Salsomaggiore Terme celebrates 100 years of Terme Berzieri with a major exhibition on Galileo Chini

From May 27 to September 17, 2023, the City of Salsomaggiore Terme is organizing the major exhibition Oro e Oriente. Galileo Chini in Salsomaggiore Terme, curated by Valerio Terraroli and Maurizia Bonatti Bacchini. The exhibition aims to celebrate the centenary of Terme Berzieri (inaugurated on May 27, 1923) and retrace the production of Florentine Galileo Chini, who made the establishment his artistic manifesto, the result of the genius of a very modern man, among the most significant exponents of Italian Art Nouveau andArt Deco.

On display between Palazzo Tommasini and theformer Grand Hotel de Thermae (now Palazzo dei Congressi) are one hundred and twenty pieces, including large paintings, preparatory drawings, and ceramic objects, through which Chini’s artistic genius is to be told. A selection of works, also unpublished, in dialogue with the decorative apparatus and subjects ofspa iconography. On display are the never-before-seen vases produced by the Fornaci San Lorenzo factory, founded by Chini in the Mugello village of the same name in 1907, such as the oval vase with dots and secessionist motifs, in polychrome majolica, and the one with salamanders, a symbol of the ritual of water at the Berzieri Spa. And the vases decorated with birds, butterflies and plant motifs, also accompanied by drawings made by Chini.

Among the works on display are paintings, sketches, preparatory studies and cartoons related to the great decorative apparatus of the Berzieri Baths, expressing the cultural synthesis effected by Chini, who draws on both the tradition of the Viennese Secession (Klimt) and oriental suggestions, the result of his trip to Thailand, where the Florentine artist made the Throne Room in Bangkok of the King of Siam.

A set of elements that converge in the great unified project of Terme Berzieri, a product of the artistic partnership of Chini and architect Ugo Giusti, who made the Salsomaggiore spa, since the 1920s a true “cult place” capable of attracting the world jet set of show business and aristocracy.

The digital project, curated by Marco Stucchi, that accompanies the exhibition aims to enhance the architectural richness of the spa palace and the artistic production of the Tuscan artist present in the building and that spread throughout the city. The faithful restitution of the architectural environments through a complete and innovative 360-degree spherical digital photographic documentation and the documentation of the decorative apparatuses in very high definition have been from the beginning the main objective of this ambitious and extensive project, supported and desired by the Municipal Administration of Salsomaggiore Terme.

The digital project fits into the exhibition itinerary in a continuous and ideal dialogue between the materiality of the works on display and the visitor to whom it is intended to offer an innovative visiting experience, accompanying him or her in the discovery in the reading and artistic research of Chini’s work. Unprecedented perspectives open up before the gaze of the observer, who grasps geometries of the forms, details of the materials, chromaticism of the environments, and colors of the paintings that could hardly be grasped with the naked eye.

The multimedia project is articulated by presenting the interior and exterior environments of the spa palace: square, atrium and different perspectives of the large halls. The Tuscan artist’s iconic wall paintings cannot be missed: Spring and Autumn, as well as the numerous details that are revealed to the public with high-definition. The project extends to the City of Salsomaggiore with documentation of Palazzo dei Congressi and the Villa Fonio.

The exhibition enjoys the contribution of Fondazione Cariparma and Regione Emilia Romagna.

The exhibition is open Wednesday through Friday from 4 to 7 p.m.; Saturday, Sunday and holidays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 3 to 7 p.m.

Photo by Visit Salsomaggiore

Salsomaggiore Terme celebrates 100 years of Terme Berzieri with a major exhibition on Galileo Chini

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