The extraordinary Exhibition Georges de La Tour: Europe of light reopens in Milan at Palazzo Reale from. The Exhibition opens to the public with new days and times, access by reservation only and with new provisions to protect the safety of visitors. The Exhibition is promoted and produced by the City of Milan Culture, Palazzo Reale and MondoMostre Skira, curated by Prof. Francesca Cappelletti and Thomas Clement Salomon. The Exhibition boasts a scientific committee composed of Pierre Rosenberg (former director of the Louvre), Gail Feigenbaum (director, Getty Research Institute), Annick Lemoine (director, Musée Cognacq-Jay).
The 28 lending museums from 3 continents have all agreed to extend the loan of the 33 works until 27 September, thus allowing them to visit for another four months, with the security measures established by the government and regional authorities. Among the lenders are some of the largest international institutions such as the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, the Frick Collection in New York. Francisco Fine Art Museum, the Chrysler Museum in Norfolk, the National Art Gallery in Lviv; many French regional museum institutions, such as the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Nantes, the Musée du Mont-du Piété in Bergues, the Musée départemental d’Art ancient et Contemporain in Epinal, the Museée des Beaux-Arts in Dijon, the Musée Toulouse-Lautrec in Albi, the Musée départemental Georges de La Tour in Vic-sur-Seille, as well as some important Italian museums such as the Uffizi Gallery, the Pinacoteca Vaticana, the National Gallery of Ancient Art – Barberini Palace.
The first exhibition in Italy dedicated to Georges de La Tour, through targeted comparisons between the masterpieces of the French master and those of other great artists of his time. Artist of the calibre of Gerrit van Honthorst, Paulus Bor, Trophime Bigot – brings a new reflection on painting from the natural and light experiments, to address the profound questions that still surround the work of this mysterious artist.
A unique exhibition considering that, as Roberto Longhi pointed out, in Italy, there is no work by La Tour and there are about 40 works certainly attributed to the Maestro, of which 15 are on display plus one attributed.
Among the masterpieces in the Exhibition, the moving emotional intensity of the penitent Magdalene (National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., c. 1635-1640); the splendid early painting of The Brawl between Beggars (J. Paul Getty Museum, c. 1625-1630) characterized by an extraordinarily free and brilliant performance; the austere and tragic Sounder of Hurdy-gurdy with the Dog (Musée du Mont-de-
Piété di Bergues, 1622-1625); The money paid (Lviv -Ukraine, National Gallery of Painting, 1625-1627), one of the most interesting outcomes of De La Tour’s pictorial journey, a scene marked by a very high level of tension; The dice players (Stockton-on-Tees, Preston Park Museum & Grounds, 1650-1651), one of the few paintings by La Tour preserved in Great Britain; the extraordinary painting The Denial of Peter (Nantes, Musée des Beaux-Arts, 1650), where La Tour adds the dramatic character of the Apostle’s betrayal to the light effects of the nocturnes; the magnificent painting Job mocked by his wife (Epinal, Musée départemental d’Art ancien e contemporain, c. 1650), particularly representative of the work on light carried out by the Master; Young man blowing on an ember (Dijon, Musée des Beaux-Arts, c. 1640) painted on a small scale among the few examples of works executed by the artist for private clients; the unforgettable Education of the Virgin (New York, Frick Collection, c. 1650) with an intimate scene and collection of great poetry.
Other paintings with a religious theme complete La Tour’s autograph works: the two portraits of the apostles, St. James the Lesser and St. Judas Thaddeus from the Toulouse-Lautrec Museum in Albi; St. Philip from the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk; St. John the Baptist in the desert from the La Tour Museum in Vic-sur-Seille, the painter’s birthplace. And two incisive portraits – Old man and Old woman – from the Fine Arts Museums in San Francisco.
The path of the Exhibition is enriched by about twenty splendid works by contemporary artists such as Paulus Bor, Jan Lievens, Throphime Bigot, Frans Hals, Jan van Bijlert, Gerrit Van Honthorst (known in Italy as Gherardo delle Notti), Adam de Coster, Carlo Saraceni.
Accompanying the Exhibition is the important catalogue published by Skira with essays by Francesca Cappelletti, Pierre Rosenberg, Jean-Pierre Cuzin, Gail Feigenbaum, Dimitri Salmon, Gianni Papi, Rossella Vodret with Giorgio Leone, Matteo Mancinelli, Manfredi Merluzzi, including the critical and bibliographical details of the works and their images and followed by an extensive bibliography.
“La Tour’s images,” says the curator, “are absolutely interesting, they push us to sharpen our eyes to discover what is hidden in the darkness, where the candlelight can’t reach; or they are pictures that show us more than we would like to see – the despair and misery of life, which is giant near us. Observing his paintings, the spectator is as involved as the painter in the same undertaking; he cannot take his eyes off work until its author captures him: this is one of the secrets of his ascendancy”.
The Exhibition will open from Thursday to Sunday, from 11.00 am to 7.30 pm with evening opening on Thursdays until 10.30 pm (last admission one hour before).
Reservations are compulsory – even for free categories at Vivaticket tel. 02 92897755 or at https://mondomostreskira.vivaticket.it/. Reservations can be made shortly before the visit, as long as the capacity allowed in each time slot is respected.
At the moment, it is not possible to book visits for groups or school groups. For those who already have a reservation, please request the voucher from the website: https://shop.vivaticket.com/ita/voucher.
SUMMARY HOW TO ACCESS THE BUILDING: Reservation is compulsory and pre-purchase is required (the ticket office is closed). Present yourself at the Royal Palace at the time booked, no more than 5 minutes in advance are allowed. It is necessary to wear the mask and sanitize the hands with the sanitizing solutions present, to access every area of the Palace.
Information: palazzorealemilano.it – latourmilano.it