Cuneo, Casa Galimberti celebrates 150 years of Impressionism with a series of meetings.

On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Impressionism Cuneo also intends to pay due homage to this artistic movement which, after a controversial beginning, has won over the public and critics.

Three speakers will alternate to illustrate some original aspects of the movement also in relation to our cultural territory.

The meetings will take place on Thursday 21st and 28th November and on Thursday 5th December at the Casa Galimberti Museum at 17,30 pm (Free entry).

The Seine, Cradle of Impressionism – Manuela Vico

Introducing Impressionism means first of all go against some common ideas that are now deep-rooted. The word “Impressionism” generally evokes a cohesive movement made up of artists who shared the same vision. Now, as we will see, this is not exactly the case, indeed we will even discover painters who will disown their belonging to the movement and Monet himself will say at the end of his prestigious career "I am saddened to have been the cause of the name given to a group where the majority of them were not Impressionists."

But to return to the theme of the encounter, a non-secondary aspect of Impressionism is its birth in a well-defined geographical territory along the banks of the Seine upstream and downstream from Paris. This precise positioning will make the Seine the undisputed protagonist of hundreds of works. This is how mythical meeting places were born, such as the view of the island of Grenouillère painted by Monet and Renoir, almost from the same perspective.

Some painters, to better capture the vibrations of light on the water, set up their studios directly on small boats plying the waters of the Seine.

Finally we remember that Monet always, in his various homes, moved gradually along the Seine to finally land, in his final home, in Giverny, on the banks of the Epte, a tributary of the Seine.

From the impressionist plein air to the carnet de voyage – Ivana Mulatero

Painting "en plein air" and contemporary themes are the basis of the great success of Impressionism which saw the light in a Parisian photographic studio in 1874. Why, after so many years, does the Impressionist movement continue to give us amazement and enchantment? There are many reasons, among which we will explore and recognize, the ability to show simple things: the beaches and the sea, the water lilies in a pond, a magpie on the snow-covered fence.

Or people dancing, having fun on a swing, or having lunch after a nice boat ride. A painting that captures the moment not only with a few brush strokes but also with a simple pencil on a notebook as happens in the ever-present art form of the carnet de voyage. The meeting will examine the most famous works of the great Impressionist artists and also the drawings, observing them from a different perspective and starting from some "impertinent" questions on the small and big stories and on the little-known details that will allow you to enter with empathy into the world of art.

Matteo Olivero in Paris and the Impressionist Environment – ​​Alessandro Abrate

Matthew Oliver (Pratorotondo, 1879 – Saluzzo, 1932), Piedmontese painter, in 1900, with a scholarship from the Turin Accademia Albertina, visited the Universal Exhibition in Paris and was struck by the cultural ferment of the Ville Lumiere. He will return to Paris and will have the opportunity to meet and spend time with some of the figures linked to Impressionism and, more generally, to the artistic life of the French capital. Among these, Emile Zola, Medardo Rosso, Charles Morice, as well as journalists, painters and art dealers who appreciate the artistic talent of the young Piedmontese. Olivero's attitude towards impressionist painting is one of admiration but also of criticism, so much so that he prefers to approach an artistic movement that promotes "un nouvel ordre classique": a sort of reaction to the impressionist 'stain'.

Miche Berra, journalist and art critic from Cuneo, wrote in 1953 in the magazine Cuneo Provincia Granda an interesting article on Matteo Olivero and his relationship with contemporary French painting, an in-depth analysis of a specific cultural context in which some passages need to be better defined and specified today.

Info: Municipality of Cuneo | Galimberti House Museum | museo.galimberti@comune.cuneo.it | tel. 0171.444.801