|
“You don’t look a gift horse in the mouth”, says a proverb which is probably unknown to the mayor of a charming town in the province of Milan.
Polemics are raging in Trezzo sull’Adda, in the province of Milan, where the mayor has hung up the agreements of the previous council and turned down the donation of an important art collection.
The heirs of De Micheli wanted to give the Town of Trezzo sull’Adda their rich family collection, which counts about 800 important pieces – including paintings, sculptures and drawings – but the league mayor Danilo Villa has turned it down. This rejection, which will dispossess the community of a rich heritage of Twentieth-century Italian art – and therefore of works by artists such as Cascella, Cassinari, Dova, Guttuso, Morlotti, Sassu and Treccani – came down like a cold shower, especially in virtue of the fact that, before July, the former council had gladly accepted this gift. But how is this possible? Could it be that behind this event there are concealed economic disadvantages or mere political dislikes?
The collector Mario de Micheli, an ex partisan, was a prominent figure of Milanese and Italian culture in the Fifties and Sixties, influential art critic, professor of the department of architecture at the Politecnico, excellent translator of Majakovskij and, first of all, author of the book Le avanguardie artistiche del Novecento (Twentieth-century artistic avant-gardes), published in 42 editions. The career, the commitment and the cultural preferences show without doubt the political faith of the deceased critic, in striking contrast with the one of the current council of Trezzo.
As De Micheli’s son, Gioxe, told the newspaper Corriere della Sera, back in the Eighties his father «gave the library of Trezzo more than 30 thousand precious volumes and about a hundred drawings realised by Guttuso, Cascella, Cassinari during the Resistance, giving life to a new section which attracts scholars from half of the world». After the death of their parents, who are both buried in Trezzo, Gioxe and his sister thought about giving the whole collection to the Town, in order to complete that mutilated collection and honour the memory and civil commitment of their loved ones.
Therefore, after a long bureaucratic wait, at last the donation became possible in June 2009. Moreover, that administration had also decided to give prominence to the new acquisition, by celebrating it with an exhibition of portraits dedicated to De Micheli realised by renowned artists. In July, the turning point and then the bitter surprise. The council changed and with it the previous decision about the donation: revoked – it is said – for economic issues.
So De Micheli’s heirs, absolutely astonished, wrote an open letter to the new mayor, which started as follows: «Dear mayor, why has the Council chaired by you refused to accept the donation of the important collection of modern and contemporary art put together by the great art critic and historian Mario De Micheli?». The letter, which bears the signature of influential figures of the cultural and artistic scene like Vittorio Sgarbi, Martina Corgnati, Vivian Lamarque, Mario Botta and Pinin Brambilla Barcilon, puts forward a due question: «why»?
In fact, there is no explanation for the rejection of such a generous offer, without any claims to negotiate the purchase or location of the collection. Yet the mayor Danilo Villa, in spite of being suspected of making a decision dictated by a clear political distance with respect to De Micheli, won’t listen to reason and is still adducing justifications of practical and financial character. «We don’t spaces to house these paintings. The previous council had even thought about a museum, and with regard to the rooms of the Castle, we have planned other types of cultural initiatives. Of course some pieces are valuable, but there is already the library section. Moreover, this “integration” has been kept for years in a basement, in inadequate conditions. It is true that this collection is held dear by the left wing, but politics has nothing to do with it, it is only an economic question».
On the other hand, Gioxe De Micheli, who learnt the news unofficially only in October, says that he had acted in good faith and was hoping to pay appreciated tribute to the community of Trezzo, but in particular he reconfirms that he did not lay any particular claims nor did he harbour presumptuous expectations, except for the hope of a decorous custody for the precious collection, and that at least it would not be destined to deteriorate in a basement.
So between thrusts and counter-thrusts – each time negative – the polemic heated up and the heirs of De Micheli, instead of swallowing the blow, decided not to give up: after being invited to “clear up” the public deposit where the works are kept, they set up a communal Committee which is supposed to host temporarily the collection, while waiting for a worthy home and an opportune valorisation.
This is all for now, the next pawn will be moved on 7th February, when a conference will be held, encouraged by the newly-formed Committee which is in favour of the donation. If even then the Town continues to pronounce against the donation, for the people of Trezzo – and not only – the last hope will be that someone able to attribute the due and deserved importance to culture, putting aside political inclinations or preferences, will take to heart the matter, making this precious heritage available to everyone.
|
Loading ...