arranged regionally by the different schools of art, in accordance with Italy's political situation in 1893: La Sala della Psiche, named for Pietro Tenerani's La Psiche Svenuto, holds the works of 19th century academic painters who were inspired by the Roman ruins, marking a shift towards Romanticism in Italian painting. La Sala della Saffo on the other hand, is dedicated to works from the Macchiaioli school of painting which focused more on style than content, shifting into Impressionism and everyday subject matter, thus creating the first modern art.
Our tour of the 20th century art commenced with works by Alberto Burri, who concentrated on the materiality of the canvas as a work of art in itself [Grande Sacco (1952), Grande Legno G59 (1959), Grande Rosso P n. 18 (1964)]. Le Tre Eta (1905) by Gustav Klimt, and a lesson in Futurism with works by Giacomo Balla followed. Interested in illness, madness, social issues, and people in the streets, Balla's I Malati (1903) is the first painting of electric shock therapy. Next, we were introduced to Avant-Garde art, which encompasses artistic movements such as Cubism, Dadaism, and Surrealism. A pair of Cubist paintings by Gino Severini and Georges Braque showed the juxtaposition of the Italian (more Romantic color and composition) and French (more scientific and geometric) Cubist styles respectively.
The tour ended with a look at the Galleria's tribute to American artist Cy Twombly, a "neo-Dadaist" who creates works in an Abstract Expressionist style, using dramatic brush strokes to create Post-Modern representations of the four seasons in the four part Quattro Stagioni (The Four Seasons) (1994). Our three hours in the museum was a lavishly-illustrated walk through art history of the 19th and 20th century, which gave us a small but rich taste of Italian modern art.
Elizabeth Tan
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