One more month for Monet, van Gogh and Johannesburg masterpieces at Monza

Closing on July 2 is the exhibition From Monet to Bacon. Masterpieces from the Johannesburg Art Gallery, underway at the Villa Reale in Monza. The exhibition, curated by Simona Bartolena, displays several masterpieces from the South African collection, which opened to the public in 1910: it is one of the most important African art collections, whose two main nuclei were assembled by art collector Hugh Lane and philanthropist Florence Phillips, wife of Anglo-South African mining magnate Lionel Phillips. The portrait of the woman, executed by Antonio Mancini, one of the most underrated protagonists of the Italian 19th century, is part of the collection and is on display in Monza.

The exhibition aims not only to introduce the masterpieces of the Johannesburg Art Gallery, but also to tell its story: visitors will thus discover the generosity of Florence Phillips, who wished the city of Johannesburg to have its own art museum and convinced her husband and other tycoons to invest in equipping the collection with a suitable venue: the building, which still houses the collection, was designed by architect Edwin Lutyens and opened in 1915.

Sixty works on display (paintings, watercolors and graphic works) are housed in the Prince of Naples and Duchess of Genoa Apartments, providing an adequate overview of the interests of the collectors who created the collection. Divided into seven sections, the exhibition proceeds chronologically: starting with the English nineteenth century (with two works by William Turner, a masterpiece by Lawrence Alma-Tadema such as The Death of the Firstborn, and paintings by the Pre-Raphaelites: Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s Queen Cordium, or the “Queen of Hearts,” which depicts one of his mistresses, Elizabeth Siddal, stands out) to move through 19th-century French landscape painting (with Corot, Courbet and Millet) and on toImpressionism, with works by Edgar Degas(The Dancers), Claude Monet(Spring) and Alfred Sisley (On the Riverbank at Veneux) and a large number of works by Eugéne Boudin, who was Monet’s first teacher.

The exhibition continues with the section devoted to the Post-Impressionists( Paul Cézanne’sThe Bathers, Paul Signac ’s La Rochelle and Vincent Van Gogh ’s Portrait of an Old Man being the three main works) and then on to the early 20th century section (with works by Matisse, Picasso, Modigliani, Gleizes and others) and the second 20th century section ( pop art is explored, with works by Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol, and the researches of Francis Bacon and Henry Moore). The seventh and final section, on the other hand, is devoted to twentieth-century South African art, with works by Maggie Laubser, Maude SumnerSelby Mvusi and George Pemba, documenting the social evolutions (and sometimes regressions) of South Africa in the twentieth century, with a focus on life during the dark years ofApartheid.

The exhibition is open daily except Mondays from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tickets are 12 euros. Reduced 10 euros for groups, concessionaires and 18-25 year olds. Special reduced 5 euros for school groups and children under 18. Free for children under 6, handicapped persons with accompanying person, ICOM members, journalists with badges, tour guides, two teachers for each school group, one accompanying person for each group of adults. Catalog published by Skira, information at www.villarealedimonza.it.

Image: Claude Monet, Spring (1875; oil on canvas, 58 x 78.5 cm; Johannesburg, Johannesburg Art Gallery)

One more month for Monet, van Gogh and Johannesburg masterpieces at Monza

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