Immediately after the Second World War the city of Livorno, known for its strong commitment to contemporary art, established the “Amedeo Modigliani Award” (Premio Amedeo Modigliani) actually a campaign to purchase works of art. Held between 1955 and 1967, the last two editions of the award brought together so many extraordinary masterpieces that Livorno decided to create a new museum.
Thus was created the Progressive Museum of Contemporary Art and thanks to the clear and effective strategy of the curators, a significant number of works of art by Italian artists of the period were conveyed to Livorno. Some were donated, others purchased at a nominal price. These works offered a wide and well-constructed survey of the Italian artistic scene in the mid-seventies.
Initially a very lively activity, thanks to its many exhibitions, conferences and conventions, slowly the museum lost its impetus until the city finally decided to close it at the beginning of the 1990s. This is precisely the story that will be narrated in the halls of the Fondazione Livorno and the Granai di Villa Mimbelli by the exhibition “Eredità del Novecento. Arte e design nelle collezione civiche livornesi”: Twentieth-century legacy. Art and design in the Public Collections of Livorno.
Split into two sections, the one dedicated to design will be opened on September 4th at 5.30 pm at the Fondazione Livorno. The second section is dedicated to art and will be opened on September 5th at 5.30 pm at Villa Mimbelli and will narrate how the acquisition campaign started off. On until October 31st.