Guttuso, De Pisis, Fontana... Italian Expressionism

A powerful, never-before-seen exhibition tells the story of Italian Expressionism through a selected nucleus of works made between 1920 and 1945largely from the Giuseppe Iannaccone Collectionone of Italy's most important private collections. On display are masterpieces by Renato Guttuso, Lucio Fontana, Filippo De Pisis, Fausto Pirandello, Emilio Vedova, Renato Birolli, Aligi Sassu and many others.

These artists chose an autonomous and rebellious path, opposing the celebratory languages of the regime in order to portray, with courage and originality, the loneliness of man, the fragility of the human condition and the more authentic everyday life. The works in the exhibition, some of which have never been exhibited before, offer a richly personal and powerful visions, between poignant nudes, disturbing still lifes, intense portraits e urban scenes suspended between dream and memory.

Also enriching the exhibition are the works of the young artist Norberto Spina, born in 1995, who dialogue with the great masters through a visual language of memory, stratification and archival research. Spina exhibits site-specific works, including a major loan from the Royal Academy of London.

The exhibition, curated by Daniele Fenaroli and organised by the Municipality of Vercelli and the Giuseppe Iannaccone Foundationin collaboration with Arthemisiarepresents the first step in a multi-year exhibition project dedicated to 20th century art, capable of activating connections between past and present, between historical and contemporary art, between places and languages.