Artwork Title: Petalo di rosa (Rose Petal)

Petalo di rosa (Rose Petal), 1890

Giovanni Segantini

From September 18 to October 17 2015, the Gallerie Maspes in Milan hosted an exhibition dedicated entirely to one of the central paintings in the development of Giovanni Segantini’s oeuvre, his Petalo di rosa (Rose petal, 1890). This dossier exhibition planned by Francesco Luigi Maspes and curated by Annie Paule Quinsac, author of the artist’s catalogue raisonné and curator of the recent anthological at the Palazzo Reale in Milan. The aim of Investigations and Discoveries is to document the genesis of Petalo di rosa, the painting Segantini re- worked over an earlier picture. A portrait of Segantini’s companion Bice Bugatti, Petalo di rosa is charged with Symbolist connotations, underscored by the artist in his choice of title for the work, which Vittore Grubicy (the gallery owner and Segantini’s patron) tried in vain to get him to change. With its contrast between the blushing face, the blond hair, and the dazzling white pillow and sheet, and its cancelling out the depiction of grief and anguish in the painting beneath, this work evokes a sensual perception of the woman he loved as she awoke, as if she were a blossoming flower. The exhibition offers a step-by-step survey of the complex investigation of the canvas by Thierry Radelet, who used the same approach to Pellizza da Volpedo’s Quarto Stato (The Fourth Estate), and an examination of the information gleaned during its restoration by Enrica Boschetti. Non-invasive examinations using x-rays, reflectography, and infrared light have enabled us to rewrite the history of the painting and prove beyond doubt the existence of another picture beneath Petalo di rosa. This painting, called Tisi galoppante (literally, galloping consumption), made use of various types of gold as elements of the transmission of light, and was thus in the Divisionist mold. More significant still, Boschetti’s investigations shed light on Segantini’s specific approach to rethinking his work through the application of different layers of paint. Instead of destroying a piece he was no longer happy with, Segantini preferred to paint over it, changing its meaning. No other artist of the time did anything similar. As an accompaniment to the groundbreaking scientific work on the picture, the exhibition also contains a series of interesting documents (including letters between Segantini and Vittore Grubicy and archival material) that help contextualize the historic period in which the painting was produced. (http://galleriemaspes.com/immagini_sito/Comunicati stampa/Press Release_Segantini.pdf)
Uploaded on Nov 1, 2017 by Suzan Hamer

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