"What begins in the work of Caravaggio is, quite simply, modern painting."

Today I accidentally spent a really nice touristic day in Rome. Accidentally, because I was supposed to go to school and catch up with history & etc. and instead I caught myself waiting in the line for two hours to see the Caravaggio's exhibition in the Scruderie del Quirinale Gallery. This is what happened: we have our dear friend Maris from Estonia over our place and there's so much to catch up with and last night, guess what, we totally lost our time track. The good company, all the chit chat of the world plus a bottle of great wine did their job well (too well I'd say). Anyway I decided I'd wake up an hour later and eventually everything went well. My timing was perfect, I was at the bus stop 5 min earlier, trust me this is RARE, but I think someone up there didn't like my easy luck at all so huge traffic appeared on my way just out of nowhere. But, as my to-do list is like what.. a meter long ? I easily found some annoying things needed to be done, after what I thought I should definitelly try and go to see the Caravaggio's exhibition. The exhibition has been on already from the end of February but the excitement doesn't seem to want to calm down and the gallery is "over-peopled" all the time.. the que was really long and I spent two hours under the sun standing melting... and it was SO WORTH IT! I think I have only once seen another so greatly arranged exhibition in my life (it was Basquiat's, in 2008 autumn, in Palazzo Ruspoli).





Let me tell a little about Caravaggio: one of the greatest baroque painters in Italy, he was born in Milan in 1571 and he died in 1610. In the 90's when he arrived in Rome he was discovered by the "art patrons" (cardinals) and soon enough he got the most important commissions of his time: the Martyrdom of Saint Matthew and Calling of Saint Matthew, delivered in 1600. But there is no wonder, his work was revolutionary. He ignored all conventional "rules" of classical painting and introduced a much more radical and naturalistic attitude. Dramatical scenography characterized of a great use of chiaroscuro (light and shadow) combined with a careful attention of real life helped him to take the artistical taste of his time to a whole new level. His personal life influenced his late work quite a lot: Caravaggio, as busy busy leading a very tumultuous life, was constantly involved in scandalous intrigues and troubles. The culmination of his "bad boy" fame was in 1606 when he accidentaly killed a young man and was forced to escape from the authorities until his death. If you care, read more about him on wiki (click!). Here's just few his works:

This was my absolute favourite...
Don't you just loooveee that flirty smile of his?!

Because of the cloudy cloudy wheather in Europe our friend is "forced" to extend her vacation in Rome (sounds terrible, right?:D) and we've been seeing around a bit with her. I love it so much, when people come to visit, it's a perfect chance to enjoy your city as a tourist and see it from a whole different point of view, to LIVE IT as if you were on a vacation yourself. Especially in a city like Rome, where there are places to discover until exhaustion!

PS!
Did you like this post and are you intersted in reading more stuff about Rome and it's people & art & food & history ?
Let me know, I'll try my best to come up with topics which interest You the most;)

Information about the exhibition:

20 February - 13 June
ticket: 10eur/7,50eur
audioguide (english/italian) : 4eur (I SUGGEST!)
opening hours: Monday to Thursday 9:30am to 8:00pm ... continue reading

Curated by Rossella Vodret e Francesco Buranelli
Scuderie del Quirinale homepage (click!)
Tel. 06 39967500

HAPPY INDEED

Today came out the December Elle Italia with an extra agenda by Marc Jacobs new fragrance LOLA.

Good Evening to all of you! I'm gonna make a quick post about my happy day (birthday). I was woked up with a cake and candles and flowers by my dearest ones and it pretty much continued like this the whole day. One of my classmates brought me breakfast straight from the bar (down near the school) with fresh orange juice (we have some inside jokes about oranges and how much I love them and it had it own meaning)- such a sweeet gesture!!! Later on we went on an exhibition about Surrealism and Dadaism. It was a great exhibition with so many works and maybe tooo many.. My head literally hurt later. But it was a great dose of culture as our art history teacher was with us and explained us everything. Here are some pictures I managed to take. (SECRETLY as cameras are highly forbidden on all exhibitions).

INFORMATION:

..Marcel Duchamp
Man Ray
Magritte
Chagall
De Chirico
Kandinskij
Klee
Klinger
Gustave Moreau
Munch
Salvador Dalì
Pollock..
JUST TO MENTION FEW ARTISTS.

-The exhibition is held until the 7th of February at the Complesso Vittoriano, Palazzo Venezia.
-The ticket is about 10 euros, 7.50 if reduced.

Let the fresh air blow in and make you forget about where and what you live in: The New York Minute: 60 Artists from the New York Art Scene

THEY'RE HERE! The pictures! So finally I manage to post about the exhibition I saw about a week ago. It was a very interesting exhibition, as the artists were all americans and mainly from New York, I could feel a different energy from the usual european contemporary artists. Mainly because the subjects. America is such a large country with so many cultures all confused and mixed together, convinced in the need of all being one nation. That in the other hand is not so positive as it is easyly stereotypes you and kills the creativity flow that the mix of cultures offers. But in the other hand it feeds the sensitive artists, all extremly influenced by it. Infact artist is the one that comunicates the "emotional-state", let me call it this way, of the society. Artist is like a mirror that reflects everything there is "in the air" through his works. And it was interesting to feel different " air", from over the Atlantic.
On the pictures you see Concetta my friend, we had so much fun and we are going to see another exhibiton together again quite soon!

4 Places to go/see

1.MILAN

Why: Frank O. Gehry since 1997

Where: Triennale di Milano

When: September 09 – January 10

I'm sure almost everyone is familiar with that strange deformed building in Prague they call Dancing House. (above) If not then maybe by mentioning Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, something will shine out from the fog? Ok. If these two buildings do not say anything to you then you really URGE to see this exhibition! We are talking about one of the most significant architects of the 20^th century- Frank O. Gehry, the first one to introduce digital projecting and an artist who totally changed the way we look on contemporary architecture now. He's everything else than traditional and to describe his style as “modern” is a really modest way to talk about his work.

Pritzker Prize and Golden Lion (for his career). Not bad.

2. NEW YORK

Why: Tim Burton's retrospective

Where: MoMA

When: November 09 – April 10

Beetlejuice, Batman, Edward Scissorhands, Batman Returns, The Nightmare Before Christmas , Ed Wood , Mars Attacks!, Sleepy Hollow, Big Fish, Corpse Bride, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Sweeney Todd..

Oh, just some works you may find in his curriculum... + Oscar and Golden Lion winner. Don't you just die to know more and more about this genius- said very modestly- and his work, his evolution and his world?!?! (wow that even rimes..) No need to add anything else.

3.AMSTERDAM

Why: "At the Russian Court"

Where: Hermitage Amsterdam and Amstelhof

When: June 09 – January 10

A recreation of life at the Russian court during the nineteenth century: luxurious dinners, mask balls and banquettes, the marvellous gowns and other costumes, the art of dressing and make-up by the russian courtesans, precious jewelery worn by tsars and tsarinnas themselves and antique furniture which used to decorate their private rooms. This and more (1800 objects in total) loaned from the State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, and organized by Merkx+Girod Architecten with photographs, projections and music.

4. PARIS

Why: "Tyen: 30 Years of Creation"

Where: Palais de Tokyo, 16 Avenue du Président Wilson, Parigi 16e.

When: 29-30 Settembre

Last but not least... Tyen's photographs. Okay, said like this... Who the h*ll's Tyen? Well... he's that creative guy who has been designing and deciding which colours are in and which out on your face for the next season for the last thirty-freaking-years! At DIOR's make-up house. Design director, photographer, master of colour.

His key to success:“I don’t think about trends. Just about how women can be beautiful — and comfortable.” His moto: “Make-up is a final touch; a bit of camouflage to say, ‘I’m healthy, I’m happy and I love you.”

Finally - the Bulgari retrospective!

So finally, after three months of planning I managed to see the Bulgari exhibition with my own eyes. I did a careful research about it and posted here about two months ago (click!). And guys.... that is definitelly something worth seeing in your life, twice if you can! Too bad that the exhibition is finishing on the 13th of September, that is on Sunday. The Palazzo degli Esposizioni was perfect for this exhibition as, thanks to it's different articulated rooms (on the piano nobile), the division of the Bulgari creations in eight different monumental galleries gave a perfect picture of the Maison's evolution through time.

And, like a cherry on top of the cake, the visitor's final destination is in the central rotonda, where the Bulgari's finest, most precious and exclusive creations of the new millenium are exposed. It's almost impossible to find pictures of the exhibition itself (deep inside I hoped that maybe taking pictures was alloud so I brought my camera with me.. but "hey-are-you-joking-or-something!?" was written on the face of the gallery's keeper, when I asked so.. no pics from me.) But here are some I found (after a loooooong search). I should name the photographer to: Filippo Monteforte, a roman photojournalist who makes part of the Italian national news and photo agency "ANSA".

I liked the interiors a lot, quite cleverly invented- black walls and lightening based on purple-red-orange colour nuances made the whole thing so dark, secretive and magical, something that well goes with the jewellery world.

The quotations said by famous people like Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor and other weren't traditionally written just on the walls but also on the floor and different surprising places. That was original. The nicest one was by Andy Warhol - he announced that visiting Bulgari shop in Rome was like a trip to a contemporary art museum (in the 70's). Infact the jewellery from that period was much inspired to Pop Art and hippy-flowery-powery-movement.

I personally appreciated the first creations (twenties and thirthies) of the jewellery house the most, by Sotirio Bulgari himself. And ofcourse, remarkable were the serpentini-watches, the one that Liz wore on Cleopatra set for example was... undescribable!!!

More than a century of splendour for Bulgari

For their 125th anniversary Bulgari decided to throw their first retrospective from the opening of the first shop, (on Via Sistina, Rome), to our own day. The exhibition "Tra eternità e storia: 1884-2009" ("Between History and Eternity: .. ") is held in the imensious gallery of Palazzo degli Esposizioni (Via Nazionale) and rechapters five hundred masterpieces of necklaces, watches, bracelets and other precious accessories, from the maison's archives, “The Vintage Collection”, and from private collections - never shown in public before.

The Beginning

The exhibition is articulated in eight sections, organized chronologically. It begins with a collection of works in silver from the late 19th century crafted by Sotirio Bulgari, the ingenious and enterprising Greek silversmith who moved to Rome in search of fortune, and who in 1884 laid the foundations for what would become one of the world’s premiere jewelers.

Their first shop was named "Old Curiosity Shop", inspired by a Charles Dickens novel.

On the left- Sotirio Bulgari (left) infront of his shop. On the right- Bulgari store today on Via dei Condotti.

Miss Taylor's Room

Then there's a whole room dedicated to Elizabeth Taylor's personal boudoir. The collection of sixteen one-of-a-kind-pieces include also the famous ones that Richard Burton gave to her for the wedding (before&during&after). While Richard was still married (to Sybil Williams), their romance seemed to take place as much inside the Bulgari store as on the nearby sets of Cinecittà.

Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton on their wedding day (Montreal, 15th of March, 1964). Liz wearing only an emerald brooch, an engagement gift from Richard.

Liz wearing a "Tremblant" brooch in platinum, with emeralds and diamonds, photo taken in 1969.

Elizabeth's "candies", only the earrings, from 1960's, are 20,64 carats.

Bulgari & The Film Industries

But the relationship between Bulgari and the movie industries has blossomed since the late 20's. So, by naming Mary Pickford, Audrey Hebpurn, Grace Kelly, Ingrid Bergman, I'm mentioning only few divas of the hollywood golden era, who were mad about the italian haute joaillerie maison.

From the left- Mamie vad Doren, Anna Magnani and Gina Lollobrigida at the Italian Academy Movie Awards in 1958, holding the famous David di Donatello, made by Bulgari.

Sophia Loren and Maurice Chevalier at Gala, Paris, in 1960.

On the left- Claudia Cardinale on the Bulgari Event (Paris), choosing Bulgari jewels which she'll wore in the La Panthere Rose. On the right- La Panthere Rose poster, 1964.

On the left- Ingrid Bergman on the set of "The Visit", wearing Bulgari jewels, 1964. On the right-Audrey Hepburn holding the Victoria award and Gina Lollobrigida wearing diamonds and pearls, 1965.

There's the section dedicated for the "Dolce Vita Romana" period, where exposed jewels worn on screen and off by the most famous italian actresses of the '60s like Sofia Loren, Gina Lollobrigida and Anna Magnani. In these years Bulgari distinguished from the French school and found it's own identycal style (for what known today) - the decisive, stylized forms, soft volumes and unprecedented chromatic combinations.

A gorgeous 18-karat gold necklace from the Sixties with flowerlike clusters of emeralds, rubies, sapphires and diamonds. Keira Knightley borrowed the piece for the 2006 Oscars; before that, it was owned by Princess Soraya of Iran.

“Bulgari comes into its own in the Sixties, the dolce vita period when you can see the cabochons and color mixes. The great innovation is really the mixing together of all different colors of gems,” - Amanda Triossi, curator of the retrospective.

Anna Magnani wearing platinum and diamond bracelets that Bulgari created especially for her.

On the left- Gina Lollobrigida with a blue Bulgari diamond, 60 carats. 1965. On the right- Gina and Alain Delon during the Cannes Film Festival in 1961. She wears the same necklace in "Woman of Straw", year 1964 (co-actor : Sean Connery).

Bulgari's First TimePiece

During the 1940s, Bulgari introduced their first timepiece, the snake-watch, that was inspired by the Art Deco period of the '20s. It quickly became an unmistakable attribute of jewel-watches and has been masterfully reinterpreted over the years. The historical classic was worn by Liz when she interpreted Cleopatra.

The Seventies

It is then, that Bulgari becomes more accessible and wearable for everyone, as they launch their first Pret-a-Porter Collection and open more stores in Paris, Ginevra, Monte Carlo and, in 1972, also in New York. The new creations are strongly influenced by pop art and flower-power (hippies) moment of the time. Infact some of the most bizarre designs are created in this decade, like a diamond clutch in the form of a melon, necklaces with pendants in the form of playing cards and chess pieces in the form of champagne bottle caps.

INFO:
The exhibition is until 13th of September.
The curator of the retrospective is Amanda Triossi.
Read more about the exhibition on the gallery official homepage (click).

I'm trying to organize and go to see the exhibition next week, so stay tooned for some of my pics and comments!

On the plateau Anna Magnani's Bulgari jewels, collection now owned by Carlo Ferrero Zendrini.