The eternal muse. The women universe between 1800s and 1900s.

40 fascinating portraits of women depicted in their everyday life.

From 02 June 2019 to 03 November 2019

From June 2 to November 3, the Centro Matteucci in Viareggio hosts the exhibition ‘The eternal muse. The female universe between 1800s and 1900s' a selection of as many as 40 women portraits. Paintings that do not display divas or exceptional figures but normal women, of a family nature and next door-like. As Giuliano Matteucci, curator of the exhibition, has quoted, it is ‘a gallery of snapshots taken from an idyllic family album that was collected in the different periods of life’. The portraits that make up the Viareggio exhibition date to the 1800s and 1900s up to the post-WWII times. Works by great artists such as Fattori, Lega, Favretto, Casorati and others and which belong mostly to private collections. The Centro Matteucci in Viareggio, where the exhibition is on show, is housed inside an elegant Art Nouveau building a few steps from the famous promenade. Apart from Saturday and Sunday, when it is also open in the morning, like many other Viareggio exhibitions during the week it can only be visited in the afternoon. So, if you are at the seaside in {{link_cross::DISCOVER§CTY§80§Versilia§_blank}}, you can include a visit to this beautiful exhibition in between an afternoon swim and an evening aperitif! As the event runs until November you could also plan a weekend in Viareggio to enjoy the warm but pleasant autumn sun and at the same combine that with a visit to the L’Eterna Musa exhibition.

• CENTRO MATTEUCCI PER L’ARTE MODERNA

This important center for modern art was started in 2009 as a Cultural Association, founded by Giuliano Matteucci and chaired by a scientific committee comprised of important art historians and critics such as Cristina Acidini, Fernando Mazzocco, Antonio Paolucci and Carlo Sisi. The activity of the center is centered on the figure of the collector intended as a connoisseur, custodian and divulger of the artistic heritage. In fact, through the historical collections of several collectors, the center offers a cross-section of the main trends of the time from the Unification of Italy to the First World War. The Matteucci Art Centre also houses a library - one of the largest containing Macchiaioli books- a rich archive, a photo library and a database. The latter consists of over 200,000 catalogued cards referring to a total of 8,000 artists.

• THE EXHIBITION

As already mentioned, visiting this exhibition you should not expect portraits of vamps or divas, which even the same painters of many of the portraits exhibited actually depicted. In this case the women portrayed are represented in their everyday normality. This does not mean you should expect disheveled and unassuming female figures! On the contrary many emanate a true beauty, far from artificial and therefore extremely fascinating. The woman in the paintings of the Viareggio current exhibition offers really many models: the eternal Eve, the family angel, the bewitching mermaid, the common woman and the bourgeois, the worker and the mistress, the cheerful woman and the melancholy one. The exhibition path starts with Francesco Hayez’s ‘Portrait of Elisabetta Bassi Charlé’: the stern widow who holds the portrait of her husband. As for Michele Tedesco, on the other hand, his ‘Reading on the terrace’ is displayed, which portrays a bourgeois girl on a terrace from which there are glimpses of the Tuscan countryside while she is browsing through a book surrounded by some turtledoves. The Viareggio L’eterna Musa exhibition continues with works from the second half of the nineteenth century by the most renowned painters of the time. We see the austere woman, dressed in black of 'Portrait of the sister-in-law' by Giovanni Fattori, the seductive gaze of 'In vendetta' by Giuseppe de Nittis, the countryside woman of 'La Guardiana dei Tacchini' by Federico Zandomeneghi surrounded by animals while embroidering on crochet. ‘Anna Belimbau’, the woman of Vittorio Corcos with a fox fur scarf and the elegant hat depicted in a bright living room full of champagne-colored satins, clearly represents the influences of liberty, the art style of the time.

From the nineteenth century L’Eterna Musa at Centro Matteucci then focuses on women of the 1900s, each representing the style or avant-garde traits typical of the painter who depicted them. Beautiful examples are Renato Natali's ‘Woman with parrots’ and Massimo Campigli's ‘Archaic Figure’ that echoes Picasso's influences. The most evocative portrait, perhaps, the one that was chosen to represent the exhibition is Virgilio Guidi's ‘Woman with a red belt’: an enigmatic girl in which the blue of her eyes is projected towards the blue of the sea. The blue motif, also mirrored on the hat and the dress, is interrupted by the red belt and mouth.

Versilia is more than just a seaside destination and events in Viareggio dedicated to art, culture and entertainment are plentiful. What’s more, the town's liaison with art has always been particularly strong: at the beginning of the 19th century many painters chose Viareggio as their home and source of inspiration, just think of the Macchiaioli. The same holds true for several poets: Pascoli came to Viareggio to meet Puccini, while D’Annunzio is alleged to have composed the poetry book ‘Alcyone’ dedicated to Eleonora Duse in Viareggio. Viareggio is therefore perfect whether you want to enjoy the sea and its nightlife or immerse yourself in the world of art and liberty style! Therefore, have a good look at the event’s website and check carefully the Viareggio exhibition opening times, then get ready for a nice getaway in Versilia. It’s the perfect opportunity to join one of our excursions to Pisa!

Until November 3, beautiful Viareggio and its women portraits exhibition await you for a weekend in the name of art and much more!