Donated Gaetano Previati's masterpiece, The Muses, to the Ferrara Galleries of Modern and Contemporary Art

The Giuseppe Pianori Foundation has donated to the city of Ferrara Le Muse by Gaetano Previati, a masterpiece that will now enrich the collection of the Gallerie d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea. The institution, by the will of its founder, has as its very purpose to develop and enrich the artistic and cultural heritage of Ferrara through the acquisition of works of modern art to be allocated to the civic gallery, with preference given to works by Ferrara artists who have made a sure contribution to the history of Italian art.

The painting, an oil on canvas made in 1902 and belonging to Arturo Toscanini’s collection of works of art, thus expands the already important corpus of the Ferrarese artist owned by the Ferrara galleries, which counts nearly one hundred and forty works, including paintings and drawings, plus the photographic archive acquired in 2021 thanks to funds from the Ministry of Culture.

This is a significant work in Previati’s artistic career, which highlights his role at the crucial junction between the poetics of the 19th and 20th centuries, between Symbolism and Futurism, as explained by Chiara Vorrasi, curator of the Gallerie d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea - Art Museums of the Municipality of Ferrara, during the presentation of thework to the city, which was held today at Palazzo dei Diamanti, together with Marco Gulinelli, councillor for Culture, Vittorio Sgarbi, undersecretary for Culture and president of the Ferrara Arte Foundation, and Giovanni Polizzi, president of the Giuseppe Pianori Foundation.

Le Muse was first exhibited in 1902-1903 in a major group show at the Permanente in Milan, where it figures as an oil “study,” and mentioned in 1906 in the article Enrico Corradini dedicated to Previati in “Nuova Antologia.” By 1920 the work must have become part of the Toscanini collection. As the literature of the time testifies, the musician cultivated a privileged relationship with painting and had a particular predilection for this work by Previati, since in the latter he could discern, as much in the subject as in the chromatic range and the fluid, rhythmic drafting, the visual transposition of the principle of communion between the arts. These pronounced musical qualities earned the Ferrara artist the admiration of the Futurists, who paid tribute to him as a forerunner.

“From 1983 to the present, in forty years since the foundation,” explained President Giovanni Polizzi, “thanks to the will of a citizen benefactor, such as Giuseppe Pianori, we have donated 68 works of art to the city of Ferrara, from De Pisis to Previati to Boldini, which are now housed in the civic museums of Palazzo Massari, with a total value of one million euros.” The foundation, as Chiara Vorrasi recalled, “has now resumed its acquisition activity with a major work, after an important commitment dedicated to safeguarding the video art heritage of which Ferrara was a pioneering center.”

“Remembrance goes today to the memory of Pianori, with thanks to the presidency of the Foundation, for the preservation and enhancement of Ferrara art. The city’s collection is going to be enriched by an extraordinary significant work,” Marco Gulinelli pointed out, “and, when Palazzo Massari is remounted, this will be one of the most important in the exhibition itinerary.” Gulinelli recalled how for several years the city has been investing in the use of the corpus, “with the States of Mind exhibition, with the exhibition on Previati at the Castello, and then in 2021, when the artist’s photographic archive was acquired, which makes possible a comparative study and in-depth studies of the works.”

“An excellent acquisition,” said Vittorio Sgarbi, undersecretary for culture and president of the Ferrara Arte Foundation, “which today becomes a public asset with this donation. The best way to ensure the preservation of this type of work, for Sgarbi, is in fact the purchase and preservation in a public museum, ”leaving it in the free market would have been a mistake and would have taken it to places not pertinent either with Italy or with the Ferrara glory of Gaetano Previati.“ For Sgarbi, moreover, ”The Muses, which was was one of Previati’s five paintings, three canvases and two drawings, in his collection, is particularly interesting because with it we also recover all the musical anxiety of Toscanini, who was inspired by this painting. For him it is like a sheet of music and he sees in the work of the extraordinary painter, which is both past and present, something that inspires him with emotion."

Once the restoration and redevelopment of Palazzo Massari is completed, the painting will go on to enrich the museum section dedicated to the artist. The work will now be able to dialogue with other famous paintings by Previati that open the door to Futurist research for the musical fluidity of forms.

Donated Gaetano Previati's masterpiece, The Muses, to the Ferrara Galleries of Modern and Contemporary Art

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