Exhibition "Giuseppe Renda , 1859-1939 tradition and innovation"
Organised by Department of Culture, Naples City Council - Civita Servizi Srl
Carlo V hall
The Giuseppe Renda 1859 - 1939. "The tradition and innovation" exhibition is the most important retrospective of this Calabrian artist since his death (Polistena 1859 - Naples 1939). The exhibition, organised by the Naples City Council, includes the twelve sculptures which the artist's niece, Gabriella Majolo, donated to the Naples Civic Museum in 2005. It will be held in the Sala Carlo V at Castel Nuovo from 19 December 2007 to 28 January 2008. The exhibition is not only an opportunity to admire Renda's interesting and prolific output through works which have never been seen by either public or critics but also enables visitors to trace Renda's public and artistic development.
The curator of the exhibition, Diego Esposito, achieves this for the first time, using information from the Renda Archive which was donated in its entirety to Naples City Council by the sculptor's heirs. Renda's sculptures are figures or heads in clay or terracotta, which were often used as models for subsequent fusions, or plaster copies of bronzes of children or women which have been lost. His brand of verisimilitude was changed slightly at the end of the 1800s by symbolist and liberty influences which led him to break with the rigid framework of academic tradition at the beginning of XX century. His artistic technique was originally a question of smooth surfaces and careful attention to detail but even this changed and became more picturesque with rougher edges and a vibrant chiaroscuro contrast.
The works on display come from different collections belonging to the Renda heirs in Naples with the addition of some important loans from the Capodimonte and San Martino museums, the Accademia di Belle Arti gallery, the Banca IntesaSanPaolo art collection and the Naples Province art collection. The exhibition also includes some important documents like prizes and period photographs which demonstrate how much work the artist produced. His success is proved by frequent references to his work in literature of the time which led to frequent requests for his work from collectors all over the world. The exhibition catalogue includes an important essay looking at the history of this Neapolitan sculptor and includes photographs of works by Vincenzo Gemito, Achille d'Orsi, Giovan Battista Amendola, Francesco and Vincenzo Jerace, Raffaele Belliazzi, Domenico Iollo, Rocco Milanese in a bid to reconstruct the artistic-scuptural context in which Renda worked.
The exhibition opens 18/12/07 at 17.30.
Open: Monday - Saturday: 9.00 a.m. - 7.00 p.m.
Box office closes at 6.00 p.m.
Tickets: reduced for groups of students of at least 15 people.
Free admission: for under 18 and over 65; for groups of students attended by teachers; for students of Humanistic Faculties; for members of ICOM.
The accesses allow disabled to enter easily.
We suggest that groups of students should book the tour at the Museum office in advance.
How to reach us:
From Vomero: Central Funicolare (Piazzetta Fuga via Toledo)
From the city centre: C55 (C.so Umberto - via Depretis), R2 (Central station- Piazza Trieste e Trento)
From Chiaia: R3 (Riviera di Chiaia - Piazza Municipio)
Tramcar: 1 (Poggioreale - via Marina)