The Art Museum of the province of Nuoro in Sardinia is taking up the concept of the “Matisse Metamorphoses” exhibition developed by the Matisse Museum in Nice and Kunsthaus Zurich.
The Matisse Metamorphoses exhibition, initially presented at the Kunsthaus Zurich from 30 August to 9 December 2019, then at the Matisse Museum in Nice from 14 February to 15 September 2020, has a new life this summer at the MAN in Nuoro, Sardinia, thanks to the initiative of its director, Chiara Gatti, who is responsible for curating this exhibition. The Matisse Metamorfosi exhibition is on display from 14 July to 12 November 2023. The organisation of this event is coordinated by Manifesto Expo.
The “Matisse Metamorphoses” exhibition aims to reveal the importance of Henri Matisse’s sculpted work. Recognised worldwide as one of the greatest painters of the first half of the 20th century, Matisse the sculptor was yet to be discovered. This part of his work, consisting of 84 pieces, covers all periods of his artistic career and stands alongside his pictorial creations, from which sculpture is inseparable. Even though painting remains his main mode of expression, Matisse is one of those complete artists whose multiple skills explore a variety of media. Matisse’s sculpture constitutes a work in its own right that rivals that of the great sculptors of the 20th century who came after Auguste Rodin.
Photo © MAN – Alessandro Moni
Photo © MAN – Alessandro Moni
For this new stage, the Matisse Museum is pleased to lend 29 works from its collection, including 26 sculptures. Indeed, the Matisse Museum preserves a rich collection of 58 sculptures donated by Jean Matisse in 1978 to the French State, for deposit at the Matisse Museum in Nice.
© Succession H. Matisse for the works by the artist
Photo © MAN – Alessandro Moni
Chiara Gatti reinterpreted the concept and route of the initial exhibition, adapting it to the spaces of the Sardinian museum.
The exhibition focuses on the analysis of the artist’s method of creation and is particularly interested in his work of transforming the figure according to serial variations. Bronze sculptures, dating from the years 1900 to 1950, are compared in such a way as to reveal the metamorphoses at work from one version to another on the same subject. The bronzes are presented alongside the artist’s sources of inspiration, notably photographs of nudes and models, non-Western artworks, as well as a selection of a few paintings which bear witness to the research carried out in parallel by the artist in painting and sculpture.
Through around thirty sculptures and twenty drawings and engravings, as well as period photographs and original films, the exhibition shows how Matisse’s sculptures carry and support the artist’s radical experiments throughout the first half of the 20th century.
The exhibition is accompanied by a new bilingual Italian/English catalogue published by Sole24ore Cultura.
