It is not only the comparison between two masters who have marked the history of painting, showing the world the unique beauty of plein air painting, but also the story in images of a friendship born from assonance of experiences and grown thanks to the differences, the 'Cezanne/Renoir' exhibition, which opens tomorrow at Palazzo Reale, 150 years after the birth of impressionism.
"We are thrilled to present for the first time - says the Councilor for Culture of the Municipality of Milan Tommaso Sacchi - one of the most important exhibitions of this season at Palazzo Reale. In addition to showing the artistic trajectories of these two great masters, it will give the opportunity to visitors to discover the human journey that brought them together in sincere friendship and mutual esteem".
All this thanks to the collaboration with the Musée de l'Orangerie and the Musée d'Orsay, which brought fifty-two masterpieces to Milan, from the first canvases of the 1870s to those of the early twentieth century, collected by the art dealer art Paul Guillaume (1891-1934).
At the entrance to the exhibition, a tunnel of colored glass introduces the itinerary entirely designed in the name of light, with the works of the two masters divided on different walls, a powder pink background for the softer Renoir, blue gray for the rigorous Cezanne.
From the room dedicated to landscapes to that of still lifes, up to portraits, a continuous comparison between the two styles: where Cézanne focused attention on the compositional structure and the strength of the brushstroke, Renoir concentrated on harmony, on delicate atmospheres, on the rendering of shapes through color.
Two artistic itineraries, developed in parallel with a friendship born already in 1860, which continued in the Seventies, at the Café de la Nouvelle Athènes in Paris and on the occasion of the first impressionist exhibitions in which they participated together.
Despite Cézanne's progressive distancing from the Parisian scene, the two continued to hang out and Renoir was his friend's guest in Provence several times.
Thus, in the same way, the exhibition ends by placing the works of the two masters side by side for the first time on the same wall, flanked by two works by Picasso, to document how decisive the impact and influence that Renoir and Cézanne had on the art to come.
In the exhibition itinerary there is also an atelier room created by Foll.ia, which, starting from the documentation relating to the studies of Cagnes-sur-Mer for Renoir and Jas de Bouffan for Cézanne, transports the visitor to where the masterpieces on display were born until next June 30th.
The exhibition, promoted by Municipality - Culture with the patronage of the Ministry of Culture and the Ambassade de France en Italie, is produced by Palazzo Reale, Skira Arte and Museum Studio, in collaboration with Musée de l'Orangerie and Musée d'Orsay , and is accompanied by a Skira Arte publication.
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