An exhibition in Terni on Impressionism between France and Italy, from Degas to Boldini

From April 16 to June 29, 2025, the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Terni e Narni presents at Palazzo Montani Leoni in Terni the exhibition Da Degas a Boldini. A Look at Impressionism between France and Italy, curated by Anna Ciccarelli and Pierluigi Carofano, with the aim of celebrating not only French Impressionism but also the Impressionist period in Italy.

On display for the occasion will be 44 works, including sculptures, paintings and writings, from prestigious national and international museums, art collections of banking foundations and credit institutions. The main focus is on Italian artists who, from the mid-19th century to the 1920s, helped make Italian art great, sometimes remaining in the shadows compared to their more celebrated French colleagues.

Impressionism, among the most beloved avant-garde art movements in the history of modern art, developed in Paris in the 1870s, immediately attracting great attention and debate throughout Europe. In Italy, this style spread mainly thanks to artists such as Federico Zandomeneghi, Giuseppe De Nittis and the Macchiaioli, who shared with the French Impressionists an interest in natural light and en plein air painting. However, the post-unification Italian context proved less receptive to the new artistic current, prompting many painters to seek inspiration and opportunities in the lively Parisian scene.

After the period of Boldini, Zandomeneghi and De Nittis, dubbed Franco-Italian Impressionists because of their long stays in the French capital, Impressionist influence in Italy continued into the early decades of the twentieth century, with artists such as Francesco Filippini, a friend and collaborator of Monet who would move to Paris for a long time from 1879, and Emilio Gola, who continued to develop the Impressionist language in an Italian key.

The exhibition opens with Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, one of the leading figures of the Barbizon School, and then presents, among others, three works by Berthe Morisot, from important collections such as the Musée FAMM - The Levett Collection in Mougins, and masterpieces by Edgar Degas from the GNAM in Rome.

One section is devoted to Les Italiens de Paris, Italian artists active in the French capital during the Belle Époque, when Paris was the world hub of art. Among the protagonists are Giuseppe De Nittis (with works from the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Padova e Rovigo), Vittorio Corcos (from the Museo Civico Giovanni Fattori in Livorno), Giovanni Boldini (from BPM), Emilio Gola (from the Gallerie d’Italia), and Federico Zandomeneghi and Antonio Mancini (from private collections). Sculpture will also be an integral part of the exhibition, with two bronzes by Degas from GNAM and a wax work by Medardo Rosso, a leading exponent of modern Italian sculpture, on loan from MART in Rovereto.

Closing the exhibition is a tribute to the French Impressionists through the works of two great contemporary Italian artists, Mario Schifano and Tano Festa.

For info: www.fondazionecarit.it

Hours: Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 3:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 16 from 3:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Free admission.

An exhibition in Terni on Impressionism between France and Italy, from Degas to Boldini

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