SELECT EXHIBITIONS
Giorgio de Chirico: Metafisica continua
Galleria d'arte moderna, Palazzo Sarcinelli, Conegliano (Veneto), 11 October 2023 - 25 February 2024, curated by V. Noel-Johnson.
Organised in collaboration with Fondazione Giorgio e Isa de Chirico, this exhibition features over 70 artworks (paintings, works on paper, sculpture and the Mythologie lithograph series of 1934) from its collection, with a focus on the artist's Neometaphysical period (1968 - c. 1975). On the eve of the forthcoming centenary of Surrealism (1924-2024), which was greatly inspired by de Chirico's early Metaphysical work of the 1910s, the show and accompanying catalogue explore de Chirico and the Surrealists' different views towards the notions of "copying" and "imitation", in order to provide greater clarity over their 1926 fallout, as well as a detailed analysis of André Breton's 1923-1924 commission for de Chirico to execute a replica of his "Disquieting Muses" (1918).
The exhibition is accompanied by a fully-illustrated catalogue published by Grafiche Antiga, Treviso.
Lee Miller - Man Ray:
Fashion, Love, War
Organised at Palazzo Franchetti, Venice, 5 November 2022 - 10 April 2023, curated by V. Noel-Johnson.
Featuring 140 photographs and artworks by Lee Miller and Man Ray lent by the Lee Miller Archives (East Sussex, UK) and Fondazione Marconi (Milan), this exhibition seeks to reassess the couple's personal and professional relationship, which started in 1929. Typically overshadowed by the better-known Man Ray, the show examines Lee Miller's multi-faceted career including her early modelling career at "Vogue" (1927-1929) and the years 1929-1932 when she was Man Ray’s apprentice, assistant, artistic collaborator, model, muse and lover. As well as exploring points of contact in their work of 1929-1932, the exhibition also analyses Lee Miller’s career as an independent photographer in Paris and New York, her Surrealist-influenced photos of the South of France and Egypt in the late 1930s, and her celebrated Second World War fashion assignments and war reportage.
It is accompanied by a fully-illustrated catalogue published by Skira, Milan (editions in English and Italian).
Fulvio Roiter:
High-Rise New York
Curated by V. Noel-Johnson in collaboration with Fondazione Fulvio Roiter, held at Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò, NYU, New York, 10 September 2021 - 27 May 2022. Supported by the Istituto Italiano di Cultura of New York and under the auspices of the Consulate General of Italy in New York. Accompanying bilingual catalogue published by Skira, Milan.
Organised to mark the 20th anniversary of September 11, 2001, the exhibition consists of 35 colour photographs taken over the course of 1984-1998 by the internationally-acclaimed Italian photographer Fulvio Roiter (Meolo 1926 – Venice 2016). They collectively capture the beauty, strength, resilience and hope of the city and New Yorkers with a sense of poignant immediacy and timeless elegance. Roiter’s intimate portrait of New York and its inhabitants stands as a stoic reminder of life after death, of light after darkness.
Kay Sage and Yves Tanguy:
Ring of Iron, Ring of Wool
Helly Nahmad Gallery, New York, 9 May - 29 July 2023, curated by V. Noel-Johnson.
Featuring over 60 artworks lent by prestigious museums, institutions and private collections, this exhibition explores the work of Kay Sage (American, 1898-1963) and Yves Tanguy (French-American, 1900-1955), two eminent Surrealist artists who married in 1940. Inspired by Sage’s 1947 painting Ring of Iron, Ring of Wool, which references their seventh wedding anniversary, the show explores the different ways in which their personal and artistic trajectories gave rise to a reciprocal and dynamic exchange of ideas via creative osmosis, as emphasised by the silent dialogue generated by their respective poetic titles. As one of the few women Surrealists, particular emphasis is placed on Sage and lesser known aspects of her life and work, including her poetry, the key role she played in co-founding The Society for the Preservation of European Culture in 1939 (that enabled artists to escape Paris and travel to New York during WW2), as well as her input in supporting Tanguy’s work and safeguarding his legacy.
The exhibition is accompanied by a fully-illustrated catalogue published by Skira, Milan.
Joan Miró: The Essence of Past and Present Things
Organised at BAM - Musée des Beaux-Arts, Mons, Belgium, 8 October 2022 - 8 January 2023, curated by V. Noel-Johnson.
Consituting the first major survey of Miró's work in Belgium since 1956, this exhibition explores the Catalan artist’s work parallel to his traditional artistic formation and life-long rapport with the art of the past, an active interest that ranges from Primitivism, Romanesque art, the Italian and Dutch Renaissance, the 17th century Dutch ‘Golden Age’, Japanese painting and calligraphy, to modern Fauvism and Cubism.
Consisting of nearly 100 works that cover the artist’s entire career (starting with his earliest known painting: a landscape of 1908) with loans secured from prestigious public and private international collections including Fundació Pilar i Joan Miró (Palma de Mallorca) and Fundació Joan Miró (Barcelona).
It is accompanied by a fully-illustrated catalogue published by Snoeck Publications, Ghent (editions in English, French and Flemish).
Picasso, de Chirico e Dalì:
Dialogo con Raffaello
Curated by B. Avanzi and V. Noel-Johnson, MART - Museo di arte moderna e contemporanea di Rovereto e Trento, Rovereto, 2 May - 29 August 2021. Accompanying catalogue published by Silvana Editoriale, Milan, April 2021.
Featuring over 100 works from prestigious international collections, the exhibition Picasso, de Chirico e Dalì: Dialogo con Raffaello constitutes the first in-depth study of how all three modern masters were inspired by Raphael in wholly different ways, the Old Master's work providing an inescapable example of grace, balance and renewed classicism. Originally organised to celebrate the 500th anniversary of Raphael's death (1520-2020), the exhibition consists of eight sections, five of which are theme-based: The School of Athens, The Fire in the Borgo, Maternity: Sacred and Profane, The Marriage of the Virgin, and La Fornarina. Important loans have been lent by Musée National Picasso (Paris), Musée d'Orsay (Paris), Fundaciò Gala e Salvador Dalì (Figueres), The Dalì Museum (St. Petersburg, Florida), Musée Ingres Bourdelle (Montauban), The Uffizi (Florence), Museo del Novcento (Milan), Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna (Rome) and Fondazione Giorgio e Isa de Chirico (Rome).
de Chirico e Ventrone.
La vittoria della pittura
Curated by V. Sgarbi and V. Noel-Johnson, this exhibition explores points of contact present in Giorgio de Chirico's metaphysical still lives and those by the contemporary artist Luciano Ventrone's hyper-realistic still life works. Organised by Fondazione Erice Arte del Comune di Erice and Fondazione Ettore Majorana in collaboration with Fondazione Giorgio e Isa de Chirico, the show was hung in two venues: Istituto Wigner–San Francesco and Polo Museale “Antonino Cordici”, Erice, Sicily, 14 June-4 November 2021.
Accompanied by a fully-illustrated catalogue published by Il Cigno Editoriale, Rome, June 2021.
Giorgio de Chirico.
Il volto della Metafisica
(The Changing Face of Metaphysical Art)
Curated by V. Noel-Johnson, The Doge's Apartments, Palazzo Ducale, Genoa, 30 March - 1 September 2019. Accompanying catalogue published by SKIRA Editore, Milan, 2019 (separate Italian and English editions). Exhibition organised by ViDI in collaboration with Fondazione Giorgio e Isa de Chirico.
Organised to coincide with the centenary (1919) of de Chirico's so called stylistic volte-face, the exhibition's revisionist stance seeks to illustrate how the artist's post-1918 work constitutes a sophisticated evolution of his understanding of metaphysics, despite radical changes in style, technique, subject matter and palette. It features c. 100 works executed throughout de Chirico's career (1910s - 1970s) lent by numerous public and private collections including La Galleria Nazionale (Rome), MART (Rovereto), Galleria d'Arte Moderna (Florence) and Banca d'Italia (Rome).
Giorgio de Chirico a Castel del Monte. Il labirinto dell'anima
Exhibited at UNESCO World Heritage site.
Curated by V. Noel-Johnson and M. Tocci, Castel del Monte, Puglia, 16 April – 28 August 2011. Accompanying catalogue (English and Italian) published by Silvana Editoriale, Milan, 2011. Exhibition organised by Alef – Cultural Project Management and Fondazione Giorgio e Isa de Chirico.
Luciano Ventrone.
La grande illusione
Curated by V. Noel-Johnson (conceived by V. Sgarbi and L. Zichichi), MART - Museo di arte moderna e contemporanea di Rovereto e Trento, Rovereto, 9 October 2020 - 18 April 2021. Accompanying catalogue published by Il Cigno GG Edizioni, Rome, October 2020.
As part of the Caravaggio e i contemporanei project (conceived by V. Sgarbi), the exhibition examines the fascinating rapport between Ventrone's ultra-realistic still lifes and Caravaggio's own work.
Giorgio de Chirico.
Metaphysical Visions
First de Chirico exhibition in Russia.
Curated by G. Mercurio in collaboration with V. Noel-Johnson and T. Goryacheva, The State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, 23 April - 23 July 2017. Accompanying catalogue (Russian-English and Italian editions) published by Antiga Edizioni, Treviso, 2017. Exhibition organised by PONTE Organisation für kulturelles Management in collaboration with Fondazione Giorgio e Isa de Chirico and Istituto Italiano di Cultura (Moscow).
Giorgio de Chirico
e l'oggetto misterioso
Curated by V. Noel-Johnson in collaboration with S. Bartolena, Il Serrone, Villa Reale, Monza, 27 September 2014 – 1 February 2015. Accompanying catalogue published by Silvana Editoriale, Milan, 2014. Exhibition organised by ViDI and Fondazione Giorgio e Isa de Chirico.
Giorgio de Chirico.
La suggestione del classico.
Curated by V. Noel-Johnson, S. D’Angelosante and M. Romito, Galleria Civica d’Arte, Cava de’ Tirreni, 24 October 2009 - 14 February 2010; followed by Scuderie del Castello Visconteo, Pavia, 6 March - June 2010. Accompanying catalogue (English and Italian) published by Silvana Editoriale, Milan, 2009. Exhibition organised by Alef – Cultural Project Management and Fondazione Giorgio e Isa de Chirico.
La natura secondo de Chirico /
Nature according to de Chirico
Curated by A. Bonito Oliva, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome, 9 April - 11 July 2010. Sub-sections curated by L. Massimo Barbero, L. Cherubini, S. D'Angelosante, V, Noel-Johnson, F. Poli, K. Robinson and V. Trione. Accompanying catalogue (English and Italian editions) published by Federico Motta Editore, Milan, 2010. Exhibition organised by Azienda Speciale Palaexpo.