Giuseppe Iannaccone Collection Showcases Italian Art 1920-1945 at Estorick Collection

The Estorick Collection in London is currently showcasing "A New Figurative Art 1920-1945: Works from the Giuseppe Iannaccone Collection," which will be on display until December 23, 2018. This exhibition features fifty pieces from the collection of Italian lawyer Giuseppe Iannaccone, who has been curating it since the 1990s, with a focus on Italian figurative art during the interwar period. It intentionally sidesteps political themes associated with the Fascist regime, instead highlighting more personal and intimate aspects. The exhibition interacts with the museum's permanent collection, amassed by Eric Estorick and Salome Dessau in the 1940s and 1950s, which includes notable Futurist works like Umberto Boccioni's Idolo Moderno. The first gallery showcases the Scuola di Via Cavour, featuring views of Rome by Mario Mafai and Antonietta Raphaël (both 1929), alongside creations by Filippo de Pisis and Renato Guttuso. Significant highlights include Scipione's Autoritratto (1930) and Mafai's Autoritratto (1933), produced after Scipione's passing. Additionally, sculptures such as Luigi Broggini's Testa di Ragazzo (1932-35) and Lucio Fontana's Nudo in piedi (1936) are displayed. The exhibition's origins trace back to a late 1920s encounter between artists Mimì Lazzaro and Scipione at a Roman market, which inspired Scipione's Natura morta con piuma (1929).