Camera Work. The photographic work of Stieglitz, Steichen, and Strand between Europe and America

Pubblicato il 23 Novembre 2010 da admin

A great photo exhibition is being shown at the Alinari National Museum of Photography in Florence up to January the 9th 2011.

It’s a refined journey inside the history of one of the most important and famous photo magazines,  “Camera Work”, founded at the beginning of the 20th century by Alfred Stieglitz and published in New York for a small number of years from 1912  to 1917.

It is a poetic  journey which plunges the visitor, either professional or amateur, into 20th century photography,  when photography was gradually becoming an autonomous discipline, a form of art, in no way derivative.

Stieglitz, pioneer in the advancement of pictorial photography  in America and abroad, was,  beside being a photographer and a  publisher, the owner of a  small gallery “Gallery 291” in New York, which  greatly contributed to the introduction of modern art in America. In the “International Exhibition of Modern Art”, known as “The Armory Show”, which opened in New York in February 1913, Stieglitz found his unique role and his  “Gallery  291” ( just 5 square meters) became a storm centre for modernism. The Armory Show exhibited nearly 1,300 paintings, drawings, prints and sculptures from Europe and America in an astonishing survey of modern art history and trends, exhibiting artists such as Rodin, Picasso, Matisse, Braque  Picabia and Cézanne. Although not directly involved with the exhibition’s organization, Stieglitz gave his support by lending works from his gallery and openly endorsing the show in the press. He also purchased several works from the exhibition, including the single painting by Kandinsky’s “The Garden of Love”, because  familiar with Kandinsky’s art and theories. He, in fact, had reproduced excerpts of the artist’s seminal thesis Concerning the Spiritual in Art in a 1912 volume of Camera Work.

The Alinari National Museum of Photography is a coffer which stores jewels  to be discovered.

The site is in14ar Piazza Santa Maria Novella. Opening hours 10 am – 6,30 pm. Closed on Wednesday.

These days Florence offers a lot to the visitor.

A visit to the town is recommended.

For accommodations of different types and prices have a look at  www.tuscanyholidayrent.com

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Maremma Wine Shire

Pubblicato il 23 Novembre 2010 da admin

An interesting event is taking place on the 21st and the 22nd of November in Milan: Maremma Wine Shire.

On display the best wine production of this south-western Tuscan area, ranging from the red “Morellino di Scansano” to the “Bianco di Pitigliano” from the “Capalbio” to the “Ansonica Costa dell’Argentario” to end up with the “Montecucco” and the “Monteregio” from Massa Marittima.

Maremma, today, is no longer the treacherous place, the “bitter land” of Tuscany’s folklore songs.

After a successful reclamation scheme, a miracle turned the land into a charming landscape rich in vineyards, olive groves, orchards ending up against a magnificent coastline.

Grosseto is the largest province in Tuscany, offering an unconventional countryside to the traveller’s sight and taste.

A heaven for art lovers and foodies.

Why not plan a flight from daily routine and visit the area?

Treat yourself with a glass of Maremma wine, together with salami and different flavoured Pecorino cheese, immersed in an unforgettable landscape.

For accommodations of different types and prices have a look at http://www.tuscanyholidayrent.com/Maremma/viewstruct_area_10.html

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Florens 2010 – International Arts and Environment Week

Pubblicato il 23 Novembre 2010 da admin

From the 12th to the 20th November Florence is going to be the seat of an international artistic, cultural and economical lab.

Over 150 events: lectures, workshop, concerts,  readings and urban performances will take place in holy spots, such as the cathedral and the baptistery, or inside museums, historical libraries or famous palaces such as Palazzo Vecchio and Palazzo Strozzi.

Among them, one of the most staggering  is “David, the power of beauty” a homage to Michelangelo. On the occasion, a life-size reproduction of the statue will be actually set in different corners of the town, virtually reproducing the sixteenth century controversial debate about its location.

Gorgeous will be the scenic effects in Piazza del Duomo: the paving will be turned into a huge lawn spread with flowers, recalling the famous miracle of San Zenobius.

Piazza della Repubblica and Piazza Strozzi will host Renaissance style stall markets.

Scheduled are the “lectio magistrales” by architects such as Rem Koolhaas,  Richard Rogers or by artists such as Mimmo Paladino or critics such as Achille Bonito Oliva or the designer Chris Bangle. Readings will be delivered by the famous Italian actor Toni Servillo

Meetings with other writers are going to be on the agenda in libraries and bookshops in the town.

In Palazzo Vecchio  international experts, organizations and various institutions will take part in discussions about art and environment in the “Forum Internazionale dei Beni Culturali e Ambientali”.

Last but not least : fairs on local food and wine will be the right conclusion of a day dedicated to culture.

Are you  planning a trip to Tuscany these days? You’re welcome to visit our beautiful region and don’t hesitate to explore our website www.tuscanyholidayrent.com for accommodation and information.

Have you decided to be in Florence on this very special occasion?

Plenty of accommodations  in apartments in the heart of Florence or in villas plunged in the   countryside at http://www.tuscanyholidayrent.com/Apartments_in_Florence/viewstruct_tipologia_2_provincia_2.html

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Damien Hirst

Pubblicato il 23 Novembre 2010 da admin

“For the love of God ” or “For the love of Money?

In Florence,  at Palazzo Vecchio  art experts are secretly working  on a special project, due  within the end of the current year. It is likely to become the cultural event of the “new deal “of Florentine art, a way of linking “the contemporary” to the glorious past of Renaissance.

The exhibition will be taking place  in the heart of Palazzo Vecchio, more exactly in the “studiolo” of Francesco Ist of the Medici , a real wunderkammer, precious and unique product of the Florentine mannerism.  Here under the frescoed ceiling where Francesco de’ Medici used to devote himself to his scientific studies,  Damien Hirst’s Diamond Skull,  worth 100 million Euros, will be exhibited.

A controversial work:  a life-size platinum skull encrusted with 8,601 flawless diamonds, entitled “For The Love of God”.

The amusing  title was apparently inspired by Hirst’s  mother naively asking him “For the love of God, what are you doing next?” The artist, leader of the Young British Artists  in the 1990s, made his name by pickling  sharks, cows, sheep in formaldehyde,  painting enlarged anatomical figures, among which the birth of his son by caesarean, or displaying pharmaceutical products in cupboards.  The dealer and collector Charles Saatchi, initially, sponsored  Hirst, who soon  became an art entrepreneur himself.  He actually broke the power of London traditional art galleries and consequently created his own brand,  capable of selling almost anything: colourful canvasses splattered with hair, broken glass, scalpel blades, human teeth and diamond dust, seductive yet all based on biopsies of cancerous salivary glands or a prostate blood clot.

The adventure “Diamond Skull” started last June when Mr. Hirst came to Palazzo Vecchio, in Florence. He was strongly charmed by the background and excited by the idea of placing the priciest contemporary work of art ever made in this location.

In a setting such as Palazzo Vecchio, situated in the heart of Florence, his masterpiece will be able to establish a dialogue with a celebrated past, with the ghost of a very refined, yet bizarre, grand duke absorbed in the investigation of sciences, alchemy and the borders between life and death. An explosive contrast, in a sort of a black sanctuary, acknowledged by history,  the Diamond Skull  will be suspended, lit by dazzling beams of lights.

Take the opportunity of visiting this exhibition and exploring Florence and its superb monuments. For accommodations in the heart of Florence, we recommend our www.tuscanyholidayrent.com selection of apartments, and invite you to visit http://www.tuscanyholidayrent.com/index.php?page=structuredetails&structid=144, a small elegant building within walking distance of the magnificent Ponte Vecchio.

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