Some 40 years of vicissitudes
later, Palazzo Citterio will become part of the Brera Art
Gallery with its over 6,500 square meters of modern and
contemporary art.
The official handover to museum director James Bradburne is
expected to come in June after all the various systems installed
have been tested, the culture ministry's Lombardy region museum
chief Marco Minoja said during the presentation of the
restoration.
Then the Brera Modern will begin being set up, with
twentieth-century collections from the art gallery and such
works as Carlo Carrà's 'Allegory of Work', which the ministry
purchased last year.
"If the building is handed over by June, after the necessary
checks to ensure that everything is in order, " the director
said, "we will be able to open it within the following year and
a half, since we are not thinking about a summer opening."
Thus it is likely to open in the autumn of 2019, he
continued, with a preview on November 22 for the 'Brera Listens'
exhibition.
Much work remains, he noted, since the building "must now be
turned into a museum", focusing on exhibition spaces and whether
they can hold such large works as Giuseppe Pellizza da Volpedo's
'Fiumana', an enormous work measuring 255x438 and whether the
storage space will be sufficient.
The residence, located near the Accademia, has been entirely
restored, both the historic sections of the piano nobile and the
more recent halls built in the 1970s and designed by Giancarlo
Ortelli and Edoardo Sianesi, with help from Franco Russoli, and
the parts of the Striling-Wiford project.
The work was completed in about three years thanks to funding
by the cultural ministry as part of the 'Grande Brera' project.
"We cannot say that it was brief," culture ministry
undersecretary Ilaria Borletti Buitoni. "But today we see that a
path undertaken in 1972 has ended happily."
"This palazzo is an important step towards the 'Grande
Brera'," she continued.
Milan mayor called it a "an incredibly beautiful exhibition
space, while Milan superintendent Antonella Ranaldi added that
the restoration work coordinated by the architect Amerigo
Restucci "have given Palazzo Citterio, which has been brought
back to life, back to the city. This is what we had aimed for".
Taking part in the presentation of the palazzo was also
museum director Bradburne.
He did not speak during the press conference, however.
"I came here only two years ago," he said on the sidelines of
the event. "Today is a day to celebrate the work and commitment
shown over the past 40 years. It was not appropriate for me to
speak. Of course I was here during the works, but the
restoration was managed by the superintendent's office. The
merit and responsibility is theirs."
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