Between Heaven and the Attic. Alessandri’s Muses 1950–1962

The temporary exhibition draws attention to the early paintings of Lorenzo Alessandri, created during a crucial period when the artist had not yet abandoned figurative art to devote himself entirely to his famous fantastical universe. The exhibition route winds its way around 30 paintings from private collections which depict female figures in various poses. These are not mere portraits, but genuine bodily landscapes characterised by unusual, elongated and narrow formats, in which the diagonal poses and the legs that almost extend beyond the frame suggest a sense of infinity and total abandonment of the body.

The exhibition also tells the story of a dual struggle: on the one hand, the duty of his daily work in his father’s printing shop; on the other, the compelling urgency of his artistic calling. This relentless passion played out between the painter’s two historic Turin studios: The Sky on Via Mercanti and The Attic on Via Aurelio Saffi. Young models such as Moon, Gazelle, Marina e Azalichia They filled these rooms, ready to pose for hours so that his expert hand might capture them.

The pictorial style of this extraordinary body of work from the 1950s is characterised by the use of strong contrasts and the juxtaposition of Fauvist colours to create warm, luminous atmospheres. In 1957, at the height of the economic boom and at a time when Italian art was moving towards abstraction, Alessandri He proudly chose to go against the grain by returning to the figure and the body, developing a lyrical and unmistakable style that foreshadowed his subsequent celebrated works.

Guided tours

• When: every Sunday at the following times: 11.00, 15.00 and 17.00
• Cost: free
• Booking: ring or write to the museum’s contacts