23 December - 7 February 2001
This exhibition was a smaller version of the important one that had been previously held in Naples at the Maschio Angioino and Villa Pignatelli.
Approximately one hundred and forty works, ranging from paintings and sculptures to posters and illustrations, offered a panorama of the art produced in Naples over a historical period that was certainly quite troubled; the exhibition thus filled a lacuna in Italian art history studies of the twentieth century.
With the rapidly changing city as a backdrop, artists from two groups came to the fore: the "Gruppo Flegreo" and the "Quartiere Latino." Within these groups three different artistic movements can be identified. One group was tied to the twentieth century (including, among others, Giovanni Brancaccio, Alberto Chiancone, Vincenzo Ciardo, Franco Girosi, Gennaro Villani and Eugenio Viti). Another was strongly influenced by Futurism (its adherents include the likes of Emilio Notte, Mario Lepore, Carlo Cocchia, Paolo Ricci and Emilio Buccafusca). Finally, a third group was made up of independent artists tied to the Neapolitan tradition of naturalism, revisited in the light of post-Impressionism (among others, Luigi Crisconio, Gaetano Bocchetti, and Giuseppe Aprea).
Exhibition curated by Mariantonietta Picone Petrusa.
Mounted by Lucio Turchetta.
Catalogue edited by Mariantonietta Picone Petrusa, with essays by the curator, Matteo D'Ambrosio and Marialdelaide Cozzo; published by Palazzo delle Esposizioni PdE Edizioni, Rome 2000.