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Revolutionary dabs of paint
The innovative style of the Tuscan Macchiaioli.
Montecatini's Terme Tamerici provides the venue for an exhibition celebrating the work of 27 Tuscan artists who were active in the second half of the nineteenth century. As promised by the show's title, Il Nuovo dopo la Macchia: orgini e affermazione del Naturalismo toscano, the exhibition traces the origins and evolution of the painters who came to be known as the "Macchiaioli". The movement began with a group of young artists who were united by the desire to reinvigorate Italian art and adopted a dramatically new approach to painting.
Working predominantly outdoors, in order to best capture natural light, shade, and color, the "Macchiaioli" abandoned traditional chiaroscuro techniques. They used spots or patches ('macchie') of color to create their images of the countryside and its inhabitants. This Tuscan Naturalism has often been cited as the precursor of the Impressionist movement which, shortly afterwards, overturned traditional concepts of art in France.
The 80 works exhibited, 20 of which are on display to the general public for the first time, bear the names of artists such as Giovanni Fattori, Silvestro Lega, Telemaco Signorini, Vincenzo Cabianca, Filadelfo Simi. The themes are those most favored by the Macchiaioli movement: rural landscapes and simple scenes from everyday life.
The exhibition is staged in the Terme Tamerici, which was built, together with Villa Schmitz, next to the thermal springs discovered here in 1843. In the early 1900s, the complex was restructured according to the style in vogue at the time, a style which liberally employed elements of Moorish Venetian, Tuscan Renaissance and Art Nouveau. The result is a building not dissimilar to a fairytale castle, complete with turrets, crenulations, and fountains named after the plants, which, since ancient times, have grown in the area.
Il Nuovo dopo la Macchia.
Orgini e affermazione del Naturalismo toscano
16 July 2009- 18 January 2010
Opening hours: from Tuesday to Sunday 10.00hrs - 20.00hrs
www.macchiaioli-montecatini.com
Terme Tamerici
Via delle Tamerici
Montecatini Terme (Pistoia)
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