Ai WeiWei Libero en el Palazzo Strozzi

Ai WeiWei es un artista y activista contemporáneo que se ha hecho muy popular durante los últimos años debido a sus reivindicativas obras conocidas internacionalmente. Se ha convertido en una de las personas más influyentes de nuestro tiempo y en un símbolo de la lucha por la libertad de expresión gracias a sus reivindicaciones políticas y su investigación artística.

Ahora y hasta el 22 de enero Florencia ofrece la oportunidad de conocer más acerca de este autor que se inspira en Andy Warhol o Marcel Duchamp a la hora de realizar algunos de sus trabajos. La muestra, Ai WeiWei Libero, se podrá visitar en el Palazzo Strozzi, en pleno centro de la ciudad, y ofrece un recorrido por obras históricas y actuales del artista: instalaciones monumentales, esculturas y objetos significativos, videos, fotografías... una inmersión en el mundo del arte y la biografía personal de Ai WeiWei. 

La cultura, política e historia china está muy presente en esta exposición que se configura con todo tipo de objetos y materiales: bicicletas, taburetes, piezas de LEGO, madera, porcelana... 

Si quieres descubrir la muestra no dudes en acercarte al Palazzo Strozzi antes del 22 de enero del próximo año.

Contact us! info@istitutoeuropeo.it - www.istitutoeuropeo.it

Like us! Facebook Istituto Europeo

International Art History Through Film: Palazzo Strozzi Summer Events

Palazzo Strozzi, known for its culture and art related events, put together a program to celebrate the summer in Florence. This Thursday, July 16, the final event of the program will be taking place. Cinema D'Artista will celebrate the art of cinema by showing a film about the power art has to connect the past and present. Les Statues Meurent Aussi by Chris Marker and Alan Resnais was a well received documentary in 1953, and Palazzo Strozi hopes the ideas will connect viewers with the concept behind the current sculpture exhibition at the museum, Sculptures Also Die. 

The film will begin at 21:00, in the Palazzo Strozzi courtyard, which will be transformed into a theater space for the viewing. It will be shown in the original language (French) with Italian subtitles, and the visuals promise to be captivating. 

After Les Statues Meurent Aussi, Palazzo Strozzi will screen another film, It for Others. This video, made by Irish artist Duncan Campbell, won the 2014 Turner Prize for its reinterpretation of the 1953 French film. This video portrays modern perspective and reflections on history, society, and politics, and the power art has over them. If you are an art history lover, film buff, or simply interested in diving deeper into the fantastic cultural events Florence has to offer, this is a wonderful option for a way to spend Thursday evening. 

Contact us! info@istitutoeuropeo.it - www.istitutoeuropeo.it

Like us! Facebook Istituto Europeo

Arising out of Rivalry, Palazzo Strozzi Now Hosts the Biggest Art Exhibitions in Florence

by Laura Tressel

What happens when a feud between the two biggest families in Florentine history causes property rivalry? Grand palaces get built. The Medici and Strozzi families were both very big powers in the city around the 1400s and 1500s. When the Medici banned the Strozzi family from Florence in 1434, Filippo Strozzi the Elder moved to Naples, where his skills as a banker made him very wealthy. He returned to Florence in 1466 after reconciling with the Medici. He decided he wanted to show off his success in a way that would make it obvious to the Medici that his family was relevant to the power play.

He commissioned Palazzo Strozzi to be built on via Tornabuoni, and he wanted it to be spectacular. The original building was designed by Benedetto da Maiano, then handed over to Simone del Pollaiolo in 1490. The Palace wasn't completely finished until 1538, and Filippo died before he could see the finished product. One thing that makes the building special, is that unlike Palazzo Medici which was built on a corner with only two walls exposed to streets, Palazzo Strozzi is surrounded by streets on all four sides, giving it a strong and independent presence. The Strozzi family remained in possession of the palace until 1937, and afterwards it became managed by the City of Florence.

Now, Palazzo Strozzi is used to host the largest temporary exhibitions in Florence. It has a permanent exhibition year-round on the history of the Palazzo on the ground floor along with a café. In the areas of Piano Nobile and Strozzina, the museum hosts three other exhibitions throughout the year. Currently on display is the sculpture exhibit, "Anche le Sculture Muoiono". Before that, there was an exhibit of bronze sculptures of the Hellenistic world titled, "Power and Pathos". Starting in September, the Palazzo will feature works of "Divine Beauty from Van Gogh to Chagall and Fontana". Whatever the museum has on display is sure to impress. In the past, they have hosted exhibitions with extraordinary numbers of visitors, such as "Botticelli and Filippino Lippi", which was Italy's most visited exhibition in 2004.

Besides art exhibitions, the Palazzo Strozzi Foundation focuses on events that will connect visitors with the city, beyond the walls of the palace. The events calendar on their website changes throughout the year, and aims to expand the experiences of culture and history for people of all ages and backgrounds. It also hosts workshops for schools and a variety of other programs to encourage people to delve deeper into art education and experience.

Contact us! info@istitutoeuropeo.it - www.istitutoeuropeo.it

Like us! Facebook Istituto Europeo

Museum Exhibits: "Anche Le Sculture Muoiono," Palazzo Strozzi

July is the last month to visit the exhibit "Anche Le Sculture Muoiono" now on display at Palazzo Strozzi. The title translates to "Sculptures Also Die," and is centered around contemporary sculpture. The exhibit features work by thirteen artists, Italian as well as international. The artists featured in this collection have incorporated the use of materials and textures that relate the past and present of art in their works. 

According to the curator of the Strozzi exhibit, Lorenzo Benedetti, "Consumed in the immediacy of the present, the transformation of its meaning and value, and the “death” of its original state, the exhibition allows to measure the passage of time, responding to the need to look towards an indeterminate future."

Artists featured display particular themes in their work, such as the use of 3D techniques in a modern manner to explore culture, the nature and use of certain materials, the distortion and fragmentation of sculpture, and more. The exhibit is aimed to create conversation and thought about the impact of sculpture beyond just art, and into the politics and cultures of society. It will run until July 26 at Palazzo Strozzi, located in the heart of Florence's historic city center. This is a great opportunity to experience contemporary artwork in a city known for it's renaissance culture. 

Contact us! info@istitutoeuropeo.it - www.istitutoeuropeo.it

Like us! Facebook Istituto Europeo

Florencia acoge la colección “Picasso and spanish modernity”

El Palazzo Strozzi de Florencia, situado en la Piazza Strozzi, nos deleita con una muestra de cerca de 90 obras, la mayoría de Picasso, pertenecientes al Museo Reina Sofía. La exposición, que comenzó el 20 de septiembre, estará presente hasta el 25 de enero de 2015.

La modelo y el Pintor, de Picasso

Por Ana Peinado

La colección, llamada Picasso y la Modernidad Española muestra más de 40 obras del pintor malagueño, incluidas tanto esculturas, dibujos, grabados como esculturas, como el Retrato de Dora Maar, imagen que inunda las calles florentinas anunciando la exposición . Además de otras famosas obras del artista como Busto y paleta o El pintor y la modelo, que permiten reflexionar sobre la influencia que tuvo el artista, junto con la de los más de 35 artistas representados en esta colección, a ubicar el arte moderno español en terreno internacional.

Entre otros artistas, destacan en esta colección obras famosas como Siurana, el camino, de Miró; El violín, de Juan Gris; Composición cósmica, de Óscar Domínguez o Arlequín, de Salvador Dalí.

Si estás en la ciudad florentina o deseas venir, no te puedes perder la exposición. Aprovecha los descuentos para menores de 26 años que brinda el museo.

Para más información, consultar la página del Palazzo Strozzi: 

http://www.palazzostrozzi.org/index.jsp

Contact us! info@istitutoeuropeo.it - www.istitutoeuropeo.it

Like us! Facebook Istituto Europeo

Visible listening: Pontormo and Rosso Fiorentino Art Exhibition in Florence

Palazzo Strozzi offers everyone a chance to shape their own encounter with art

Author: Gayane Simonyan

Palazzo Strozzi is hosting a major exhibition entitled “Pontormo and Rosso Fiorentino. Diverging Paths of Mannerism from 8 March to 20 July 2014. The exhibition is devoted to the work of Pontormo and of Rosso Fiorentino, the two painters: original and unconventional adepts of the new way of interpreting art in that season of the Italian Cinquecento which Giorgio Vasari called the 'modern manner'.

Born in the same year- 1494- just kilometers apart (one just outside Empoli and the other in Florence) and trained in the workshops of the same renowned Florentine masters, Pontormo and Rosso came to be referred to by 20th century scholarship as the twins of the “modern manner” or of “Mannerism”.

Pontormo: Portrait of Cosimo the Elder 1518-9; oil on panel;
87 x 67 cm. Florence, Galleria degli Uffizi.  Cosimo de' Medici sits on a throne bearing his name.
A young bay tree, with one branch cut and another bearing leaves, has a scroll wrapped around it with the motto "uno avulso non deficit alter" meaning "when one is plucked away another shall not be wanting", alluding to the renewal of the Medici Family. The picture may have been commissioned, before his death in 1519, by Cosimo's descendant Lorenzo, Duke of Urbino, whose arms were a branch blossoming anew.

Both trained under Andrea del Sarto while maintaining a strongly independent approach and enormous freedom of expression. Pontormo, always a favourite with the Medici, was a painter open to stylistic variety and to a renewal of the traditional approach to composition. Rosso Fiorentino, on the other hand, was more tightly bound to tradition, yet at the same time he was fully capable of flights of originality and innovation, influenced also by Cabalistic literature and esoteric works.

This exhibition opted for a broad and multifaceted overview of the two great painters' masterpieces, according priority to the formal splendour and lofty poetry of Pontormo and of Rosso Fiorentino so that the exhibition appeals in its clarity not only to the specialists in this field but also to a wider audience thanks to themed sections set out in chronological order.

Rosso Fiorentino: Madonna and Child with four Saints 1518; oil on panel;
172 x 141.5 cm. Florence, Galleria degli Uffizzi.
Leonardo Buonafede, master of the hospital of Santa Maria Nuova, commissioned this altarpiece from Rosso to comply with the last wishes of Catalan widow who left the hospital a legacy.
Intended for a chapel in Ognissanti, Buonafede rejected it because, as Vasari tells us, he thought "all those saints were devils". Rosso left the panel unfinished and it was completed , possibly by Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio, in a rather slapdash manner: notice Mary's hands on the Christ Child's four eyes.

This is a more or less unique event that brought together for the very first time a selection of masterpieces by the two artists in Italian and foreign collections, many of them specially restored for the occasion.

The exhibition consists of 10 rooms from 4 to 15 pictures in each. There’s also a reading room for those who want to gain a bit more information about the exhibition and the painters.

Starting from the first room you can find the best pieces of the two painters. Specialising in Italian painting from 14th to sixteenth century, the Moretti gallery is honoured to have made possible the restoration of the Visitation by Pontormo.

Pontormo: The Penitent St. Jerome c. 1529- 30; oil on panel; 105 x 80 cm. Hanover,
Niedersächsisches Forstplanungsamt Hannover.

This unfinished painting, like the Madonna and Child, is generally dated to 1529–30 on account of the affinity of both with the Ten Thousand Martyrs that Vasari tells us was painted during the siege. 

Restoration and scientific exams have added to our knowledge of Pontormo’s creative process: using chequering, he would produce a cartoon based on his final drawing, then trace the silhouettes on the panel’s thin layer of priming using a pointed metal chisel. 

The first aim of the exhibition is to attempt to clarify the ideology inclination of the two and their ensuring expressive choices, perhaps taking advantage of the circumstances to prompt renewed caution towards the use of pithy labels that never aid either reflection or dissemination.

Contact us! info@istitutoeuropeo.it - www.istitutoeuropeo.it

Like us! Facebook Istituto Europeo