Previous exhibitions

This exhibition of 23 Futurist works on loan from the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna, Rome, linked the first and second waves of Futurism through the works of Giacomo Balla (1871-1958). Balla was already well established as an artist and teacher before coming under the influence of Futurism in 1910. His extraordinary versatility and creativity had a profound influence on his contemporaries and the eight canvases on show were from his most vibrant Futurist period.

This exhibition explored the editorial production of the Futurist movement (1909-1944) through manifestos, magazines, posters, parole-in-liberta and books. The Futurists proclaimed a desire to destroy all libraries in 1909 when, ironically, their literary production would have substantially increased the holdings of any such establishment. They also orchestrated a fundamental renovation of the book in graphic form, just as it faced a treat from the introduction of radio and cinema.

This exhibition represented a rare opportunity to see nineteen paintings by Giorgio Morandi (1890-1964), spanning his career from 1914, his early Futurist phase, up to 1957, together with fourteen works by his contemporaries. They are selected from the collection of Augusto and Francesca Giovanardi, who shared a passion for mid-century Italian painting, particularly still lifes and landscapes.

Gino Severini (1883-1966) is one of the major figures in twentieth century Italian art. His exhibition at London’s Marlborough Gallery in 1913 was a success de scandale, provoking critical acclaim and bewilderment in the popular press. It was not until 1969, when Eric Estorick organised a retrospective of 72 works at the Grosvenor Gallery, that Severini’s work was seen again in Britain.

Derek Shiel, an Irish artist and writer, was the Collection’s first artist-in-residence. He worked closely with musicians, music educators, a storyteller, puppets and an animateur on a series of interactive workshop sessions around his exhibition of sound sculptures.

This exhibition was organised to celebrate the centenary of Primo Conti's birth. Tracing the developments in his own style, it looked at his place within the Futurist constellation, and how the Futurist Florentine group influenced him between 1913 and 1919, before he moved away from Futurism to explore other inspirations and influences.

The life and work of Zoran Music spans most of the twentieth century, and bears witness to some of its most terrible events. This exhibition was the first of Music’s work in Britain for over half a century, and brought together most phases of his career, from the early Dalmation landscapes, Dachau works, and Venetian scenes to the remarkable late self-portraits.

Fortunato Depero (1892-1960) was born in the mountainous region of Trentino, North Italy, attending the Scuola Reale Elisabettina, an applied arts institute. He was a painter, a sculptor, decorative artist, poet and writer as well as an interior, stage, costume and graphic designer. This exhibition featured 108 of his works, showing the range of media in which the artist excelled.

At the turn of the twentieth century, parascientific experiments, spiritualist photography, multi-portraits, montage effects and the chronophotographs of Etienne-Jules Marey provided a rich background against which a Futurist photo-aesthetic gradually formed.

This exhibition comprised twelve oil paintings from four private collections in Florence, together with ten drawings and eighteen etchings from the Estorick Collection, ranging in date from 1912 to 1959. The core of the exhibition comprised nine paintings from the collection of Roberto Longhi (1890-1970), the most important Italian art historian and critic of his time, as well as a life-long friend of the artist and collector of his work. Other works included a 1935 landscape given by Longhi to his doctor, Professor Noferi, a 1943 landscape that was a wedding present Longhi gave to the critic Piero Bigongiari, and a 1936 landscape from the Alberto Della Ragione collection.