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March
9th - May 6th, 2001
Aemilia Ars: 1898-1903
Arts and Crafts a Bologna
Collezioni Comunali d’Arte
Under the aegis of the Presidente della repubblica Italiana
organised by Musei Civici d'Arte Antica and promoted by Musei Civici
d'Arte Antica and Settore Cultura- Comune di Bologna, Soprintendenza
per i Beni Librari e Documentari - IBC Regione Emilia-Romagna, Soprintendenza
ai Beni Storici e Artistici di Bologna, Associazione Dimore Storiche
- Sezione Emilia Romagna, Comitato Amici dell'Aemilia Ars and Famiglia
Cavazza in co-operation with Associazione Commercianti di Bologna
in the framework of the initiatives for Bologna European City of Culture
for the year 2000 and for the third week of culturewith the support
of: Fondazione
Cassa di Risparmio in Bologna, Carisbo, Gnudi Trasporti Speciali Opere
d'Arte e Assicurazioni Generali s.p.a.-Agenzia Generale di Bologna
and the technical support of atc and il Resto del Carlino. |
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Aemilia
Ars -a "society for the protection of decorative arts and industries
in the Emilia region"-was founded in 1898 in Bologna by a group of
nobles and artists who gathered around the architect and restorer Alfonso
Rubbiani. Its goal was to promote the aesthetic renewal, and the productive
and commercial organization, of the decorative arts and objects for use
in everyday life. Active until 1903, the society was an italian expression
of the new european climate that flourished with the success of the english
arts and crafts movement, art nouveau, and the jungendstil.
The exhibition aims to highlight Aemilia Ars's contribution to the development
of the tradition of highly skilled craftsmanship that has distinguished
Bologna's image in italy and abroad: a contribution confirmed by important
successes attained at various international exhibitions and in the international
marketplace. The society played a significant role in the consolidation
of a new relationship between art, craftsmanship, and industry, with original
aspects connected, in particular, with the organization of the work of women
in the production of old-fashioned needlepoint lace and embroidery.
On display is a selection of examples from the rich collection of Aemilia
Ars lace preserved in the Collezioni Comunali d'Arte and from the important
collection of drawings in the Museo Davia Bargellini, together with documents,
furniture, jewellery produced by the society, and paintings, books and engraved
models from the 16th and 17th centuries, preserved in public, church and
private collections. |
The
search for an art aimed at a broad public and the appeal of the poetics
of symbolism and the stile liberty were part of a more general climate strongly
marked by an interest in history and a return to the Gothic and Renaissance.
A fundamental moment for Aemilia Ars was the work in the apsidal chapels
of the gothic church of San Francesco in Bologna, which combined restoration
with new decoration-each of these elements involving a tension and fusion
between a revival of the old style and the new liberty taste. Gathered around
Alfonso Rubbiani and count Francesco Cavazza, artists such as Achille Casanova,
Giuseppe de Col, Edoardo Collamarini, Augusto Sezanne, and Alfredo Tartarini
created a series of decorative schemes for private buildings (such as the
palaces and villas for count Cavazza and marchese Pizzardi; Canton dei fiori;
Pasticceria Rovinazzi currently Chanel chez Ratti; Palazzo Bevilacqua in
Bologna; houses Matteucci and Albonetti and Palazzo Conti-Sinibaldi in Faenza)and
furnishings which are documented in the exhibition from the rich collection
of drawings preserved in the Musei Civici d'Arte Antica. Against the aristocratic
and noble background that saw the development of the Aemilia Ars experience,
there grew up a new role for public art patronage in recently united italy,which
found a significant expression in the decoration of the Sala dei Matrimoni
(wedding hall) in the City Hall, the Istituto Ciamician and Istituto dei
ciechi 'Francesco Cavazza' in Bologna; as well as in the preparatory schools
and city hall in Budrio.
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In
the broader context of the reawakening of the decorative arts at the end
of the 19th century in Europe, the creation of lace and embroidery forms
a part of the new link between art and the artisanal crafts established
within Alfonso Rubbiani's "guild." Under the guidance of Lina
Bianconcini Cavazza, who in 1901 founded an embroidery and lace company
that later became part of Aemilia Ars, there survived a type of production-dependent
on the activity of anonymous female workers in the city and province of
Bologna-that won wide recognition at various international exhibitions (Liège
1905; Turin 1906; Milan 1906; Brussels 1910). Characterized by a technical
virtuosity equal or superior to that of the earlier models that inspired
it, this activity represents the only expression of the liberty style in
the sector.
The bolognese exhibition is intended as a contribution and stimulus to the
classification, recovery, and conservation of a part of the city's heritage
still too little known. The memory of this work is entrusted to insufficiently
appreciated collections surviving in schools of music, women's training
institutes, and professional schools, as well as in church and private collections.
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Curators:
Eugenio Riccòmini, Carla Bernardini, Doretta Davanzo Poli, Orsola Ghetti
Baldi
Scientific committee:
Jadranka Bentini, Carla Bernardini, Rosaria Campioni, Doretta Davanzo Poli,
Orsola Ghetti Baldi, Eugenio Riccòmini
Direction:
Carla Bernardini
Information
Ufficio Relazioni con il Pubblico - Comune di Bologna, tel. +39/051/203040
http://www.comune.bologna.it/iperbole/museicivici/
e-mail:museiarteantica@comune.bologna.it
Press office:
Studio Pesci, via G. Petroni 18/3, 40126 Bologna,
telefax:+ 39/051/2960748, e-mail:gio@mailbox.dsnet.it
Guided tours
Advanced-booked guided tours for schools and groups, with charge
Guide d'Arte, piazza dei Martiri 5/2, Bologna, tel. +051/4210809, fax +051/4214652
e-mail:asscgart@iperbole.bologna.it http://www.wonderful-italy.it
The catalogue
Aemilia
Ars: 1898-1903
Arts and Crafts a Bologna
edited by Carla Bernardini, Doretta Davanzo Poli and Orsola Ghetti Baldi
a+g, Milano 2001
L 98.000 (special exhibition price L 68.000)
