An exhibition that opened Monday in Bologna and will run through February 11 is dedicated to artists that revolutionized twentieth-century art.
'The Revolutionaries of the 1900s' will include 180 works from Jerusalem's Israel Museum and features such artists as Duchamp, Magritte, Dalì, Ernst, Tanguy, Man Ray, Calder and Picabia. The Israeli museum emptied out over 1,000 square meters of its exhibition space for the occasion. The bringing together of Dada, Surrealism and the Israel Museum began as a "casual encounter" over 50 years ago and has since evolved into a deep, lasting relationship. Thanks to the generous donations from collectors and artists, the museum has created a spectacular collection of Dada and Surrealist works that include all the techniques used by these movements, such as paintings, 'ready-mades', collages, assemblies, photographs and works on paper. The museum owes this wealth mostly to Arturo Schwarz - a teacher, writer and poet from Milan - who donated his vast collection of over 800 Dada, Surrealist and pre-Surrealist works, which constitute the core of the collections and of the works in the exhibition. Among the masterpieces are: Le Chateau de Pyrenees (1959) by Magritte, Surrealist Essay (1934) by Dali, L.H.O.O.Q.
(1919/1964) by Duchamp and Main Ray (1935) by Man Ray.
The works were arranged by architect Oscar Tusquets Blanca, who recreated Dali's famous Mae West hall inside Palazzo Albergati and the '1,200 Sacks of Coal' installation, an idea of Duchamp's for the 1938 Exposition Internationale du Surréalisme.
Through a theme-based path, the exhibition - curated by Adina Kamien-Kazhdan, senior curator of the Modern Art at the Israel Museum - offers a broad view of this avant-garde heritage, divided into five sections: Surprising Juxtapositions.
Automatism and Subconscious, Bi-morphism and Metamorphosis, Desire: Muse and Abuse and Dreamlike Lanscapes. A century has passed since the Dada movement began in1916 and Surrealism in 1924, when these artists were the first to invent techniques, create ideologies, and apply Freudian psychoanalysis to art. They challenged tradition while introducing innovative materials and strategies that would transform the language of art. The show is sponsored by the Bologna municipality and the Israeli embassy and is accompanied by a 240-page catalogue with essays by Werner Spies, Daws Ades and Adina Kamien-Kazhdan.
It will move to Rome's Complesso del Vittoriano from March to July next year.
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