Take the trek outside Florence’s center to Villa il Palmerino, a little slice of paradise where an eclectic exhibition is currently taking place. Private Mythologies puts the spotlight on two important, yet oft-overlooked expatriate painters of the twentieth century: Elisabeth Chaplin and Lola Costa. Chaplin was a French-born artist whose work has been compared to Cezanne’s. English-born Costa made her home in the villa. Understanding Costa’s aesthetic and abundant sources of inspiration is easy after a visit to the lush gardens surrounding the space.
The exhibition is part of Women Artists of the 1900s, an ongoing series designed to highlight creative female figures who worked in Florence and the surrounding areas during the twentieth century. The series was inaugurated with the exhibition’s opening on April 28. Speakers at the event included Cristina Acidini, superintendent of Florence’s Polo Museale; Linda Falcone, director of the Advancing Women Artists Foundation; Giovanna Giusti, director of the Uffizi’s department of nineteenth-century and contemporary art; Marilena Mosco, former director of the Pitti Palace’s Silver Museum and Porcelain Museum; and Margherita Ciacci of New York University in Florence.
The exhibition is open daily from 3–7:30pm, or by appointment, until May 17.
