To inaugurate this new series of exhibition reviews, it's necessary to begin with a question that may seem trivial, but one we rarely truly reflect on: what is an exhibition? Contemporary exhibitions exist in numerous and varied genres: "package" exhibitions, which tour the world; immersive exhibitions, in which we ultimately witness evocative projections without ever seeing a single painting; exhibitions that embellish an artist's oeuvre; and finally, "true" exhibitions, which embody the exhibition's raison d'être . The latter reflect international guidelines (see ICOM and the London Principles): they are manifestations of coherence and intrinsic quality, "in the name of cultural advancement." These are study and research exhibitions, a category to which the exhibition dedicated to Giovanni Segantini in Bassano del Grappa fully belongs. As this exhibition demonstrates, an exhibition is not simply a matter of bringing together objects, but rather a moment of research: the opportunity to seize unique experiences that allow works of art now dispersed throughout the world to be physically brought together, compared, conversed, and often even restored for the occasion. It is therefore a veritable gateway to deepening knowledge. The Segantini exhibition, which spans two floors of the Civic Museum, traces the painter's entire career through approximately one hundred works: from his early days to the theorization of Divisionism, from the Scapigliatura to Symbolism. A key element that makes the exhibition particularly compelling is the opportunity to admire numerous important works from not only prestigious public museums but also from important private collections. This opportunity effectively fills a gap in knowledge that museums alone have never been able to fill.
Giovanni Segantini, The Falconry , 1870-80
Segantini was born in 1858, and his life, short but intense, spanned just forty-one years: he died suddenly in 1899 of peritonitis. Throughout his relentless research, the artist built an ever-evolving body of work, characterized by extraordinary variety and fueled by dialogue with the major figures of his time, traversing and juxtaposing diverse strands in his pursuit of a unique and personal language. The initial section, dedicated to his comparisons with his masters—including Mosè Bianchi and Tranquillo Cremona— shows how Segantini took his first steps within the Scapigliatura movement.
Tranquillo Cremona, The Falconer, 1863
The book then explores the artist's connection to the circle surrounding the Grubicy brothers, particularly Vittore, a key figure as an artist and art critic. Segantini pays homage to him in several portraits, including the 1887 work, a true milestone that anticipates developments in twentieth-century painting, thanks in part to the introduction of vertical, almost collage-like writing that inscribes the painted surface.
Giovanni Segantini, Portrait Sketch , 1887
It's clear that, after his early years, Segantini began a profound rethinking of his artistic language. He painted still lifes in which the painterly gesture was compacted into luminous surfaces, gradually moving away from the loose, fluid brushwork typical of the Scapigliatura movement. At the same time, he began exploring new subjects set in the interiors of private homes, depicting peasant life in dark, intimate rooms, a symbol of an increasingly dramatic and theatrical style of painting. Concurrently, some aspects of his painting began to brighten again, and the artist developed a passion for landscape. He left closed spaces and, using pastel and oil, "sculpted" landscapes, paying particular attention to moments of atmospheric transition, such as the moment after a storm, capturing the delicate conditions of light.
Jean-François Millet, The Sower, Vincent Van Gogh, The Sower, Giovanni Segantini, The Sower
1865 ca. 1886-1888 1897
This is also the first time that the direct juxtaposition of Segantini, Millet, and van Gogh on the theme of The Sower has been seen. From Millet onward, numerous artists have explored this subject, and the juxtaposition of these three works allows us to analyze their different approaches to graphic and drawing, understanding how these choices impact iconographic interpretation.
Ave Maria a transshipment, 1882-1883. Ave Maria a transshipment, 1886-1888. Ave Maria a transshipment, 1890-1892
Particular attention is also given to one of the artist's most celebrated works: Ave Maria a trasbordo (Ave Maria at the Crossing ). This is one of the rare cases in which it is possible to retrace the painting's genesis, thanks to the presence of preparatory sketches and a video illustrating the diagnostic analyses conducted for the exhibition, as well as the findings that allow us to identify the regrets that emerged during the creation of the final work. Naturally, there are also works documenting the artist's most renowned period: Divisionism, an Italian movement that developed parallel to Post-Impressionism and French Pointillism.
Giovanni Segantini, The Sad Hour (detail), 1892
The Divisionist technique is based on the idea that, to authentically render light, the eye must recompose the juxtaposition of filaments of pure color, which merge in the viewer's perception to generate an effect of intense luminosity. While the French movement was primarily inspired by scientific principles, Italian Divisionism evolved from landscape narratives toward a Symbolist dimension, as clearly emerges in the final section of the exhibition. It should be remembered that, in the year of his death, Segantini had already achieved international fame and is arguably the most globally recognized Italian artist of his time, thanks in part to the constant promotion of the Grubicy brothers. His innovative capacity never remained isolated, but developed in an ongoing dialogue with the artistic leaders of his time. The exhibition, open until February 22, offers a unique—and perhaps unrepeatable—opportunity to fully understand Giovanni Segantini's artistic journey. The exhibition allows us to overcome the reductive image, too often attributed to him, of an exclusively Divisionist painter, instead restoring to us one of the most innovative pictorial minds of nineteenth-century Italy.
