Venezia Palazzo Fortuny
An art collection mirrors the evolution of artistic taste over time. This is the fundamental trait that distinguishes a simple collection of objects from an aesthetic choice that becomes a space inhabited by beauty. Cultural curiosity that becomes a personal and harmonious anthology of epiphanic perceptions. A unique feeling that can be experienced once again thanks to the exhibition entitled “An Italian collection. Works from Merlini collection”, curated by Daniela Ferretti and Francesco Poli at Palazzo Fortuny, Venice, until July 23rd 2018. In the so-called Stanza del collezionista (the collector’s room), one of the rooms of Giuseppe Merlini’s home has been completely recreated (including the furnishing). Giuseppe Merlini’s collection represents one of the main private art collections focussed on the Italian Twentieth century. This room hosts a sensational sequence of works by Lucio Fontana, next to Adolfo Wildt’s Madre (“Mother”), a work that the sculpture wanted to keep for himself, and two other absolute masterpieces by Melotti, Teorema (“Theorem”) among others.
Merlini started his collection in the 1960’s-1970’s with a direct link to the great tradition of Lombardy’s art collecting – which included unrivalled collections such as Emilio and Maria Jesi’s ones as well as those belonging to Gianni Mattioli, Piero Feroldi, Carlo Frua De Angeli, Carlo Grassi, Giuseppe Vismara and Piero Boschi. On the one hand, Merlini was interested in the main historical protagonists of the Twentieth century, such as Amedeo Modigliani, Filippo De Pisis, Adolfo Wildt, Giorgio de Chirico, Alberto Savinio, Mario Sironi, Gino Severini, Giorgio Morandi and Massimo Campigli. On the other, his attention was drawn to the trends that emerged in the post-war period, such as Abstract Art and Informal Art, with some important works by Mario Radice, Lucio Fontana, Alberto Burri, Piero Dorazio, Giulio Turcato, Roberto Crippa, Alfredo Chighine, Piero Ruggeri.