Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Venice: Gallerie dell’Accademia. The Venice International Foundation Gala Dinner



Venice: Gallerie dell’Accademia. The Venice International Foundation Gala Dinner. This year, The Venice International Foundation’s annual gala dinner was held in the newly restored Palladian Wing of the Gallerie dell’Accademia. It was an evening of fundraising to finance, together with its American "sister" Friends of Venice Italy Inc., the new project:

Canova mon Amour

From Classical to Neo-Classical:

Canova in the Palladian Wing

The Palladian Wing at the Gallerie dell’Accademia will house the works of Antonio Canova and his contemporaries, including Francesco Hayez, in a sort of remote dialogue, but all "under one roof", between the greatest architect of Classicism - Andrea Palladio and that of the Neo-Classical sculptor - Antonio Canova. During the evening, three Cotisso Awards were presented.
Above: The Venice International Foundation’s president Franca Coin and its vice-president Francesco Molinari handed over a virtual cheque pledge for the hefty sum of 232.403,36 Euros to the chief of the Segretariato Regionale del Veneto del Ministero dei Beni Culturali, Erilde Terenzoni for the renovation of the Palladian Wing in the Gallerie dell’Accademia. Please help The Venice International Foundation achieve this goal:


photograph - courtesy Archivio Fotografico del Polo Museale del Veneto su concessione del Ministero dei Beni e delle Attività Culturali e del Turismo

Canova mon Amour


Antonio Canova - Apollo
terracotta
Gallerie dell’Accademia – Venezia



Photograph by Alessandra Chemollo Studio ORCH – courtesy Soprintendenza per i Beni Ambientali e Architettonici di Venezia


The Venice International Foundation – Canova mon Amour. After the successful reorganization of the Canova Rooms at the Correr Museum in Piazza San Marco, funded by The Venice International Foundation through the project Sublime Canova – now the organization tackles its second major project, Canova mon Amour, with the renovation of the Palladian Wing in the Gallerie dell’Accademia, which until recently housed students from the Academy of Fine Arts. The monumental complex of the Accademia Galleries is located in the prestigious center of the Scuola Grande of Santa Maria della Carita, one of the most ancient lay fraternal orders of the city. The homonymous church of Santa Maria and the monastery of the Canonici Lateranensi, was built by Andrea Palladio between 1561 and 1563, and is an integral part of the Gallerie dell’Accademia.




Tobia and Valeria Scarpa

Like Father Like Son.  The Palladian Wing has been renovated by Venetian architect Tobia Scarpa, whose father Carlo Scarpa, also a well-known architect, between 1945 and 1959, worked on restoring the Accademia building and setting the then new exhibition areas.



Pier Luigi Pizzi, Beatrice and Pierre Rosenberg and Massimo Pizzi Gasparon

 



Vittorio and Marina Gregotti

 



Cotisso Awardee – Martin Bethenod. Marina Rotondo, Martin Bethenod, Giorgio Mastinu and Fabio Achilli

 




Canova mon Amour. The quintessential Venetian, architectural historian and architect Tonci Foscari, and the dynamic driving force behind The Venice International Foundation, Franca Coin welcome “on stage” Giovanna Nepi Scire, emeritus superintendent of the Beni Artistici di Venezia and director of the Gallerie dell’Accademia (1978-2009), she was responsible for uniting the Palladian Wing of Accademia di Belle Arti to the Gallerie dell’Accademia under the title Grandi Gallerie dell’Accademia.






Giordana Naccari and Massoud Besharat


 




Gallerie dell’Accademia – New Wing. The Venice International Foundation’s members attending the gala dinner were lucky enough to have the whole museum open to themselves until midnight, and were able to roam at leisure wherever they wished. On the other side of the courtyard of the Palladian Wing are the first five rooms of the new complex of the Gallerie dell’Accademia, sponsored by Samsung and Venetian Heritage, under the title Grandi Gallerie dell’Accademia. With highly advanced technology, thanks to Samsung’s involvement, visitors can now enjoy Venetian Art of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century with the simple touch of a tablet or phone.
Above. Giambattista Tiepolo – The Feast of the Cross – Eighteenth Century – ceiling – oil on canvas.




Gallerie dell’Accademia – New Wing – Hugues Le Gallais and Toto Bergamo Rossi


Gallerie dell’Accademia – New Wing – Barbara Foscari





Gallerie dell’Accademia – New Wing – Fabio Moretti and Umberto Branchini

 




Gallerie dell’Accademia – New Wing – Andrea and Paola Tomat and Marco Cappelletto


Gallerie dell’Accademia – Mario Merz/Citta Irreale


“Homage to Venice – the unreal city par excellence

Mario Merz’s exhibition Citta Irreale, until September 20, was also another popular exhibition destination amongst the members of The Venice International Foundation, who got free reign over the musuem for the whole evening.  Città Irreale [Unreal City) pays tribute to the work of Mario Merz. The present exhibition traces the career of an artist of the Arte Povera movement who distinguished himself from the beginning for his critical depth and extraordinary poetic scope, and, as it's very title confirms, the master's ideal homage to Venice – the unreal city par excellence, a surreal, metaphysical place where nature and culture come together in perfect synthesis.
Above. In the new spaces designed to house temporary exhibitions at the Gallerie dell'Accademia and marking the first occasion on which they opened their doors to the public. Mario Merz - Igloo (di Marisa) - 1972 - Metal structure, wire mesh, cloth bundles, neon in plexiglas box.

 

 

Maurizio Messina, Erilde Terenzoni and Andrea Bellieni


Franca and Piergiorgio Coin, Marylene and Carlalberto Corneliani and Inma Cavallucci





Gallerie dell’Accademia – Mario Merz/Citta Irreale

Mario Merz
Spirale di Cera - 1970 – 1981
Wax
Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, Vaduz


Tomaso and Eleonora Piva



Orietta Soldo and Ermes Lazzaro






Gallerie dell’Accademia - Palladian Courtyard


Caged in by Mario Merz.  Cecilia Matteucci Lavarini - Feather dress designed by Karl Lagerfeld for Fendi S/S 2015 – bag by Aloisia Rucellai – 1970.
Mario Merz - 74 gradini riappaiono in una crescita di geometria concentrica – 1992 - stone steps, iron rod and angular structures
8 igloo - Courtesy Galerie Tschudi, Zuoz.

 





Giovanni Alliata di Montereale

 
Marzia Boschi and Cesare Trevisani

 
 The Gala Dinner

Gallerie dell’Accademia – The New Un-named Wing. After major restoration work, lasting some ten years, the newly extended Gallerie dell'Accademia, part of Grandi Gallerie dell’Accademia project have now doubled in exhibition space and added to the great wealth of culture they have to offer. It was in the yet un-named and empty wing, that the gala dinner took place.  Three long tables were set up with dramatic minimal black and white table settings.  The president of The Venice International Foundation, Franca Coin introduces her favourite subject and ”obsession

Canova, Canova and Canova forever...!!


“Once again, Antonio Canova is the fulcrum around which the activities of The Venice International Foundation concentrates.  The five rooms, all set in the Palladian Wing, which The Venice International Foundation will finance the restoration for will host the works of Antonio Canova and his contemporaries, including Francesco Hayez, in a sort of remote dialogue, but all "under one roof", between the greatest architect of Classicism - Andrea Palladio and that of the Neo-Classical sculptor - Antonio Canova. Please help The Venice International Foundation achieve this goal of 230,000 Euros needed to complete this restoration.







Lina and Walter Hartsarich, president of the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia

 
The Cotisso Venice Foundation 2015 Awards

Martin Bethenod
for his brilliant dedication to the dissemination of culture


Delighted and grinning like a Cheshire cat, Martin Bethenod, director of Palazzo Grassi SpA and in charge of Palazzo Grassi and Punta della Dogana in Venice, receives his Cotisso Award from The Venice International Foundation president Franca Coin. The Cotisso Awards are massive glass sculptures created by the designer Giordana Naccari.

 
The Cotisso Venice Foundation 2015 Awards

Renzo Rosso
for his enlightened path of patronship for the Cultural Arts


Renzo Rosso - Video. Unable to attend, Renzo Rosso who is the president of the OTB (Only the Brave) group, which owns the cult brand Diesel sent a video. Watching the video Alessandro Diaz de Santillana and Francoise Pams.

 
The Cotisso Venice Foundation 2015 Awards

In Memory of

Luciano Vistosi
for the splendid and memorable way he dedicated his life to art

For the first time, The Venice International Foundation assigned a posthumously special Cotisso Award to the Murano born glass designer and sculptor, Luciano Vistosi. As the Cotisso Award designer, Giordana Naccari and Adriana Vistosi look on, Franca Coin recounts a simpatico anecdote about the great artist. 

 
Guido and Paola Pennisi

 
The Menu


Summer Garden Vegetable with Asparagus and Melon Balls,

Pea Sauce and Edible Flowers

 
Mediterranean Spaghetti Timballo with Gazpacho Tomatoes and Basil



  Instagramers, Marco Gaggio (Neumarc) and Luca Tessari (Psychodreaming) 
share with 
Mara Zanette

The Dessert 

 Lavender Chocolate Mousse with Vanilla Cream and Mixed Berries

The Vegeterian menu was catered by La Dogaressa Catering - Venezia


 



Alessandra Vistosi, Piero Venerando and Maria Carla Poggi





Gallerie dell’Accademia - The Palladian Courtyard – Roberta Rossi

 
Photograph – courtesy - Archivio fotografico del Polo Museale del Veneto su concessione del Ministero dei Beni e delle Attivita Culturali e del Turismo


Antonio Canova – Annunciazione - gesso for the Metopa of the Temple in Possagno - 1821-1822
Gallerie dell’Accademia - Venezia