Ferrara gearing for rare Chardin show
18th-century artist influenced Matisse, Cezanne
02 September, 13:48
(ANSA) - Ferrara, September 2 - Experts in this central
Italian city are hard at work preparing for Italy's first ever
show on one of France's most influential artists,
Jean-Baptiste-Simeon Chardin (1699-1779).The exhibition at Ferrara's Palazzo dei Diamanti is not due to start until autumn 2010 but preparations are already under way.
The advance work is essential owing to the small number of surviving works by Chardin, around 100 in total.
Their rarity means they are loaned out only on exceptional occasions and with extremely high insurance costs, explained Ferrara's Culture Director Andrea Buzzoni who is closely involved in organizing the event. However, Palazzo dei Diamanti has already arranged around 60 loans for the autumn from Europe's top museums, including the Louvre, the National Gallery in London and the National Gallery in Edinburgh. Buzzoni has admitted the cost of securing the loans has been high, particularly in view of the current financial crisis.
But he said it was important to remember the value of culture and beauty in periods of difficulty. "We should forge ahead more than ever in such times," he said. "It is important not to let problems stand in the way, and equally important that we should not fall back on the same, tired old exhibit ideas". The decision to spotlight work by Chardin was an unusual one, as his work is not widely known in Italy, Buzzoni explained. "Chardin is a pivotal artist, with a past and contemporary following, beloved both of artists and of philosophers, and who enjoyed an unparalleled critical success," he said.
"However, he is little known among the public outside France". Buzzoni hopes the exhibit will illuminate Italian museum-goers about the artist once described by writer Denis Diderot as "a great magus of daily life.
Unlike most of his contemporaries, Chardin received no formal training, spent his entire life in Paris and had little interest in the grand, elaborate, historic themes that were popular at the time. Instead, he was fascinated by realism and preferred to paint still lifes and, later, domestic scenes, including servants and the bourgeoisie. Although these were unusual subject choices for the time, his work had numerous well-placed admirers, including Louis XV.
Chardin's influence on later artists is widely recognized among critics, who have cited Edouard Manet, Paul Cezanne, Giorgio Morandi and Henri Matisse as among those indebted to his influence. The exhibition will run in Ferrara from October 2010 until January 2011, after which it will move onto the Prado in Madrid, which is helping organize the show. photo: 'Large Pine', Cezanne (1890-96)
