The Museo Civico Giovanni Fattori is the civic contemporary art museum of Livorno, located in Villa Mimbelli on Via San Jacopo in Acquaviva 65, a few blocks west of the Terraza Mascagni of

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 158,493 residents in December 2017. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn (pronou ...

, region of

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze''). Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, art ...

, Italy. The collection includes a number of works and biographical items associated with the native painter

Giovanni Fattori Giovanni Fattori (September 6, 1825August 30, 1908) was an Italian artist, one of the leaders of the group known as the Macchiaioli. He was initially a painter of historical themes and military subjects. In his middle years, inspired by the Barbi ...

, one of the leaders of the 19th-century group known as the

Macchiaioli The Macchiaioli () were a group of Italian painters active in Tuscany in the second half of the nineteenth century. They strayed from antiquated conventions taught by the Italian art academies, and did much of their painting outdoors in order to ...

. To these works are contemporary works of other Italian

and post-Macchiaioli painters.

History

The origins of the museum date to 1877, when the municipal administration decide to establish an art gallery to reunite paintings by contemporary Italian artists such as

Enrico Pollastrini Enrico Pollastrini (15 June 1817, Livorno – 19 January 1876, Florence) was an Italian history painter and art school director. Life and work He began his training as an assistant in the workshop of a local artist named Vincenzo De Bonis. In 1 ...

and

Cesare Bartolena Cesare Bartolena (May 27, 1830 – May 14, 1903) was an Italian painter, mainly of military or battle scenes. Biography He was born in Livorno. He was a pupil of Enrico Pollastrini, and attended the Academy of Fine Arts, Florence. In 1848, he vo ...

. Subsequently, the art collection was enlarged with works by

Raffaello Gambogi Raffaello Gambogi (1874 in Livorno – 1943) was an Italian painter, mainly of urban landscapes and genre scenes. Biography In 1891 Gambogi obtained a scholarship to the Academy of Fine Arts of Florence, where he studied under Giovanni Fattori. ...

Silvestro Lega Silvestro Lega (8 December 1826 – 21 September 1895) was an Italian Realism (art), realist painter. He was one of the leading artists of the Macchiaioli and was also involved with the Mazzini movement. Biography He was born in Modigliana, nea ...

, Guglielmo Micheli, and others. Between the end of the 19th century and the early 20th century the collection was enriched with the acquisition of archaeological findings and a numismatic collection which was donated by Enrico Chiellini in 1893. Upon Fattori's death, in 1908, the museum purchased 250 drawings and 150 etchings from his autorship. The new and larger museum headquarters in Piazza Guerrazzi was inaugurated in 1896. At the beginning of the 1930s, the museum was named after

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the museum's collection was moved out of the city. One large major work (''The Exiles of Siena'') by

was however destroyed by the Allied bombardment. At the end of the conflict, part of its collection was placed on the second floor of Villa Fabbricotti and the rest was located in the various municipal offices and warehouses. At the same time the collection was enriched with works by Italian artists such as

Plinio Nomellini Plinio Nomellini (1866–1943) was an Italian painter. Biography Nomellini was born in Livorno in 1866. In 1885 he enrolled at the Florence Academy of Fine Arts, where he studied under Giovanni Fattori and formed friendships with Telemaco Sign ...

, Guglielmo Micheli,

Serafino De Tivoli Serafino De Tivoli (March 18261892) was an Italian painter of the Macchiaioli group. Biography He was born in Livorno. After initial study of literature at a religious private school in Florence, he began his artistic training under Carlo Mark ...

Oscar Ghiglia Oscar Alberto Ghiglia (born 13 August 1938) is an Italian classical guitarist. Biography Early years Born in Livorno to an artistic family – his father and grandfather were both famed painters, his mother an accomplished pianist – Oscar Ghig ...

, and

Ulvi Liegi Ulvi Liegi (born Luigi Mosè Levi; 1858–1939) was an Italian painter and printmaker. Part of the Post-macchiaioli movement, he painted various cityscapes of Livorno and depictions of Livornese daily life. Biography Luigi Levi, who signed h ...

. It was also purchases a cartoon attributed to

Amedeo Modigliani Amedeo Clemente Modigliani (, ; 12 July 1884 – 24 January 1920) was an Italian painter and sculptor who worked mainly in France. He is known for portraits and nudes in a modern style characterized by a surreal elongation of faces, necks, and ...

. In 1994 the museum, consisting partially of the collection, was moved to Villa Mimbelli, inaugurated in 1994 by the President of the Republic

Oscar Luigi Scalfaro Oscar Luigi Scalfaro (; 9 September 1918 – 29 January 2012) was the president of Italy from 1992 to 1999. A member of Christian Democracy (DC), he became an independent politician after the DC's dissolution in 1992, and was close to the centre ...

Collections

The ground and first floors of the museum are adorned with decorations, furnishings and draperies of the 18th century style with frescoes by Annibale Gatti. In these two floors are shown works by

, Guglielmo Micheli,

, Oscar Ghiglia,

Giovanni Bartolena Giovanni Bartolena (24 June 1866 - 16 February 1942) was an Italian painter, mainly of landscapes, but also of landscapes with animals. Biography He was born near Livorno. As a young man, at his family's villa, he indulged in his love of riding ho ...

, Leonetto Campiello and Mario Puccini. The main exhibition of the museum is at the second floor, where are displayed the paintings by

and other

macchiaioli The Macchiaioli () were a group of Italian painters active in Tuscany in the second half of the nineteenth century. They strayed from antiquated conventions taught by the Italian art academies, and did much of their painting outdoors in order to ...

Telemaco Signorini Telemaco Signorini (; August 18, 1835 – February 10, 1901) was an Italian artist who belonged to the group known as the Macchiaioli. Biography He was born in the Santa Croce quarter of Florence, and showed an early inclination toward the st ...

Vincenzo Cabianca Vincenzo Cabianca (June 21, 1827, Verona – March 21, 1902, Rome) was an Italian painter of the Macchiaioli group. Biography He was born in Verona in modest circumstances. He began his artistic training at the Verona Academy under Giovanni Cali ...

Giovanni Boldini Giovanni Boldini (31 December 1842 – 11 January 1931) was an Italian genre and portrait painter who lived and worked in Paris for most of his career. According to a 1933 article in ''Time'' magazine, he was known as the "Master of Swish" becaus ...

Adolfo Tommasi Adolfo Tommasi (1851 in Livorno – 1933 in Florence) was an Italian painter. Biography Having left Livorno, Tommasi moved to Florence, where he attended the Academy of Fine Arts and met Silvestro Lega, who taught Adolfo’s younger cousins ...

Angiolo Tommasi Angiolo Tommasi ( Livorno, 1858 - Torre del Lago Puccini, Lucca, 1923) was an Italian painter, active in the Macchiaioli movement. He was the brother of the painter Ludovico and cousin of the painter Adolfo Tommasi; all three were influential fo ...

and

Ludovico Tommasi Ludovico Tommasi (1866 in Livorno – 1941 in Florence) was an Italian painter. Biography Inspired by the example of his elder brother Angiolo and his cousin Adolfo, Ludovico Tommasi devoted himself to painting, developing his art in close cont ...

. In the other halls are the post-macchiaioli as

Eugenio Cecconi Eugenio Cecconi (September 8, 1842 – December 19, 1903) was an Italian painter. He is most noted for his paintings of hunting scenes and the Italian countryside, however his work also includes many representations of Oriental themes. Early lif ...

Vittorio Matteo Corcos Vittorio Matteo Corcos (4 October 1859 – 8 November 1933) was an Italian painter, known for his portraits. Many of his genre works depict winsome and finely dressed young men and women, in moments of repose and recreation. Biography He was bo ...

and

divisionism Divisionism, also called chromoluminarism, was the characteristic style in Neo-Impressionist painting defined by the separation of colors into individual dots or patches which interacted optically..Homer, William I. ''Seurat and the Science of P ...

as Benvenuto Benvenuti and

. Giovanni Fattori was the main representative artist of the macchiaioli, some of his paintings exhibited are: ''Carica di Cavalleria a Montebello'' (1862), ''La Signora Martelli a Castiglioncello'' (1867), ''Assalto alla Madonna della Scoperta'' (1868), ''Giornata grigia'' (1893), ''Mandrie maremmane'' (1893), ''Lungomare ad Antignano'' (1894), ''Ritratto della terza moglie'' (1905).

References

External links

Museo civico Giovanni Fattori (Italian)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Museo Civico Giovanni Fattori Giovanni Fattori Art museums and galleries in Tuscany Art museums and galleries established in 1877 1877 establishments in Italy Biographical museums in Italy Museums devoted to one artist