Until now Italy has never held a complete and comprehensive exhibition on 20th-century American painting. There have only been occasional monographic exhibitions. The event in San Marino certainly does not aim at achieving this goal as it is presenting only about twenty works. However, it represents the first circumstance in which, through famous names, the history of 20th-century American painting is at least retraced from start to end.
From Hopper to Warhol. 20th-century American painting in San Marino, curated by Marco Goldin, is to be held at Palazzo SUMS until 3rd June (in parallel with the large exhibition in Rimini From Vermeer to Kandinsky. Masterpieces from world museums in Rimini – read the article), by wish of the Savings Bank Fondazione San Marino-Sums, of the Republic of San Marino, State Office for Education and Culture and State Office for Tourism and Sport, by SUMS (Società Unione Mutuo Soccorso) of the Republic of San Marino and Linea d’ombra, with the contribution of Gruppo SIT and Del Conca.
The exhibition takes into consideration all the main moments, from Edward Hopper’s realism on the one hand to Thomas Hart Benton’s on the other, up to the very particular experience of Georgia O’Keeffe. The first names already give an idea of how extraordinary this exhibition is, with Hopper’s righteous and stunning realism, the so-called regional vision of Benton and the dryness in which O’Keeffe’s description and metaphysics are blended.
The first stage is followed by the unforgettable one of the great American abstraction. The exhibition divides this section into one which is more gestural and another in which colour seems to be spread free and even indicate the sense of construction and shape. It includes all the most famous names, starting from Jackson Pollock with two paintings, the first dated 1949 and the other 1952. And then Franz Kline, with a large painting dated 1960, the best moment of his career.
On an intermediate register, the exhibition is presenting the works of an extraordinary artist who works on signs declined on the large and often almost monochrome surface. It is the case of Arshile Gorky who more than others was able to render the charm of writing mixed with the matter of a thickened colour.
And all made of colour is also the experience of Mark Rothko, Sam Francis and Morris Louis. From different points of view, they insist on the marvel of a structure that becomes charm, perspective and very often silence.
Clearly, particular attention is paid to the works of the two highest representatives of Pop Art, Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein, starting from a famous version, from the former of the two, of Jacqueline Kennedy (Jackie, 1964), therefore at the height of the historical climate of Pop Art. Finally, the exhibition ends with the homage to the greatest American painter who reconnects extraordinarily to Hopper’s realism. It is Andrew Wyeth, whose provincial house façades, so white in the sunlight, are the quintessence of the heroic vision of painting. But the last image will be a large painting by Keith Haring, one of the most celebrated American artists of the last decades.
The exhibition in San Marino has been made possible thanks to the precious help in terms of loans of few, very prestigious US institutions: the Museum of Fine Arts of Boston, the Wadsworth Atheneum of Hartford, Chicago’s Terra Foundation for American Art, the Broad Art Foundation of Santa Monica and New York’s Adelson Gallery.
Until 3rd June 2012
From Hopper to Warhol. 20th-century American painting in San Marino
Palazzo SUMS
Via G. B. Belluzzi, 1 – San Marino, 47890 – Republic of San Marino
Website: www.lineadombra.it
Tel: (0039) 0422.429999
Opening times: from Monday to Friday from 10 am tp 6 pm; Saturday and Sunday from 10 am to 7 pm.
Entrance: full 5 euros; reduced 3 euros.
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