DUCHAMP, MAGRITTE, DALÍ

Greatreat avant-garde masters on view for Italian tour: from past October 16 to 11 February 11, in Bologna, a remarkable exhibition will be inaugurated, devoted to those personalities of the art world who have revolutionized the 20th century: Duchamp, Magritte, Dalí, Ernst, Tanguy, Man Ray, Calder, Picabia and many others are brought together to illustrate a period of brilliant and extraordinary creativeness.

Through a rich narrative, the exhibition illustrates these artists’ determination to revolutionize art, make a break with the past, and fashion a new world. -180 works are on display from The Israel Museum,Jerusalem, which for the occasion has generously emptied over 1,000 square metres of its exhibit itinerary, so as to share its amazing collections with visitors in Bologna. The connection between Dada, Surrealism, and the Israel Museum began as a “chance encounter” more than fifty years ago and has since evolved into a deep and lasting relationship. Thanks in great part to generous gifts from donors and artists alike, the Museum has been able to form a spectacular holding of Dada and Surrealist material, embracing all of the media employed by these groundbreaking movements: paintings, readymades, collages and assemblages, photographs, and works on paper. The Museum owes this richness first and foremost to Milanese scholar-poet-dealer Arturo Schwarz, who donated his vast collection of Dada, Surrealist, and pre-Surrealist art, comprising more than 700 works constituting the major part of the collection and the selection of work on view. The masterpieces include: Le Chateau de Pyrenees (1959) by Magritte, Surrealist Essay (1934) by Dalí, L.H.O.O.Q. (1919/1964) by Duchamp, and Main Ray (1935) by Man Ray.

The exhibition has been designed by the great architect Oscar Tusquets Blanca, who for the event has reconstructed Dalí’s famous Mae West room in Palazzo Albergati, along with the installation 1,200 Sacks of Coal that Duchamp created for the Exposition Internationale du Surréalisme in 1938. The exhibition, curated by Dr. Adina Kamien-Kazhdan, Senior Curator of Modern Art at The Israel Museum, is held under the patronage of the City Council of Bologna and of the Israeli Embassy, and is produced and organized by the Arthemisia Group in collaboration with The Israel Museum, Jerusalem.