Milan’s Palazzo Reale fetes native sixteenth-century painter Giuseppe Arcimboldo (1527-1593) with the show, Arcimboldo: Milanese Artist between Leonardo and Caravaggio, running until May 22. Famous for his unique portrait compositions made of flora and fauna, Arcimboldo worked extensively in Northern Europe, and the show features loans from the Kunshistorisches Museum in Vienna and collections in Stockholm, Munich, Madrid, New York as well as the Louvre. In addition to paintings, the exhibit also displays an array of the artists’ cameos, vases, precious arms and armour, fine textiles, medals and sculptures.
Concurrently, Palazzo Reale is hosting a retrospective on Giorgio de Chirico’s artist-brother, Alberto Savinio. Running until June 12, Alberto Savinio: La Commedia dell’Arte, showcases over 100 artworks by Savinio, 10 of which have never been displayed in public. A precursor to the postmodern movement, Savinio’s ecentric and onirical works were influenced by Surrealism; for more information on both shows, and others at Palazzo Reale, see www.artpalazzoreale.it.
The Luigi Pecci Centre of Contemporary Art’s outpost in Milan, the Centro Pecci Milano (Ripa di Porta Ticinese 113), recently opened Invitation to Travel, a show highlighting some of the most important contemporary works in the museum’s permanent collection. Running until April 22, the show includes as its centrepieces Gilberto Zorio’s The Canoe, Loris Cecchini’s Steelorbitalcoocons, and Enzo Cucchi’s 1989 bas relief, Montagne. For more information, see www.centropecci.it.
In the province of Varese, the Museo Arte Gallarate – MAGA, is hosting an extensive exhibition on twentieth-century Swiss-Italian artist Alberto Giacometti. Running until June 5, Giacometti: Spirit of the Twentieth Century, gathers over 100 works, many of which have rarely been seen in Europe, among them sculptures, paintings and designs representing Giacometti’s entire artistic career. For more information, see www.museomaga.it.
Rome’s National Museum of XXI Century Arts, known as MAXXI, recently opened two exhibits focused on one of Italy’s best-known contemporary artists. Michelangelo Pistoletto: From One to Many, 1956-974, features over 100 works by Pistoletto on loan from public and private collections in Italy and the United States. Complementing the exhibit, a second show, co-sponsored with the Philadelphia Museum of Art, focuses on Cittadellarte, the workshop and cultural centre Pistoletto founded in his birthplace, Biella, in 1998. Both shows run until August 15. For more information, see www.fondazionemaxxi.it.
The European punk movement finds a home and a stage at the French Academy in Rome (Villa Medici, viale Trinità dei Monti 1) with Europunk: The Visual Culture of Punk in Europe, 1976-80, running until March 20. The first such exhibition to focus on the artistic dimension of the 1970s punk movement, it examines how 1970s punk and its exponents influenced graphic designers, illustrators, image makers and agitators. For more information, see www.villamedici.it.
