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Italian Arts & Design: The 20th Century opens at the ROM on October 28

Toronto’s Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) proudly presents Italian Arts & Design: The 20th Century. On display at the ROM from Saturday, October 28, 2006 until Sunday, January 7, 2007, in the Museum’s newly renovated third floor Centre Block, Italian Arts & Design showcases nearly 300 highly representative works of 20th-century Italian art and design, including a full range of objects from furniture and glass to textiles and ceramics, as well as paintings, sculpture, photography, and architectural drawings. Many objects in the exhibition have never before been on public display. Italian Arts & Design was produced by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in co-operation with the Royal Ontario Museum and the Museo Mart (Museo d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto), Rovereto, Italy.

Robert Little, Mona Campbell Curator of European Decorative Arts in the ROM’s World Cultures Department, and curator of Italian Arts & Design at the ROM states, “This stunning exhibition provides a unique opportunity to enjoy a range of works from across the spectrum of 20th-century Italian art and design, all brought together in one place, that would be impossible to experience otherwise.”

The 20th century represents an extraordinary story of achievement in Italian design. Through a great period of industrialization and technological innovation, Italy developed its regional and craft-based tradition, leading the way in international industrial design. While any examination of the history of Italian design includes its cultural and artistic dimension, there has never before been a study of the link between experimentation in fine art and innovative industrial design in Italy during the 20th century. Italian Arts & Design is a groundbreaking investigation of these connections, as it explores the diverse ways of seeing, interpreting and representing industrial Italian society through the eyes of its architects, artists and designers. In almost every decade, new philosophies and new aesthetics were powerfully expressed, giving rise to ideas that profoundly affected the cultural debate on art and design.

The ROM has contributed several outstanding objects from its Textiles & Costume, Earth Sciences and European Decorative Arts collections to the Toronto engagement of Italian Arts & Design. Among these is a distinctive, richly coloured dress by Emilio Pucci and the Delphos, a finely pleated silk evening dress by Mariano Fortuny. A pair of 18 karat white and yellow gold Acorn earrings and a Leaf necklace, comprised of 77 round brilliant diamonds and one single cut diamond weighing approximately three carats, are from the House of Buccellati.

Also among the dramatic jewellery on display is a diamond and platinum brooch, designed by Bulgari. Each of the brooch’s three en tremblant flowers is comprised of pink and yellow diamonds. A rare drawing by Carlo Bugatti for a chair design, shown at the 1902 Decorative Arts Exhibition in Turin, complements related Bugatti works on view in the exhibition. A selection of impressive Murano glassware from the ROM’s collections will travel with the exhibition to its other venues.

William Thorsell, Director and CEO of the Royal Ontario Museum asserts, “The ROM is pleased to collaborate with the distinguished institutions Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and the Museo Mart of Rovereto, Italy, in bringing Italian Arts & Design to Toronto. Visitors will be treated to an extraordinary collection of objects, encompassing all media and representing an incredibly rich period in the history of Italian design.”

The exhibition’s four main themes define the different periods of philosophical, economic and aesthetic discourse shaping the recent history of Italian art and design: Boundless Optimism; Monumentality and Rationalism; Reconstruction and the Economic Miracle; Postmodern Testing Ground. An Introduction area, with a representative selection of objects on display, precedes these sections.

Boundless Optimism examines Italy’s artistic climate at the beginning of the 20th century, set against an economic boom and the cloud of social unrest. Italy met the new century’s first decade with a renewed initiative. It was a profitable time for the manufacture of consumer goods and newfound prosperity significantly affected the design of objects for handicraft and pre-industrial production. The great interest in the decorative arts set the standard for a new lifestyle for the new industrial and bureaucratic classes being established throughout the country.

Inspired by prevailing EuropeanArt Nouveau designs, and lasting until just before World War I, Italian Art Nouveau, or Arte floreale, included elements of Symbolism and Naturalism. In this section, Angelo Morbelli’s (1901) painting In risaia (The Rice Field), a seemingly endless vista of an Italian rice-field with women workers, is not only a luminous homage to labour nobly bringing forth the life-sustaining fruits of the rice-harvest but also a revelation of how women are bound to a cycle of back-breaking labour in a treacherous malaria-infested environment. The work is typical of Morbelli’s intensely humane depictions of the alienated, exploited and marginalized members of Italian society.

Although many artists rejected European fashions and revived Italian historical models in their search for new forms of expression, this period also gave rise to Futurism, the first Italian avant-garde literary and artistic movement. Its protagonists sought a re-vitalization of Italian cultural life by rejecting the past and extolling the dynamism of modern, industrialized, technological society, even sanctioning the overthrow of the established order by violence and revolutionary means.

The exhibition’s next section, Monumentality and Rationalism explores the era between the two world wars and the relationship between fascism and the arts. From the early days of fascism in 1922 to its demise in 1943, art, architecture, the decorative arts and new communication techniques were enmeshed in a cultural climate where representations of the fascist regime were initially requested, then later demanded. The Fascist government maintained an ambiguous relationship with the arts, shifting its support from one movement to the other.

Visitors will learn about the philosophies and artistic movements that overlapped during this time including Futurism, the Metaphysical School, Rationalism, and the Novecento movement. A significant object in this section is Umberto Boccioni’s famous bronze sculpture Unique Forms of Continuity in Space (1913), which suggests the energy of a figure moving through space, an evocative depiction of speed, metamorphosis and simultaneity.

Reconstruction and the Economic Miracle, the following section, examines Italy at the end of World War II and following the 20-year dictatorship. A previously unknown English term, design, became part of the lexicon for new generations of city planners and engineers committed to rebuilding an active and free civil society. At the war’s end, Italy’s cities were nearly destroyed and practicality was imperative in rebuilding. A rational and adaptable approach, also suitable for industrial manufacturing, was greatly needed.

It was during this time that names such as Borsani, the Castiglioni brothers, Magistretti, Mangiarotti, Rosselli, and Sottsass first emerged while Albini, Mollino, Gardella, and Ponti, among others, reappeared on the industrial scene. Geography played a role in the rise of this period’s two main approaches, Concrete Art and New Realism, as the country was physically and morally reconstructed. In Milan, headquarters of the Rationalist Movement and Abstract Art, a special relationship developed between the designer and the artist. In Rome, liberated by the Americans in 1944, the correlation between design, art and society was more human and open.

Other needs soon became evident as the country started to regain its self-respect. A prime example of this is the introduction, in 1946, of the scooter as the vehicle for all Italians. The exhibition’s Vespa 125, circa 1955, provided an ideal, economic, gas-efficient means of travelling the often congested city streets of Italy. The mobility it provided revolutionized Italian society, and its success in the marketplace was an important impetus to the country’s post-war financial recovery.

The exhibition’s final section, Postmodern Testing Ground, looks at Italian design of the 1960s and beyond. In the climate of change sweeping the world since the mid-1960s, some groups of young designers launched daringly utopian projects under the name of Radical Design. A highlight object is the Tube Chair by Joe Colombo. Manufactured in 1969-70, the innovative chair addressed the challenge of shrinking domestic spaces and advances in furniture-making technology. Comprised of a series of foam-covered PVC cylinders that can be hooked together in different configurations, the cylinders nest one inside the other when not in use, taking up a minimum of storage space.

In the 1970s, household objects proposed by new generations of designers (and led by elder statesman Ettore Sottsass) were almost unrecognizable in terms of their traditional use, as they took on new meanings as games, sculptures, and message vehicles—a deliberately provocative evolution. By the late 1970s, Radical Design lost its edge and became elegantly casual.

This period was marked by political and economic difficulties and design was seen as making a historic compromise. By the 1980s and early 1990s, creative recycling of past stylistic models was common. A transitional period took place from 1990 to the new millennium when the seemingly endless dualistic argument between antique and modern, classical and innovative, institutional and revolutionary, and original and imitative disappeared. Conflict also vanished as different tendencies now freely co-existed.

Other information:
An informative Audio Guide, in both English and French, is sure to enhance visitors’ appreciation of the exhibition and is available to rent at a cost of $5.00 ($4.00 for ROM Members) upon entering the exhibition.

Want to take home a little piece of Italy? Opening to the public with the exhibition, the ROM Museum Store celebrates Italian design with a diverse representation of designers and brands, such as Richard Sapper, Michele De Lucchi, Michael Graves, Ettore Sottsass, Alessi, and Tizio. Lighting and home décor to collectibles and jewellery are available for purchase as is a wide variety of books, including the exhibition catalogue, Il Modo Italiano: Italian Design and Avant-garde in the 20th Century. This publication, containing 412 pages and over 350 colour, and 75 black and white photographs, retails at $79.99 (hardcover) and $69.99 (softcover), plus taxes.

Before or after visiting Italian Arts & Design, take some time to enjoy a biscotti and espresso in the full service, licensed Rotunda Café, located on the Museum’s first floor. Open daily for lunch and for dinner on Fridays, the café celebrates the current exhibition with an array of delicious Italian-themed offerings, prepared in one of Toronto’s finest architectural spaces, the ROM’s historic Rotunda.

On Saturday, October 21, anticipating the exhibition’s opening, the international symposium Viva Italia! Italian Design in the World Today delivers a full day of enlightening talks by a series of insightful lecturers including Michelangelo Sabatino of the University of Houston and keynote speaker Kurt W. Forster of Yale University. Presented by the Institute for Contemporary Culture at the ROM and Istituto Italiano di Cultura (Toronto), the event serves as a forum for discussing Italian design today in the context of global design markets and international brands. The symposium is free with ROM admission and it takes place from 10:30 am to 7:00 pm in the ROM’s Signy and Cléophée Eaton Theatre.

Additional related programming accompanies the exhibition throughout its engagement. On Sunday, October 22, between 2:00 pm and 4:00 pm, Seven-Minute Curators/Think Il Modo Italiano introduces highlights from the ROM’s collections. ROM curators and other Museum experts offer whirlwind presentations of the ROM’s Italian jewellery, glass, ceramics, furniture, musical instruments, sculpture, and 20th-century decorative arts. The event’s highlights include a special appearance by the wife of ROM founder Charles Trick Currelly, Mrs. Currelly, as performed by former ROM head librarian Julia Matthews.

On Thursday, November 16, participants of Italian Icons! will feed their minds and their stomachs. A curator’s tour of the exhibition is followed by a trip to the acclaimed grano for a meal of fine Italian food and wine under the colourful guidance of Roberto Dante Martella. For more information, including ticket pricing, and to register for programs, please phone 416.586.5797 or visit www.rom.on.ca, click Programs, click ROMLife Lectures, Keyword Italian. Details on a wide variety of additional programs can be found at www.rom.on.ca/programs/index.php.

In collaboration with the Istituto Italiano di Cultura, Toronto and RAI International, the ROM presents Cinema Italiano, a series of feature films and documentaries. Presented in Italian with English subtitles and taking place in the ROM's Signy & Cléophée Eaton Theatre from December 1-10, 2006, the screenings are free with museum admission. For additional information on the series, please go to http://www.rom.on.ca/programs/lectures/

ROM members already know that the best way to experience the ROM is through Membership. A ROM Individual or Family membership delivers numerous benefits, including free general admission, newsletters, events, previews, discounts in and near the ROM, and much more. Membership prices go up on October 28 so join today and save! Purchasing a membership now allows you to attend the Italian Arts & Design Members’ Previews being held on Thursday, October 26 and Friday, October 27, including lectures in the Signy & Cleophée Eaton Theatre and discounts in Druxy’s Deli as well as the brand new Rotunda Café. For additional information or to purchase a membership, call 416.586.7000 or visit www.rom.on.ca/members/

The ROM gratefully acknowledges the participation of Canadian Scooter Corp. In honour of the ROM’s engagement of Italian Arts & Design, the exclusive Canadian importer and distributor of Vespa scooters has generously provided a Grand Prize of a Vespa LX 50, the scooter’s 60th anniversary edition. Celebrating six decades of technical innovation and design, the scooter is valued at $4,399 CDN. Details on how to win this worldwide symbol of Italian design, of which 17 million have been sold on five continents, are to be announced at a later date. Listen to the ROM’s media partner CHFI for full contest details.

Admission to Italian Arts & Design is included with paid general admission: Adults: $18; Students with ID and Seniors: $15; Children: $12; Children 4 & under are free All admission prices also include Carlos Garaicoa, an exhibition of one of Latin America’s most high profile contemporary artists, Cuban Carlos Garaicoa, on display from September 9 to December 31, 2006. Reduced admission applies on Friday nights from 4:30 pm to 9:30 pm. For information pertaining to the many ticketing options available, including Sentry Select Premium Packages, please go to our tickets page.

Groups of ten or more adults may call Mirvish Productions at 416.593.4142 or toll free at 1.800.724.6420 or e-mail grouptours@rom.on.ca for information on special rates and private guided tours. Schools and student groups should contact the ROM’s Education Department at 416.586.5801. A dedicated School Visits program is being planned for this exhibition; to be geared towards high school and post secondary art and design classes. Throughout its engagement, docents from the ROM’s Department of Museum Volunteers (DMV) will offer guided tours of the exhibition at regularly scheduled times.

October 28, 2006 to January 7, 2007

This exhibition was produced by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in collaboration with the Royal Ontario Museum and the Museo Mart, Rovereto, Italy.

ROM Fall 2006 Sponsor: Sentry Select Capital Corp.

The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is an agency of the Government of Ontario.

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Issue date:
August 24, 2006

For more information:
Media Relations
Tel.: 416.586.5547
Fax: 416.586.8022
E-mail: media@rom.on.ca

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