NEW YORK, OCTOBER 9 – With works by Umberto Boccioni and Michelangelo Pistoletto, the exhibition “The Grand Italian Vision. Collezione Farnesina” arrives at the United Nations in New York. An engaging journey through the history of Italian art from the 20th century to the present day will be unveiled on Thursday, October 12, at UN headquarters. The exhibition curated by the art critic Achille Bonito Oliva will be prominently set up in the spaces of the Delegates’ Entrance and the Curved Wall until October 27.
Cutting the ribbon will be Italy’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Maurizio Massari. Following this, there will be speeches by the Under Secretary General for the Operational Support of the United Nations, Atul Khare, the Director of the Italian Cultural Institute in New York, Fabio Finotti, Ambassador Umberto Vattani, and the curator Bonito Oliva.
The project offers a grand tour of our country’s creativity through 71 works selected from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ art collection. These works, which testify to the richness of the cultural heritage housed in the Ministry headquarters in Rome, is being exhibited at various Italian institutional locations in New York, including the Permanent Missionto the United Nations, the Residence of the Italian Ambassador to the UN, the Italian Cultural Institute, and the Consulate General of Italy. New York is one of the many stops that the Collezione Farnesina has made this year; the works have already passed through Asia – Singapore, Tokyo, New Delhi, and Seoul – before arriving in the United States.
In more detail, of the 71 works exhibited in New York, 26 are already accessible at the Italian Cultural Institute, 17 at the Consulate General of Italy, 6 in the hall and waiting room of the Permanent Representation to the United Nations, and 3 in the Residence of the Italian Ambassador to the United Nations. 15 works, on the other hand, divided between the Delegates’ Entrance and the Curved Wall, will be located at the UN.
Among these works are “Unique Forms of Continuity in Space” (1913) by Umberto Boccioni, “L’Etrusco” (1976) by Michelangelo Pistoletto, and “Giove e Antiope” (2016 – 2021) by Giulio Paolini; together with “Hermes” (2007) by Vettor Pisani, “N.1 Pinguino” (1987 – 2005) – “N.2 Pinguino” (1987 – 2005) by Maurizio Mochetti, “All the Steps I Have Taken in My Life Have Led Me to This Moment” (2005) by Alberto Garutti, “Untitled” (1996) by Vanessa Beecroft, which will be exhibited in the Delegates’ Entrance. At the Curved Wall, you can admire “Sanctuary” (1986) by Mario Schifano, “Viaggio in Italia” (1955) by Achille Perilli, “CleoPatria” (1998) by Luigi Ontani, “Lin-sat” (1987) by Sergio Lombardo, “Quadro celeste” (1994) by Gianni Dessì, and “Senza titolo” (2022) by Domenico Bianchi. Additionally, the large work of Francesco Clemente will be displayed, who generously made available the painting “Wings of Desire V, 2023” exclusively for the New York stop, his adopted city, as a tribute to the “Grand Italian Vision – Collezione Farnesina” and the institution hosting it.
A preview of the New York project as a whole was presented at the Consulate General of Italy in New York on September 18, in the presence of the Vice President of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Antonio Tajani, during his participation in the High-Level Week of the 78th Session of the United Nations General Assembly. (@OnuItalia)
