Cézanne in Florence: many masterpieces from all over the world

From 2 March to 29 July Palazzo Strozzi will be hosting a dream exhibition

Florence plays a preeminent role in Paul Cézanne's inscrutable and glorious artistic adventure thanks to the work of two young collectors born in America, Egisto Paolo Fabbri and Charles Alexander Loeser, who bought and collected, between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, in their Florentine houses around 50 among Cézanne's best works.

By doing this, they contributed to the success of this experimental and solitary genius, despised by critics during his life, but acknowledged today as the 'father of modern painting'. The extraordinary exhibition 'Cézanne a Firenze', at Palazzo Strozzi from 2 March to 29 July 2007 (www.cezanneafirenze.it), originates from that special and intense intellectual season when

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Florence was among the main active cities of international culture and is part of the celebrations for the 100th anniversary of the artist's death (1839 – 1906). The paintings come from the most famous international collections, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York, the Thyssen Bornemisza Collections, the National Gallery and the Royal Academy of London, St. Petersburgh's Hermitage Museum, the National Gallery of Art of Washington, the Detroit Institute of Arts and the Galleria d’Arte Moderna of Florence and Rome.

The exhibition represents a unique opportunity for admiring together many masterpieces otherwise scattered all around the world. Among these, the famous Madame Cezanne in a Red Armchair, House on the Marne (a unique loan from the White House), The Orchard, The Bathers. The exhibition will display for the first time the most important paintings collected by Fabbri and Loeser, which got dismembered during the two World wars. During the first half of the 20th century, these two collections were the most important ones for Cézanne's paintings in the world (32 paintings owned by Fabbri, 16 owned by Loeser).

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Promoted and organized by the Ente Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze and set up by the Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi, the exhibition was inaugurated by the president Edoardo Speranza with the director Cultura del Comune di Firenze Giuseppe Gherpelli, the director of the Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi, James Bradburne, the superintendent of the Polo Museale Fiorentino Cristina Acidini, professor Antonio Paolucci, the extarordinary commissioner for the exhibition, and the two curators: Francesca Bardazzi, well-known scholar of the collections of Cézanne's paintings in Italy, and Carlo Sisi, former director of the Galleria d’Arte Moderna of Palazzo Pitti, one of the main experts in the field. All the above mentioned institutions have been collaborating to the realization of this project, financed by Gruppo Banca CR Firenze.

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The catalogue is published by Electa. The display of the paintings recreates the story of the events which lead to the birth of the two collections, and explains the artistic and intellectual environment found in Florence during that time, mainly constituted by important international characters (Bernard Berenson, Vernon Lee, Edith Wharton and many more). Special attention is given to Egisto Paolo Fabbri (the heir of Florentine emigrants) and Charles Loeser (of German origin), whose families had accumulated in the Usa exceptional treasures. One of Fabbri's uncles was a partner of the famous banker Pierpont Morgan.

The exhibition also displays some important works by Pissarro,Van Gogh, Sargent, Denis, Cassatt, Weir, La Farge, all artists that Fabbri knew personally. "The Ente Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze", explained the president Speranza, "confirms his commitment to the improvement and progress of our city's cultural offer, following its specific and high quality tradition. After the great success of the past exhibitions on the Renaissance (Botticelli and Filippino, Arnolfo di Cambio, Leon Battista Alberti, Giambologna, Leonardo), it now presents to the internationla public and scholars a significant historical-artistic return related to modern art. An undoubtedly new, appealing event of great scientific value, resulted from the collaboration between public and private institutions, which will be remebered for sure as one of the main events for 2007 in Italy."

Intoscana.it