Italian Futurists come to New York

Openings Exhibitions Museums USA A foundation dedicated to the countrys Modern artists is due to open in February, to coincide with the Guggenheims examination of the movement

By Julia Halperin. Web only Published online: 19 December 2013

A foundation devoted to the study and presentation of Italian Modern art in the US is due to open to the public in New York on 22 February. Laura Mattioli, the daughter of the late Italian art collector and cotton trader Gianni Mattioli, established the Centre for Italian Modern Art (Cima) to fund research fellowships and present annual displays of work that is rarely seen outside Italy. The fist exhibition at its SoHo location focuses on the Italian Futurist Fortunato Depero (1892-1960).

News of the organisations launch comes as Futurism is gaining wider recognition in New York. In November, Sothebys set a new auction record for the artist Giacono Balla when his painting, Automobile in corsa, 1911, sold for $11.5m. Also opening in February is the Guggenheims Italian Futurism, 1909-1944: Reconstructing the Universe, the first multidisciplinary exhibition to examine the movement in the US. (The shows curator, Vivien Greene, is also on Cimas advisory board.)

Cimas inaugural exhibition (22 February-28 June) is the first in-depth presentation of work by Fortunato Depero in New York since 1928, when the artist moved to the city and opened a workshop on 23rd Street called Futurist House. The exhibition includes 50 works in a variety of media drawn entirely from Mattiolis collection.

Italy is highly praised for its excellence in fashion, design and the culinary arts, but until very recently, Italian Modern and contemporary art has been largely overlooked, says Heather Ewing, the executive director of Cima, in a statement. Strict regulations governing the export of art from Italy have played a large role in limiting its presentation outside the country. Our goal is to serve as an incubator for new discourse, scholarly debate and increased public appreciation of 20th-century Italian art.

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Italian Futurists come to New York