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Renato Barilli critiques Chagall show at Forte di Bard

opinion-review · 2026-05-05

Renato Barilli reviews the exhibition 'Marc Chagall – La vie' at Forte di Bard, featuring 265 works. He argues that the proliferation of local exhibition centers redundantly showcases early 20th-century masters, leading to a decline in perceived originality. Barilli contends that Chagall's early innovation gave way to repetitive, commercialized motifs, a fate shared by Miró, Picasso, and Matisse. Among Italians, Sironi, Severini, Carrà, and De Pisis also suffer, while Morandi and Klee maintained experimentation. Duchamp is praised as a relentless researcher, contrasted with de Chirico's embrace of bad taste. The exhibition runs until November 13, 2016, curated by Gabriele Accornero, Isabelle Maeght, and Markus Müller.

Key facts

  • Exhibition 'Marc Chagall – La vie' at Forte di Bard features 265 works.
  • Renato Barilli criticizes the redundancy of local exhibition centers.
  • Barilli argues Chagall's originality declined into commercial stereotypes.
  • Similar decline noted for Miró, Picasso, Matisse, Sironi, Severini, Carrà, De Pisis.
  • Morandi and Klee are exceptions for sustained experimentation.
  • Duchamp praised as a researcher; de Chirico's bad taste noted.
  • Exhibition runs until November 13, 2016.
  • Curated by Gabriele Accornero, Isabelle Maeght, Markus Müller.

Entities

Artists

  • Marc Chagall
  • Joan Miró
  • Pablo Picasso
  • Henri Matisse
  • Mario Sironi
  • Gino Severini
  • Carlo Carrà
  • Filippo de Pisis
  • Giorgio Morandi
  • Paul Klee
  • Wassily Kandinsky
  • Marcel Duchamp
  • Giorgio de Chirico
  • Renato Barilli

Institutions

  • Forte di Bard
  • Artribune
  • Università di Bologna
  • DAMS

Locations

  • Bard
  • Italy

Sources