Save on airfare this summer - Florence, Italy is just a drive away with Views from the Uffizi at the Taft Museum of Art

03-26-2008

Taft Museum of Art has the only regional exhibition of Views from the Uffizi: Painting the Italian Landscape

 

Giovanni Antonio Canal, called Canaletto, The Tower of Marghera, about 1750, oil on canvas. Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy
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CINCINNATI (March 24, 2008) –The Taft Museum of Art will be the only museum in the region to offer visitors Views from the Uffizi: Painting the Italian Landscape. The exhibition, which opens June 13 and runs through Oct. 12, includes 40 paintings from Italy’s famed Uffizi Gallery in Florence.

Tranquil, stormy or the setting for dramatic stories, landscape painting can take on many moods. A selection of 40 landscape paintings from the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy, surveys the evolution of landscape painting in Italy over three centuries, from the Renaissance through the 18th century. Included are works by such great painters as Botticelli, Guercino, Poussin, Claude Lorrain and Canaletto.

The exhibition curator, Antonio Natali, is the director of the Uffizi Gallery. The exhibition organizers are Contemporanea Progetti in Florence and the Trust for Museum Exhibitions, Washington, D.C.

The earliest paintings are from the late 15th century, when landscape often served as a backdrop for sacred and historical subjects. The exhibition then progresses to the great period of the development of pure landscape, the 17th and 18th centuries. The arrival in Italy of Northern European artists such as Paul Bril, Jacob Pynas, and Adrien van de Velde helped stimulate the new form. Italian artists contributed to this evolution, too: Salvator Rosa and Filippo Napolitano of Naples, Alessandro Magnasco of Genoa, and Giovanni Canaletto of Venice introduced original and influential new forms of landscape. Altogether, the landscapes painted in Italy formed the basis of the European landscape tradition, as seen in the Taft Museum of Art’s own collection.

To help the Museum offset the cost of bringing this outstanding collection of paintings to Cincinnati, an additional fee will be charged to visitors. Taft members will have free, unlimited access to the Uffizi exhibition and the permanent collection, but must present their membership cards at admission. Members’ guest passes will be good for free admission to both the house and exhibition.

Admission to the permanent collection will be free to all on Wednesdays, with a charge of $5 for adults and $4 for students and seniors to visit the Uffizi exhibition. During the rest of the week, admission to both the collection and Views from the Uffizi will be $13 for adults, $10 for seniors and students. Children under 18 will be admitted free to both the Uffizi exhibition and the permanent collection.

Exhibition partners: Ellen and George Rieveschl Endowment, Josephine Schell Russell Charitable Trust, PNC Bank, Trustee, John W. Hauck Foundation, Fifth Third Bank, Co-Trustee, The Kaplan Foundation, Oliver Charitable Trust, Harold C. Schott Foundation, Lela C. and George E. Brown, The Carl Lindner Family, and Mr. and Mrs. Michael T. Schueler

Media Partners: WGUC 90.9/WVXU 91.7, Fine Arts Fund Partner: P & G

The Taft Museum of Art is at 316 Pike St., in downtown Cincinnati. The Museum is open Tuesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Free onsite parking is available. The Café is open for lunch Tuesday through Saturday.

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The Taft Museum of Art is supported in part by the generosity of individuals and businesses that give annually to the Fine Arts Fund. The Ohio Arts Council helped fund the Museum with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence, and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans. The Museum is also funded by the City of Cincinnati, The Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile, Jr./U.S. Bank Foundation.

The Taft Museum of Art is accredited by the American Association of Museums and is affiliated with the Association of Midwest Museums and the Ohio Museums Association.

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