Giovanni Paolo Bedini's carefree charm on display in Bologna

Running from December 2, 2018 to February 3, 2019 in Bologna’s Palazzo d’Accursio is the exhibition Giovanni Paolo Bedini. The Charm of Lightheartedness. 1844-1924, an exhibition entirely dedicated to the figure of Giovanni Paolo Bedini (Bologna, 1844 - 1924), the first monographic exhibition dedicated to the Emilian artist, whose entire production will be explored in depth. With about sixty works from museums, public institutions and private collections (including paintings made by Bedini and others by masters close to him), the intent of the exhibition is to highlight not only the artistic path of the individual but to offer a broader “cross-section” of his time.

Giovanni Paolo Bedini’s was a cheerful and lively art, much appreciated by critics, far from romantic rhetoric, and maturing its peculiarities in the vein of neo-Rococo and middle-class taste. A tireless worker, Bedini produced many works including oil paintings and watercolors that found a wide market both in Italy and abroad. The artist trained at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna, where he distinguished himself for his versatility by winning prizes in Architecture (1863), Decoration and Figure (1864), Perspective (1865), Painting (1866), Figure of Statues and Anatomy (1867). His beginnings date back to 1867, when he presented two works at the II Triennial Exhibition of the Academies of Emilia. He later participated in the exhibitions of Turin (1872), Genoa (1876), Florence (1877) and Milan (1876, 1893, 1895, 1906). Initially initiated to painting with historical themes, he soon abandoned it to devote himself to the representation of the most carefree everyday life: the works, characterized by a quick and effective touch, are populated with figures full of life, joyful colors and carefully modeled, often set in past centuries, with a particular predilection for the 18th century. A well-established artist by then, in 1894 Bedini was called to cover the chair of Figure Elements at the Bologna Academy and, between 1907 and 1922, he was a lecturer and Head of Institute at the Professional School for Decorative Arts in Bologna.

The exhibition will open on Saturday, December 1, at 5:30 p.m. at the Sala Ercole in the Palazzo d’Accursio in Bologna and will be open to the public from December 2, 2018 to February 3, 2019: it can be visited on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., and on Fridays from 3 to 6:30 p.m. Monday is the closing day. Admission to the exhibition is free. In addition, a comprehensive catalog accompanied by critical texts and unpublished images will be published for the occasion. Information can be found at www.bolognaperlearti.it.

The exhibition, curated by Giuseppe Mancini, is promoted by Associazione Bologna per le Arti, a nonprofit cultural association founded in 1999 to provide a direct service to the knowledge and dissemination of the figurative arts with specific reference to the periods of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Image: Giovanni Paolo Bedini, La veste nuova (oil on canvas, 50 x 37 cm; private collection)

Giovanni Paolo Bedini's carefree charm on display in Bologna

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