Antonio Donghi. The magic of silence

The exhibition at Palazzo Merulana, home of the Elena and Claudio Cerasi Foundation, curated by Fabio Benzi, presents over thirty works by Antonio Donghi (1897-1963), one of the major interpreters of the artistic movement of Magical Realism in Italy.

The works on display are part of the most important nuclei of the Municipal Gallery of Modern Art of Rome, of the National Gallery of Modern Art, in the Bank of Italy, of the UniCredit collection (formerly of the Bank of Rome) and of the Elena and Claudio Cerasi Foundation, which represent the artist's entire career, touching on all the main themes, such as landscapes, still lifes, portraits, indoor and outdoor figures, circus and vaudeville characters, as well as three fundamental masterpieces that are part of the Cerasi Foundation: Lavandaie (Washerwomen) (1922-23); Gita in barca (Boat Trip) (1934); Piccoli saltimbanchi (Little acrobats) (1938).

Starting from the works of these collections it was possible to reconstruct the artistic path of Donghi, creator of works bewildering for their suspended climate, for the apparently naked reality in which the anonymous protagonists of his paintings are presented. Furthermore, thanks to this project, the important role that the Roman public collections listed above - as well as the Foundation - have played, through the collection of his works, for the knowledge and diffusion of his art emerges.

The exhibition is produced by CoopCulture. Main sponsor UniCredit, which also contributed with 16 important loans of Donghi's works, coming from the extraordinary collection exhibited at Palazzo De Carolis.

Photo credits: courtesy of  Palazzo Merulana official site