Giuseppe Primoli and the charm of the East

Giuseppe Primoli and the charm of the East at the Napoleonic Museum is a thematic exhibition on Count Giuseppe Primoli's interest in Japanese art in particular and, more generally, the entire Asian continent.

On display are 14 kakemono - traditional Japanese paintings or calligraphies on silk, cotton or paper, fixed on scrolls to hang vertically in the corner of the house called tokonoma - which belonged to him: it is a nucleus of great value, not only from historical-artistic point of view, but also documentary, due to the fact that Count Primoli had the habit of asking the guests of his living room to use the unpainted spaces of the kakemono to write written compositions. In the kakemono we can find, therefore, autograph compositions, signatures and dedications of famous French writers such as Zola, Claudel, Valery, Loti, Anatole France, or of Provençal poets, authors and performers of theatrical works, and even members of the royal houses of Europe.

Among the objects on display also the fan with Japanese scenes painted by Giuseppe de Nittis in Paris around 1880 for Princess Mathilde Bonaparte.

Photo credits: courtesy of the Napoleonic Museum official site