Major Caravaggio Exhibition in Rome through June 13
 

If you enjoy Caravaggio's paintings and happen to be in Rome any time between now and late spring, you might want to take in the exhibition at the Scuderie del Quirinale, which marks the 400th anniversary of his death by displaying about two dozen of his major works. It runs through June 13, and ticket purchases are available online. Paintings come from the Uffizi, Borghese Gallery, and the Doria Pamphili, among other museums. The Quirinale's hours are unusually generous. It stays open until 8pm on Mondays through Thursdays and on Sundays and until 10:30pm on Fridays and Saturdays.

Consider me officially envious of anyone who gets to go :)

Here's an article from March 9 in the NY Times on Caravaggio & the exhibition: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/10/ar...tml?ref=design

Hello,

Does anyone know how long it takes, after the exhibit, for the paintings to go back to where they are normally displayed? I will miss the exhibit by about 12 days, and am hopeful that the paintings will be in their regular places to view.

Thanks!

Candice

Many museums keep paintings that have been loaned out in "quarantine" for weeks/months before re-hanging them in order to prevent the spread of molds/insects that they may have picked up while being away from their home museum. So it's hard to say between packing up and moving back and holding them off view to pass the quarantine time.

I made my reservation for this exhibit on April 20th and am very excited about going. I got the DVD set for Simon Schama's BBC series Power of Art and LOVED the portion on Caravaggio. Thus began my fascination with the art of Caravaggio. This shoul dbe a wonderful collection celebrating his art.

Oh Tiggy, I loved the whole Power of Art series.

There will be fewer paintings on display towards the end of the run -- I looked at the exhibition website a few weeks ago.

I saw it three weeks ago. The show is not huge but it is beautifully mounted.
Click on my name and you will find my trip report "Tedgale Italy Trip Report: Rome, Florence, Lucca, Cremona."
Also in Rome and well worth seeing: Edward Hopper.

tedgale:

Thanks for the heads-up about the Hopper exhibition at the Fondazione Roma (through June 13). One question: Did you need to get a special ticket for the Hopper, or was a regular admission ticket sufficient?

Here's some background on the exhibition for anyone interested:

The Edward Hopper exhibition, after the great success had at Palazzo Reale in Milan, will arrive in Rome at the Museo Fondazione Roma. The roman venue will add other masterpieces from American museums, be displayed in an original, engaging exhibition layout and a new edition of the catalogue will be published.

The exhibition is curated by Carter Foster, the Whitney Museum curator. Edward Hopper’s career is closely linked to the Whitney Museum of American Art, which hosted various exhibitions of his works from the first in 1920 at the Whitney Studio Club, to the memorable shows held in the museum in 1960, 1964 and 1980. Since 1968, thanks to the bequest of the artist’s widow Josephine, the Whitney has been home to his entire legacy: more than 2,500 works which include paintings, drawings and etchings.

Aside from the 160 works on show in the Milan exhibition, the Rome event will feature more of the artist’s great masterpieces, including the beautiful Self-Portrait of 1925-1930, as well as The Sheridan Theatre (1937), New York Interior (circa 1921), Seven A. M. (1948), and South Carolina Morning (1955) along with their preparatory drawings. These extraordinary paintings will complete the group of famous works exhibited in Milan, such as Summer Interior (1909), Pennsylvania Coal Town (1947), Morning Sun (1952), Second Story Sunlight (1960), A Woman in the Sun (1961) and the stunning Girlie Show (1941). The exhibition explores the whole of Hopper’s oeuvre, and all the techniques used by an artist now viewed as a great master of the twentieth century.

Most of the works are length by the Whitney Museum but also by other important American museums as the Brooklyn Museum of Art in New York, the Terra Foundation for American Art in Chicago and the Columbus Museum of Art.

Structured in seven sections according to chronological order and theme, the Italian exhibition covers Hopper’s entire oeuvre, from his education, to his years as a student in Paris, up to his “classic” and best-known period of the 1930s, 40s and 50s, closing with the large, intense images of his later years. The show explores all of the artist’s favourite techniques: oil, watercolour and etching, and devotes special attention to the fascinating relationship between his preparatory drawings and his paintings: a vital aspect of his work that up till now has not been greatly explored in the exhibitions dedicated to him. The exhibition also exceptionally includes one of his Artist’s ledger Book, the famous ledgers he and his wife compiled, and which contain sketches of many of his oil paintings. The visitor will have the opportunity, thanks to a touch screen, to glance through it.

The captivating layout designed by the team Master IDEA with the eye-catching, evocative settings is focused on the visitor’s interaction. The aim is to let visitors experience Hopper’s works as reconstructions of physical spaces, focusing above all on the architectural element. The audience enter the exhibition through an atmospheric nocturnal setting, with a reconstruction inspired by the bar of the famous painting Nighthawks, this entrance invites exhibition-goers to enter literally Hopper’s world and become part of the painting.

The exhibition also features a photographic, biographical and historical component, tracing American history from the 1920s to the 1960s: the Depression, the Kennedys, the boom years. An opportunity for greater insight into today’s global recession and Barack Obama’s America.

After Rome the exhibition will be displayed at the Fondation de l’Hermitage in Lausanne.

Regarding the Hopper exhibition, one of the Whitney's most famous holdings is "Early Sunday Morning." I think that one is still at the Whitney as I just saw it a few weeks ago.

The Whitney is currently holding the Whitney Biennial. The fifth floor usually displays the permanent collection, but this year they have used the fifth floor to display artists from the past Annuals/Biennials, and Hopper is represented there with "Early Sunday Morning."