The Macchiaioli 1850-1877. Italian impressionnists ?, exhibition

From Wednesday, April 10 2013 to Monday, July 22 2013

Breathing new life into Italian painting.

The Macchiaioli artistic movement is being honoured at the Musée de l'Orangerie in Paris and the Mapfre Foundation in Madrid in 2013.

They constituted a rebellious group of artists in Florence in the year 1855. Mainly Tuscan artists, but also from all over the peninsula from Venice to Naples. These Macchiaioli became known as "tachistes" (Abstraction lyrique) - a derogatory designation describing them in print in 1862 - later adopted by the artists themselves. They infused Italian painting with new life and broke with the dominant neo-classicism and romanticism, renewing the national pictorial culture. They are considered the innovators of modern Italian painting.

This style exercised a vital influence on Italian directors like Luchino Visconti and Mauro Bolognini, who were energised by the particular language and iconography of the image.

Musée de l'Orangerie

place de la Concorde - Jardin des Tuileries
75001 PARIS
01 44 77 80 07
Métro Concorde

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