Origins
Italian art has its roots in ancient Greece. Under the Roman Empire, it was first and foremost at the service of politics and religion. The tradition of wall frescoes and mosaics is a direct legacy of Byzantine culture. After the signing of the Edict of Milan in 313, authorizing everyone to worship the divine in their own way, early Christian art emerged from the catacombs to embellish the basilicas. A period of conflict followed, as the rulers fled under the invasion of the Huns and then the Lombards. The conversion of the latter paved the way for sculptural innovations in northern Italy. At the dawn of the Middle Ages, this part of the boot remained a place of unprecedentedly rich exchange. The Piedmontese school flourished between the 14th and 16th centuries. Some of its masterpieces are on display at the Galleria Sabauda in Turin. This is one of Italy's richest art galleries. Over 700 works by Italian and Flemish masters are on display, including Fra Angelico, Botticelli(Madonna and Child), Mantegna, Veronese, Rembrandt(Portrait of an Old Man)...
Gothic : Jacquerio
Gothic style developed in France in the 12th century, then crossed the border under the Visconti family. The transalpine influence can be seen in the elegance of the master Giacomo Jacquerio. Born in Turin around 1375, he exercised his talent as a painter in Northern Italy, Savoy and as far afield as Geneva. Entering the service of Amédée VIII of Savoy, he frequented French and Venetian Gothic artists (Gregorio Bonio). At the peak of his artistic powers, he painted the frescoes in the Abbey of Sant'Antonio di Ranverso (Turin 1450); their discovery in 1912 confirmed his talent. The presbytery houses his Madonna on her throne, surrounded by remarkably realistic rural scenes; other works by the artist can be seen in the ribbed vaults of the sacristy(Ascent to Calvary, The Four Evangelists, Prayer in the Vegetable Garden). His art also adorned the castles of Pignerol in Piedmont, Saint-Pierre de Pianezza not far from Turin, and the Castello della Manta near Saluces. The Courtly Gothic paintings in the Salle des Barons are attributed to Jacquerio or Jacques Yverni, depending on the source. The cycle of Preux and Heroines, on the other hand, is said to be the work of an anonymous artist known as the Maestro del Castello della Manta. The life-size figures are shown amid a profusion of plant motifs. Like his contemporaries, Jacquerio exercised his talent in the fields of miniature and painting, such as the Life of Saint Peter housed at the Palazzo Madama - Museo Civico d'Arte Antica.
After his death in Turin in 1453, Jacquiero's influence was colossal. His sons passed on his teachings, as did his many pupils, including Giovanni Canavesio and Guglielmetto Fantini da Chieri.
Also worth seeing in Piedmont is the long wall of frescoes in the 15th-century church of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Varallo, on the Sacro Monte di Varallo. The scenes from the life of Christ are by Gaudenzio Ferrari (1484-1546).
Renaissance and Baroque
The great princely families dominated the Italian cities of the Renaissance. This turning point was characterized by several pictorial changes that revolutionized medieval canons. Masaccio invented the single vanishing point, altering the rendering of perspective, volumes and proportions. In this decisive period of openness to the world and to knowledge, secular subjects were increasingly appealing to artists.
The great religious crisis of the 16th century paved the way for the Baroque. Artists explored exaggeration and contrast in both painting and sculpture. The sculptor Bernini and the painter Caravaggio were the leading exponents. Northern Italy, Venice, Turin and Genoa were strongly influenced by the Baroque style until the 18th century.
In Casale Monferrato, a city of many Baroque buildings, the cathedral, churches and palaces are home to a wealth of works. The Muse Civico e Gipsoteco Bistolfi, located in the former monastery of Santa Croce, is decorated with frescoes by Guglielmo Caccia. Nicknamed the "Moncalvo" (1568-1625), his work marks the decades of the Counter-Reformation. Paintings, ceramics and wooden sculptures complete the visit. Don't miss the portraits by Pietro Francesco Guala (1698-1757) in the Art Gallery.
Do you appreciate religious art but find the door closed? Chiese a porte aperte is the sesame that gives you access to the churches. The "Chiese a porte aperte" app gives you access in just a few clicks to dozens of buildings and their works throughout the region.
Vanguard
Turin was the first municipality in Italy to build up a public collection of modern art. With thousands of paintings, sculptures, installations and videos, the GAM or Galleria Civica d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea now covers the 19th and 20th centuries. Among the works on display are those of Canova, Modgliani, Picasso, Soulages, Chirico and Fontana, as well as the main Italian creative movements of the last two centuries, such as the Novecento group and Futurism in Milan.
Turin established itself as the capital of contemporary art in the 1960s with the birth of Arte Povera. This adventure, as much intellectual as artistic, opposed the great American currents, which were resolutely formalist. In the face of Pop Art, its emulators responded with poor art that relied on instinct, the ephemeral and modest materials. In 1966, as Turin became the country's most industrialized city, the Sperone gallery presented the exhibition Arte abitabile, featuring artists Giovanni Anselmo (b. 1934), Alighiero e Boetti (1940-1994) and Michelangelo Pistoletto (b. 1933). In Rome, the L'Attico gallery champions Janis Kounellis (1936-2017) and Pino Pascali (1935-1968). The movement involves twelve official artists, radical to say the least, including Mario Merz, who uses neon tubes instead of traditional canvas. Pistoletto extended his manifesto with the development of the Città dell'arte in Biella, renamed Cittadellarte - Fondazione Pistoletto. In 2000, he moved into this vast, renovated complex, which now houses artists-in-residence, a restaurant and new trends.
Close to the Arte Povera movement, photographer Claudio Abate (born in Rome in 1943, died in 2017) pursues his aesthetic research alongside his work as a photojournalist. His black-and-white images bear exceptional witness to the cultural effervescence of Italy in the 1960s and 1970s. The following decade was one of color experimentation. He established his reputation with his portraits of artists. Marina Abramović, Jannis Kounellis, Mario Merz, Pino Pascali and Giuseppe Penone pose before his lens.
High place of the contemporary art
The whole of Northern Italy shows its attachment to contemporary art. Cultural foundations are springing up all over the region: Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Fondazione Merz. An imposing avant-garde cultural center, the OGR - Officine Grandi Riparazioni, opened in a former sorting office. In another register, the Turin Camera Italian Center of Photography promotes Italian and international photographers. Perhaps the best known, the Castello di Rivoli - Museum of Contemporary Art is housed in a former royal residence 15 km from Turin. Its sometimes bewildering permanent collection covers the major trends in contemporary art. Still in search of originality? Designed by artist Piero Gilardi, the PAV - Parco di Arte Vivente is an experimental space where installations interact with the environment. Both an open-air museum and an interactive art lab, it is the first permanent open-air facility built in an urban context in Italy.
MAU and Artissima
On the street side, Turin is still at the cutting edge of innovation! The first permanent outdoor venue dedicated to street art was founded in the capital of Piedmont. The MAU - Museo d'Arte Urbana features 180 works scattered around the Campidoglio district. As you stroll through the city, it's not uncommon to come across some of street art 's big names: in the train station area, the portrait by Portuguese artist Vhils near Piazza Nizza; Bordalo II's giant bear near Teatro Colosseo; at the Via Fiochetto bus terminal, spot the fresco by Ericalcaine and ROA. In the Barriera di Milano district, Millo painted 13 walls after winning a competition with his Habitat project. Pixel Pancho's frescoes dot the city. What do you expect from a local? Born in 1984, the artist discovered urban art during his studies in Valencia. He experimented with all kinds of media, traveling all over Europe to embellish the walls along the way. Humans, robots and androids are among his favorite themes, which he also uses in his watercolors.
Among the impressive variety of art galleries in Turin, three are particularly noteworthy. Galerie Franco Noero showcases stars of the contemporary art world (Sam Falls, Francesco Vezzoli...) in its two spaces: the first industrial-style in Barriera, the second housed in a sublime 18th-century building.
Since the late 1990s, the Guido Costa Project gallery has been promoting Boris Mikhailov and Miroslav Tichy alongside the younger generation of Italian artists. The daughter of painter Salvo Mangione runs the Norma Mangione Gallery, promoting young talent.
Want to see it all at once? The Artissima art fair brings all facets of contemporary art to Turin. Over 150 local and international galleries, street art events, themed bike tours and a host of other original initiatives will delight those hungry for discovery!
