L’ARTE CORAGGIOSA AL LIDO DI VENEZIA

On the upcoming 10th of October, at 6:00 PM at the Hotel Aquarius in Venice, we celebrate the presentation of L’Arte coraggiosa al Lido di Venezia. This is the latest book by Franco Tagliapietra, whose elucidating subtitle is “Pittori, esposizioni, palazzi 1908-1934“, published in Venice by Casa Editrice el squero, 2025.

Franco Tagliapietra, a historian of contemporary art, essayist, and curator of 20th-century exhibitions in Italy and abroad, and formerly a professor at the prestigious Academies of Venice and Brera, will be in conversation with Giovanni Montanaro, the noted Venetian novelist.

Their discussion will delve into a period as overlooked as it was significant: the season of contemporary painting and sculpture exhibitions held at the Venice Lido during the first third of the 20th century. These showcases were hosted in unique architectural settings, often in temporary or occasional spaces. These include the Stabilimento Bagni, which in 1908, 1909, 1910, and 1919 presented exhibitions of young artists alongside their masters; the Hotel Excelsior, the site of a pivotal 1914 “salon des refusés“, an exhibition of artists rejected by the Venice Biennale, spearheaded by Arturo Martini and Gino Rossi; the Hotel Des Bains, which in 1919 held a National Exhibition teeming with artists; and finally, the former Ospizio Marino, where in 1923 a solo show was dedicated to the new rising star of Futurist painting, Enrico Prampolini.

These early shows were followed by the highly acclaimed era of the ten editions of the Mostre dell’Opera Bevilacqua La Masa, held at the Lido’s Palazzo dell’Esposizione. This building, located opposite the Hotel Excelsior at the corner of Via Candia and the current Lungomare Marconi, is now home to the Bar al Leone d’Oro. It was on this bar’s terrace that a ceremony took place last July 25th, commemorating the building’s original purpose precisely one hundred years after its inauguration.

Designed by Giovanni Sicher, the creator of several Art Nouveau villas on the Lido, the “Art Pavilion“—as he termed it in his architectural plans—was erected in just three months. In architectural continuity with the pre-existing Procuratie, it was immediately named the Palazzo dell’Esposizione, ready to host a dazzling art exhibition. From July 25th to the end of September of that year, residents, tourists, and art enthusiasts could enjoy the splendid XVI° Esposizione dell’Opera Bevilacqua La Masa. I° Esposizione degli artisti di Ca’ Pesaro al Lido. Here, one could admire works by some of the greatest artists whose names are now enshrined in the Institution’s history, such as Moggioli and Boccioni, who had died during the First World War, alongside the ever-active Casorati, Cagnaccio di San Pietro, Semeghini, and many others who exhibited paintings of extraordinary quality.

For ten summers, until 1934, the Palazzo dell’Esposizione became the privileged venue for compelling and significant offerings of young Italian, Venetian, and regional art. It hosted the absolute debut of future luminaries of the Italian art world, including Giovanni Korompay, Giuseppe Santomaso, Mario Deluigi, Edmondo Bacci, Afro Basaldella, Armando Pizzinato and many more.

Tagliapietra‘s text focuses on their most significant works while also examining pictorial subjects inspired by the life and shores of the Venice Lido, as manifested in the works of diverse artists such as Ettore Tito, Italico Brass, Giuseppe Santomaso, Filippo De Pisis, and others.

Background cover: Nino Springolo, Bagnanti, 1912, oil on canvas, 40 x 47.7 cm., Private collection.