2017 bumper year for 20th-century, avant-garde art

(ANSA) - Rome, January 3 - There is something for everyone in the major art exhibitions planned for 2017, which present work by Picasso, Kandinsky, Depero, Modigliani, Mirò, Marino Marini, the Impressionists and contemporary masters in venues across Italy. This year more than in the past the offering is inspired by 20th century and avant-garde art, while fans of contemporary art can look forward to 'Viva Arte Viva', the 57th edition of the International art exhibition otherwise known as the Biennale curated by Christine Macel, which opens in Venice in May. This year the exhibition season begins earlier than usual with 'Da Hayez a Boldini. Anime e volti della pittura italiana dell'Ottocento' (From Hayez to Boldini. Spirits and faces of Italian 19th-century painting), running from January 21 to June 11 at Palazzo Martinengo in Brescia. February 9 sees the opening of a retrospective of work by the late contemporary master Renato Mambor, founder of the Conceptual movement, in Milan's Galleria Gruppo Credito Valtellinese two years after his death. 'Giovanni Bellini e i Belliniani' at Palazzo Sarcinelli in Conegliano (Treviso) marks the fifth centenary of the death of the Venetian master, one of the greatest artists of his time. Back in Milan the second half of the 20th century takes centre stage in 'Keith Haring. About art' at the Palazzo Reale from February 20-June 18 with a large selection of works by the New York artist from all over the world. In Rome exhibitions to look out for include an exhibition on the Colosseum in the Colosseum itself (from February 23) and a show of work by the Paris-based Italian genre and portrait painter Giovanni Boldini, the most famous of 'les Italiens', on display at the Complesso del Vittoriano from March 4. On the same date work by 17th-century Emilian artist Guercino goes on show in Piacenza, where visitors can admire the extraordinary fresco cycle painted by the artist from Cento in the cathedral dome. One of the most important exhibitions this year, 'Manet and modern Paris', opens in Milan on March 8, presenting works by the French master alongside others by Renoir, Degas and Cezanne.
    Also in the Lombard capital MUDEC pays homage to Kandinsky with a previously unshown site-specific exhibition running from March 15 to July 2.
    In Genoa an exhibition of work by Modigliani opens in the Doge's palace on March 16, taking visitors on a journey through the main stages of the Ligurian artist's short but prolific career. Other major upcoming shows include 'Depero, the magician' at the Magnani Rocca Foundation in Mamiano di Traversetolo near Parma, presenting over 100 paintings, collages, drawings, items of clothing, pieces of furniture and other items from March 18; Mirò in Bologna's Palazzo Albergati from April; and 'Picasso-Parade. Napoli 1917', one of several events marking the centenary of the Spanish master's journey to Italy in 1917. Back in Rome the National Museum of the 21st Century Arts (MAXXI) is gearing up for 'The Place to Be', a new display of its permanent collection set to open as the Venice Biennale gets underway in the northern lagoon city.