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“Mariano Fortuny. “The Magician of Venice”. Collectioner. Artist. Couturier” exhibition in Saint-Petersburg
Mariano Fortuny’s works, first half of the XXth century, photo from the private collection
Mariano Fortuny’s works, first half of the XXth century, photo from the private collection
Mariano Fortuny’s works, first half of the XXth century, photo from the private collection
Mariano Fortuny’s works, first half of the XXth century, photo from the private collection
For the first time ever in Russia the State Hermitage Museum presents to its audience the exhibition of Mariano Fortuny – a great XXth century designer honored by his contemporaries as a “Magician of Venice”.
Even though his heritage includes several rather large collections, he has never been exhibited in Russia. Nevertheless, Fortuny’s name is widely known, Russian audience is familiar with it due to two generations of this family.
Mariano Fortuny y Madrazo (1871, Granada – 1949, Venice) artist, designer, engineer and photographer, one of the greatest designers of the first half of the 20th century, who changed fashion and living space. Son of the famous Spanish artist Mariano Fortuny y Marsal he inherited from his father not only his artistic talent, but passion for the art history studies as well. The volume of his heritage is overwhelming; it is hard to believe one man could create all of it during just one lifetime. It seems, he had little interest in something else rather than his work and art.
The exhibition in the Hermitage is a joint project of the museum and the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia, which lent more than 150 artworks for the occasion. Most of the works come from the Fortuny museum – the house and atelier of the artist in the Palazzo Pesaro degli Orfei in Venice – one of the 12 Municipal museums of Venice.
Besides works from museums’ collections, pieces from private collections from Venice as well as Russia will be presented at the exhibition. There is still a working factory of Fortuny in Venice, which produces fabrics upon his projects and in line with ancient technologies of textile ornaments. The exhibition design will be partly made using the modern textiles made at this factory, and, therefore, demonstrate the continuity of technologies and creative techniques of Mariano Fortuny.
Mariano Fortuny’s textiles, costumes together with their projects, as well as his theatrical works and a small part of his historic collection preserved at the Municipal museums of Venice will be presented at the exhibition as well. Objects from the Hermitage own collection – such as Italian fabrics from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, Coptic fabrics, antique sculptures and oriental ceramics – will accompany Mariano Fortuny’s works to create historic parallels.
The exhibition “Mariano Fortuny. “The Magician of Venice”. Collectioner. Artist. Couturier” will take place at the General Staff building of the State Hermitage Museum in Saint-Petersburg until the 13th of March 2017.
