The site of one of the first Avant-Garde movements, Uzbekistan is home to a vibrant artistic culture, which is yet to receive the global attention it warrants. The Palazzo Pitti’s new joint exhibition with Ca’ Foscari in Venice, Uzbekistan: The Avant-garde in the Desert, seeks to correct this, with an in-depth look at the early avant-garde paintings of the 1920s and 1930s, as well as the rich textile tradition in the central Asian country.
Mostly composed of canvas paintings, the exhibition collects works from the National Museum of Tashkent and the Savitsky Museum in Nukus, with 150 individual pieces from a range of notable Uzbek artists.
Light and color is the specific focus of Florence’s section of the broader exhibition shared with Ca’ Foscari in Venice. The vividness of the paintings, which depict individual characters, architecture, and scenes of daily life, is attributed to their desert setting and its unique luminosity. As such, the effect of the light characterizes the bold observational pieces and allows the viewer to immerse themselves in the depicted environment.
Beyond the use of color, the choices of subject matter bring the atmosphere of Central Asian desert cities to the fore, with the bustling urban centres set against a powerful backdrop of tradition and a changing global climate during the early 20th century. The historic silk road connections place Uzbekistan at the crossroads of numerous global visual cultures, including Asian, Middle Eastern and Russian, elements of which can be discerned in the art’s symbolic connotations.
Alongside the collection of paintings, the Uzbek textile art tradition is documented by tapestries, carpets and clothing items that frame the central display. The bold colors of the textiles contextualize those worn in the paintings and help bring the scenes to life.
Uzbekistan: The Avant-garde in the Desert is on display from April 16 to June 30 at Palazzo Pitti’s Andito degli Angiolini. Entrance to the exhibit is included in the main ticket to the Palazzo Pitti, which can be booked online.
