Art and Design

Amedeo Modigliani - born in Livorno

Jeanne Hébuterne, Modigliani's great loveJeanne Hébuterne, Modigliani's great lovePerhaps the most well-known artist of Livornese origins is Amedeo Modigliani. He was born in Livorno in 1884 and gained his early artistic training within the Macchiaioli group.
Modigliani spent most of his short life in Paris, where he died in 1920.
Modigliani was both an artist and a sculptor and was influenced by Cézanne, Picasso, and by African sculpture, but essentially by his Italian heritage.  He was probably the greatest Italian artist of the 20th century.

Modigliani's Heads

One of the Greatest Hoaxes in the History of Italian Art

The False Heads on display in 1984The False Heads on display in 1984In 1909 Modigliani left Livorno for Paris, embittered by the negative reviews he had received from art critics and fellow citizens. The story goes that someone even advised him to throw his sculptures away, they were worth so little, and at this Modigliani tossed some of his carved busts into Livorno's Fosso Reale near his home

Scuola Labronica

Scorcio di Ardenza con figure, by Cafiero Filippelli, one of the Scuola Labronica artists: source: www.artnet.comScorcio di Ardenza con figure, by Cafiero Filippelli, one of the Scuola Labronica artists: source: www.artnet.comThe Scuola Labronica was a group of 18 Italian artists, all born in or around Livorno. It was officially founded in 1920, though its members had met regularly at the Caffè Bardi, in the centre of Livorno, since 1908. It continued until about 1950.

Fabrizio Di Pietrantonio Violin Maker

Violin Maker in Florence, Tuscany, Italy

Address: Via delle Caldaie 23, Florence, Tuscany, Italy
Postcode: 50125
Telephone: +(39) 055 5383173, mobile +(39) 335 6930638

Beyond Painting, beyond the Macchiaioli

Bottini dell'Olio - ideal exhibition space, too infrequently used: an exhibition held in May 2010Bottini dell'Olio - ideal exhibition space, too infrequently used: an exhibition held in May 201011th January 2011 Talk to any of Livorno's many talented contemporary artists and they will probably complain about how the city's artistic scene is too strongly tied to its Macchiaioli background. Livorno's galleries heave with works from this artistic period as though nothing else worth showing existed. It is difficult for contemporary Livornese artists to find space to show their works locally, and many are forced to turn to other cities and regions.

Here then, is an exhibition that appears to want to break away from Livorno's traditional artistic  heritage and to present some refreshing new works that go beyond the conventional.

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