Sue Bond Public Relations

Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art, 39a Canonbury Square, London, N1 2AN, UNITED KINGDOM

Wednesday 27 June 2012

Sunday 9 September 2012

This summer the Estorick Collection will present a survey of the myriad approaches to abstraction in Italian art between the 1930s and the early 1980s. The exhibition, on display from 27 June to 9 September 2012, comprises some 65 works, drawn from Liguria’s three principal museums dedicated to contemporary art, which in recent years have increased their holdings through the acquisition of several prestigious private collections.

Genoa’s Museo d’Arte Contemporanea di Villa Croce houses the collection of Maria Cernuschi Ghiringhelli, wife of Virginio (Gino) Ghiringhelli, the painter and owner of the Milanese Il Milione gallery. Cernuschi began to acquire works of both Italian and foreign art during the 1930s and the collection now comprises 233 paintings, sculptures and works on paper, providing an overview of three decades of research into 20th century abstract Italian art.

Wednesday to Saturday 11.00 to 18.00 hours.
Sunday 12.00 to 17.00 hours
Late night opening the first Thursday of the month until 21.00 hours
Closed Mondays and Tuesdays
Shop: open gallery hours. Library: by appointment only

£5.00, concessions £3.50, includes permanent collection and temporary exhibitions
Free to under-16s and students on production of a valid NUS card
Library, by appointment only, £2.50 per visit

A fully-illustrated catalogue, published by Silvana Editoriale, will accompany the exhibition, with essays by Matteo Fochessati, curator of the exhibition.

On 8 September 2012 at 15.00 hours Christopher Adams, Assistant Curator of the Estorick Collection, will give a talk entitled A United Front: Futurists, Abstractionists and Cultural Politics in 1940s Italy.

The licensed Italian caffè, with outdoor seating in the landscaped garden, offers delicious fresh Italian food as well as snacks and hot and cold drinks.

The Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art is internationally renowned for its core of Futurist works including major paintings by the movement’s main protagonists. It comprises some 120 paintings, drawings, watercolours, prints and sculptures by many of the most prominent Italian artists of the Modernist era. There are six galleries, two of which are used for temporary exhibitions, on three floors. The library of over 2,500 books, primarily on 20th century Italian art, is an unrivalled resource for students of important modernist movements. Since opening in 1998, the Collection has established a considerable reputation as an important venue for bringing Italian art to the British public and has achieved both public and critical acclaim for its artistic and educational programmes.

Victoria Line, Overground and First Capital Connect to Highbury & Islington; First Capital Connect to Essex Road; buses: 271 to door; 4, 19, 30, and 43 to Upper Street/Canonbury Lane; 38, 56, 73 and 341 to Essex Rd/Canonbury Road

Main entrance in Canonbury Road. Wheelchair access to galleries 1 to 4, café, shop and toilets. Limited car parking for blue badge holders (please telephone in advance). Induction loop in gallery 2.

Car parking for blue badge holders only.