– What is your favourite artwork from the Marino Marini show at CIMA and why? One of my favourite artworks from CIMA’s current exhibition is Marino Marini’s Nudo femminile (Female Nude) created in 1932-34, a piece in wood: the naturalism with which the sculptor made the anatomy of the female body distances itself from the other pieces on display.
– Tell me the most interesting thing you have seen so far in NYC: A small exhibition at the Morgan Library (Winter-Spring 2017) dedicated to Emily Dickinson, entitled: I’m Nobody! Who are you? The Life and Poetry of Emily Dickinson.
– When was your first time in New York? What surprised you the most about this city? I was in New York for the first time in August 2015, and the major impact were its skyscrapers!
– Best 3 museums or art sites worldwide according to your taste: The Victoria and Albert Museum and the Leighton House Museum in London; MET in New York; the National Gallery and the Phyllips Collection in Washington, D.C., and certainly the Villa Borghese with its park in Rome.
– If you could purchase any painting, which one would it be? I would say the five large canvases of Thomas Cole’s Course of Empire (New York, New York Historical Society) realized between 1833 and 1836.
– Which city in Italy are you from? How would you describe it, using few words? I was born and grew up in Arezzo, a small town not far from Siena and Florence; Arezzo is famous for its frescos by Piero Della Francesca and the Crucix of Cimabue.
– What do you hope to gain from this experience at CIMA? What are the things that you are most looking forward to? I hope to learn more about Marino Marini and his connections to the US patrons and friends. The aim of my project here at CIMA is to shed light on Marini’s connections with a group of American artists, art dealers and collectors whom he befriended between 1950 and the 1960s, when he visited New York.
– What is your favourite artwork from the Marino Marini show at CIMA and why? Nudo femminile (Female Nude), dated to 1932-1934. I am absolutely mesmerized by both the abstract elegance and the naturalistic allure of this wooden masterpiece. Usually preserved off-site in the Fondazione Marino Marini, Pistoia, I was very much surprised when I saw it displayed in the show at CIMA.
– Tell me the most interesting thing you have seen so far in NYC: I believe it is the Frick Collection. It gathers diverse ancient and modern artworks, from the great fifteenth- and sixteenth century Italian paintings to the finest pieces in porcelain and Limoges enamels. As an art historian interested in Venetian Quattrocento and in nineteenth- and twentieth-century readings of Renaissance, I cannot help but mention the marvelous arrangement of Frick works and furniture, and the stunning St. Francis in Ecstasy by Giovanni Bellini.
– Best 3 museums or art sites worldwide according to your taste:
I have always been completely enamored of historic house museums. As a consequence I would say the Bardini Museum in Florence and the Wallace Collection in London. But how could I not remember the Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan?
– If you could purchase any sculpture, which one would it be? Why? And where would you put it in your apartment?
It would possibly be Alessandro Vittoria’s Saint Jerome, now in the Basilica di San Giovanni e Paolo in Venice. I would keep it looking after my library and studio.
– What do you hope to gain from this experience at CIMA? What are the things that you are most looking forward to?
To establish a closer dialogue with twentieth century sculptures thanks to my daily experience of Marino Marini’s works of art. Moreover, I hope that living in New York for the first time will allow me to benefit from the many libraries, archives, galleries and museums, accessing to materials not available in Italy.
