From Raphael to Schiele: from September 17, 2015 till February 7, 2016, at the Palazzo Reale in Milan, the masterpieces of the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest
From Raphael to Schiele marks a new departure for the programme of exhibitions at the Palazzo Reale in Milan: the organization of exhibitions of the most important gallery collections in the world, which the general public may not be familiar with and which may not be easily accessible.
The Budapest Museum of Fine Arts (Szépmű vészeti Múzeum) houses one of the finest collections of works of art in the world, with masterpieces from the Middle Ages to the 20th century. During Expo Milan 2016, 76 works from the collection will travel from Budapest to be exhibited in the rooms of the Palazzo Reale in Milan from 17 September 2015 to 7 February 2016.
Of these works of art, eight drawings will be rotated with others, for conservational reasons, during the exhibition. Together with four bronze models they comprise preparatory works for paintings and sculptures by great artists such as Leonardo, Rembrandt, Parmigianino, Annibale Carracci, Van Gogh, Heintz and Schiele.
It is a unique opportunity to admire a carefully selected group of works of art from the most important gallery in the Hungarian capital and to be taken on a journey of the history of art from the 16th century to the 20th century. Raffaello, Tintoretto, Durer, Velasquez, Rubens, Goya, Murillo, Canaletto, Manet, Cezanne, Gauguin and many other great artists will be represented by beautiful works such as the stunning Salomé by Lukas Cranach the elder, Jael and Sisera by Artemisia Gentileschi, the Sirens byRodin and the Three Fishing Boats by Monet. the Penitent Mary Magdalene by El Greco, Landscape by Lorrain, Married Couple by van Dyck, and Saint James byTiepolo.
The exhibition, curated by Stefano Zuffi, has been put on with the support of Milan city council and produced and organized by Palazzo Reale in Milan, Arthemisia Group and 24 ORE Cultura – Gruppo 24 ORE, in collaboration with the Fine Arts Museum of Budapest and the National Museum of Hungary. It will run from 17 September 2015 to 7 February 2016 at the Palazzo Reale in Milan.
As the assessor for culture, Filippo Del Corno said, "Following the resounding success last Christmas when the Hungarian museum gave special permission for the Esterhazy Madonna by Raphael to come on loan to the annual exhibition at Palazzo Marino, which focusses every year on individual masterpieces by great artists, this exhibition is further confirmation of the fruitful collaboration between Milan city council and the Museum of Budapest. It is a prestigious international collaboration that adds to the Expo-in-the-City programme, offering locals and visitors alike a valuable opportunity to get to know the history of European art and the origins of our culture".
The exhibition follows the same layout as the great Hungarian museum and room after room the body of works reveals "the great beauty" of the art, thus presenting the public with an "ideal" gallery in which to admire the wonders of the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries including the Age of the Baroque, Symbolism, Expressionism and the Avant-garde movements.
The Fine Arts Museum of BUDAPEST
The Fine Arts Museum of Budapest houses one of the most important collections of paintings in the world, with works that range from the Mediaeval period to the 20th century and include all the principal European schools.
The Museum opened to the public in 1906 with its early core collection made up of works of art acquired through donations and bequests from the Hungarian nobility and clergy between the 18th and 19th centuries.
In 1848, following the revolution for independence, Lajos Kossuth (1802, Monok, Hungary - 1894, Turin) hero and father of Hungarian democracy made every effort to expand the collection. His aim was to create a national treasure that would confirm Hungary's legitimate right to be considered the equal of the major European nations.
His policy to augment the collection by means of donations and bequests continued apace: the most important acquisition occurred in 1870 when Prince Esterhazy's family sold his extraordinary collection of over 600 paintings to the government.
Bombed and sacked by the Nazis during the second World War, the stolen works were recovered after the end of the war. The collections continued to grow under Communist rule and were enriched by the addition of works by Poussin, El Greco, Monet, Corot and others.
THE EXHIBITION
The rationale underpinning the Fine Art Museum of Budapest was based on the desire to define an autonomous cultural identity, which would show Hungarian art in dialogue with the various international trends through works of great significance. This rationale has been preserved in the the way the exhibition has been structured, that is as the synthesis of a part of the museum's collection.
The first room (dedicated to the Italian High Renaissance) seems to glow with the luminous beauty of the Esterhazy Madonna by Raphael (ca. 1508), a marvel of harmony and purity. The contrast with Leonardo da Vinci's fierce energy, as expressed in drawings such as Study of a Head for the Battle of Anghiari (1503-1504) and in a memorable bronze statuette with a rearing horse, are strikingly eloquent. Hanging close by is the highly individual and charming mythological painting by Lorenzo Lotto of Sleeping Apollo and the Muses (1549 ca.).
The second room, dedicated to Venetian painting, celebrates the high point of the Venetial school during the 16th century. The Supper at Emmaus by Tintoretto (1542 ca.), an imposing spectacular work due to its brave and innovative composition, the light and the application of the paint, stands out beside the three male portraits by Titian, Veronese (Portrait of a man, 1555 ca.) and Moroni (Portrait of a Venetian official, 1570-78 ca.), offering close comparison of great artists. Being historically connected to the Venetian school, the solitary genius of El Greco is on show next to them, represented by two paintings of stunning luminosity, the Mary Magdalene in Penitence (1576-1577) andSaint James the Less (ca.1595-1600).
The third room (the Renaissance in Europe) displays paintings from different schools: Flemish, Italian and, in particular, German, from the time of the Reformation. The very fine Salome by Lucas Cranach the Elder (1530) – with its unmistakable insidious and sensual charm – stands proudly beside the Portrait of a Young Man by Albrecht Dürer (1500 – 1510 ca.), both works that lie at the core of European art in the early 16th century.
A series of religious paintings by Altdorfer (Crucifixion, 1518 ca.), van Heemskerck (Lamentation on the Dead Christ, 1540-45 ca.) and Bronzino (Adoration of the Shepherds, 1539-40) provide a fascinating illustration of how the meaning of sacred art in Europe evolved between the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation.
The fourth room (early 17th century) marks the start of the more spectacular part of the exhibition dedicated to Baroque art. The main focus is on the realistic and very humanTavern Scene by a Velazquez still clearly influenced by Caravaggio. We are in 1618 circa.
The comparison at close quarters between Velazquez and Rubens, two of whose works are on display, is impressive: a large canvas inspired by Roman history (Mucius Scaevola before Lars Porsena, ca. 1618-20) and an expressive portrait of a bearded man, testify to the latter's boundless talent.
Also in this room is the dramatic Jael and Sisera by Artemisia Gentileschi (1620) – where Sisera is represented, as always during this period of the artist's career, with the face of Agostino Tassi – and the fascinating Sleeping girl (1610-20 ca.), painted by an unknown painter.
The fifth room (the Baroque period) broadens the context to include other schools from the European 17th century. The glowing Mediterranean light of a stunning Villa in the Roman Campagna by Claude Lorrain (1646 ca.) is an example of radiant French classicism, contrasted with the Nordic candour of the portraits by Frans Hals and Anthony van Dyck e.g. Portrait of a Man (1634) and Married Couple (1620 ca.); the charming Holy Family by the Spanish painter Murillo is an important example of religious painting combined with an affectionate depiction of domesticity. In this context, the highly individual style of the incomparable Rembrandt has a poignant intensity in the drawingSaskia van Uylenburgh Sitting by a Window (between 1635 and 1638).
The sixth room (18th century) is dominated by a stunning painting of Saint James the Greater Conquering the Moors by Giambattista Tiepolo (1749-50), which glows with suffused luminosity. The Venetian school, which dominated the art scene in 18th century Europe, is represented at its peak with views by Canaletto and Bellotto (respectively The Lock at Dolo, 1763 and Piazza della Signoria in Florence, 1740) and by the sensualBathsheba Bathing by Sebastiano Ricci (1724).
There are also three works by Goya in this room: a brilliant female portrait (Portrait ofManuela Ceán Bermúdez, ca. 1790-93) and two small intense paintings dedicated to work: The Water Seller (1808-12 ca.) and The Knife-grinder between 1808 and 1812.
In the centre hangs the unusual and engaging The Yawner by Franz Xaver Messerschmidt (1771-1783), one of the most bizzarre sculptors of all time.
International symbolism is the theme of the seventh room where the work of various Hungarian artists is on show: Joszef Rippl-Ronai with the very beautiful portrait of aWoman with a Bird-cage (1892), or Janos Vaszary, whose Golden Age from 1898 evokes the dreamy atmosphere of the Secession, as does the Viennese Maximilian Lenz (A World, 1899). The comparison of works on a classical theme is fascinating; it includes work by Armold Böcklin (Centaur, 1888), Franz von Stuck (The Kiss of the Sphinx, 1895) and Auguste Rodin (Sirens, bronze, 1888) alongside examples of Italian symbolism, such as Segantini and the sketch for the Angel of Life (1894-95).
The last room (from Impressionism to the Avant-garde) groups together a series of masterpieces of painting and graphic art from the second half of the 19th century and the early 20th century. Two works of great historic importance stand out: the Lady with a Fanby Edouard Manet (1862, a portrait of Camille, Monet's wife) and the wonderful Buffet(1877), an outstanding still-life by Paul Cézanne. The Picnic in May by Pal Szinyei Merse (1873) hangs next to work by Monet (Three Fishing Boats, 1886), Van Gogh (Garden in Winter in Nuenen, 1884) and Gauguin (Black Pigs, 1891).
An extraordinary watercolour by Egon Schiele, Two women embracing (1915), full of nervous tension, terminates the exhibition covering five centuries of masterpieces.