Toscana & Chianti News
Art
"Americans in Florence"
The residents of the New World have always had ties with Europe and have often retired here. This year there are a multitude of reasons to strengthen the bonds between Americans and Europeans.
It's the 500th anniversary of the death of Amerigo Vespucci, a Florentine born and bred from the Peretola area, the famous navigator who gave his name to the new continent.
On the banks of the river Arno, there'll be one celebration after another, as well as some carefully researched projects.
In the Salone dei Cinquecento in the Palazzo Vecchio, in association with National Geographic, the remains of the Battle of Anghiari, painted by Leonardo da Vinci during the famous contest with Michelangelo have been subject to study for a few months now.
On the other hand, Palazzo Strozzi, with its exhibition, relates "the intricate relationships" of a cosmopolitan group of figures who united for ever Florence with the New World, taking European culture and refinement to America.
"Americans in Florence. Sargent and the American Impressionists" focuses on the "Ten American Painters" Impressionist group.
By studying the works, the exhibition presented in Palazzo Strozzi strives to analyse the artistic rapport between these two places, paying particular attention to the city of Florence in the late nineteenth century, a time that witnessed a boom in American emigrants due to the American Civil War.
France and Italy were the main attractions and Italy was an irresistible destination for all those in love with art and the Impressionist expression.
The customs and lifestyles of the American artists began to criss-cross with Italian ones, helped in this by their fellow countrymen who were already well-known in the homeland, such as Bernard Berenson, the American art historian who made a major contribution towards Florence's definition as the "cradle of art".
These intellectuals, collectors, writers and art critics not only knew how to add value to Italian art, but were also fundamental in social circles, introducing new lifestyles and even changes in terms of female emancipation.
