Luigi Bartolini incisore

The National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art hosts Luigi Bartolini incisore, the exhibition celebrating the genius and works of one of the most influential and eclectic 20th-century artists from the Marche region.  

A native of Cupramontana, Bartolini's style is poetic and troubled, eloquent, melancholic and persevering: art is a need from which visions of incredible clarity originate. 'An optimist in love with everything to know', he was an extraordinary engraver, painter, art critic and writer - famous for his novel Ladri di biciclette, made into the 1948 Oscar-winning film of the same name - and profoundly inspired the artists and intellectuals of his time. 

The exhibition winds through 100 artworks - engravings (etchings, aquatints, drypoints), unpublished documents, photographs and literary works, revealing the creative process and artistic vision of Bartolini, who created stories and paths through the elements depicted and brilliant use of chiaroscuro. On display are works such as Martin pescatore (1935), Ragazza alla finestra (1929) and Il grillo domestico (1926), part of the GNAM collection, La buona notte (1936, Rome, Luigi Bartolini Archive Collection) and Le piante grasse (1935, Livorno, Paolo Bassano Collection), La fragile conchiglia (1936, Rome, Luigi Bartolini Archive Collection) and I sogni abortiscono (1926).

Strongly desired by his daughter, Luciana Bartolini, who chairs the Luigi Bartolini Archive, the exhibition follows the ones recently dedicated to the artist in Macerata (Musei Civici di Palazzo Buonaccorsi) and Urbino (Palazzo Ducale). Based on an idea by Vittorio Sgarbi, it is curated by Alessandro Tosi - associate professor of modern art history at the University of Pisa -, promoted by the Luigi Bartolini Archive, produced and organised by AMIA - Associazione Marchigiana Iniziative Artistiche, with the scientific coordination of Stefano Tonti and Arianna Trifogli, with the support of the Fondazione Roma and the patronage of the Fondazione Marche Cultura. 

Image: Spiaggia di Numana, 1929, es.u., 290x355