Curator insights with Melissa Harpley

tanya.sticca@artgallery.wa.gov.au — Fri, 10 Jul 2020 04:35:24 +0000

Melissa Harpley AGWA Curator of 19th Century Arts | Manager of Collections.

tanya.sticca@a… Fri 10/07/2020 - 12:35pm

10 October 2017

AGWA’s next international exhibition, A Window on Italy – The Corsini Collection: Masterpieces from Florence, arrives in Perth, next February for an exclusive Australian season. Featuring a diverse selection of artwork from the Renaissance and Baroque era, this show is a must-see for lovers of Italian art and the period. I sat down with curator Melissa Harpley to gain some insight into the Collection and the experience it offers.

Written by Mikaela Hewett, communications intern.

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Thanks for taking the time to meet, Melissa. We’re here to talk about the Corsini Collection. Can you tell us what it is, and what people can expect when it arrives in Perth next February?

The Corsini Collection is a remarkable collection of artworks that are owned by an individual Florentine family. It is beautifully unified by that family connection, and the fact it has been built over centuries. Some of the works are by the great names of the Italian Renaissance – Botticelli, del Sarto, Pontormo – and Caravaggio, a name many people will be familiar with. The collection also tells an engaging story of the Corsini family themselves, so the exhibition will include a range of portraits of family members and artefacts from their home in the Palazzo Corsini. I think for audiences it will be a beautiful insight into the family, Florence, and Italy.

That sounds exciting. Can you tell me a little more about the Corsini family?

They are a family who came into prominence in the thirteenth century and occupied a range of professions in Florence, Italy – though there were also members of the family who worked in England – an important source of wealth for many Italian families during the Renaissance. One of the Corsinis was the Pope Clement XII. Another early member of the Corsini family was canonised, so they have their own saint as well, Saint Andrea Corsini.

Giovanni Francesco Barbieri known as Guercino (Cento 1591-Bologna1666) Saint Andrea Corsini 1630. Oil on canvas, 75 x 65 cm. Galleria Corsini, Florence.

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And what styles of art did they collect?

A lot of the art is from the Renaissance and Baroque periods, so those works reflect the popular subjects of the time. There are certainly religious paintings, such as the fabulous Madonna with Child and Six Angels by Botticelli, but also some beautiful portraits. Classical mythology was of intellectual interest in the Renaissance and Baroque periods in Italy, so there are a number of paintings of scenes from mythology, and some landscapes too.

What do you feel are some of the stand out pieces in the Corsini Collection?

The Botticelli is an absolute knock-out. However, the Caravaggio portrait of Maffeo Barberini is also a very powerful painting. The four little Giovanni Santi paintings of Apollo and the Muses are beautiful early Renaissance panel paintings, and the portrait of the family’s saint with the bullet holes in it is a very moving and powerful work because of the backstory. There is such a diverse selection of art that I’m sure everyone will be able to find something they love while visiting the Collection.

Sandro Botticelli (Florence c1445-1510) and workshop Madonna and Child with Six Angels c1500. Tempera and oil on board, 143 cm (diameter). Galleria Corsini, Florence.

What is the story behind the family saint?

Well, towards the end of the Second World War the German army was retreating through Italy. The Corsini family were aware that the German army had been looting artworks along the way, so Princess Elena Corsini worked with some of her staff to hide as much of the collection as they could to try and preserve it. Some of it was hidden in a crypt in a church in Florence, and other pieces were loaded onto a truck, which was driven out to one of their country properties. Princess Elena Corsini instructed that a false wall was built to hide the artworks so that if the Germans passed through they wouldn’t find any paintings. The family story goes that when the artworks were put behind the wall, Donna Elena said to the portrait of the saint, “I’ve done my bit, now it’s up to you.”

The Germans did arrive, noticed the false wall, and one of the officers – possibly thinking there were people behind it – shot at the wall a number of times. Luckily, the only work damaged was the painting of Saint Andrea Corsini, so perhaps he did protect the rest of the collection! The family decided not to have the work conserved, so you can still see the bullet holes in it.

When the Corsini Collection arrives in February, what would you say to people thinking of visiting?

It’s a great opportunity to spend some time with works from a period and place that you don’t often experience in Perth. Plus, there’s the fascinating story of the Corsini family and the city of Florence to bring many of the works to life. They’re fabulous paintings, and I think people will have a great experience since there are so many beautiful works of art to enjoy.

Thank you, Melissa.

Tickets to A Window on Italy – The Corsini Collection: Masterpieces from Florence are now on sale.

A Window on Italy – The Corsini Collection: Masterpieces from Florence AGWA installation view, 2018.

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The Corsini Collection

A Window on Italy

Masterpieces from Florence

Melissa Harpley

International art

AGWA

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AGWA’s next international exhibition, A Window on Italy – The Corsini Collection: Masterpieces from Florence, arrives in Perth, next February for an exclusive Australian season.

Re-Imagining History

tanya.sticca@artgallery.wa.gov.au — Thu, 09 Jul 2020 03:42:51 +0000

Re-Imagining History

tanya.sticca@a… Thu 09/07/2020 - 11:42am

21 August 2018

August 11th marked an important day in AGWA history, as the Gallery celebrated the reopening of its Historical Collection; part of the permanent AGWA Collection displays which spans across many time periods in Australian and international art.

Moving from the Centenary Galleries, the historical collection is now located upstairs alongside AGWA Six Seasons, Screen Space and the contemporary craft and design in AGWA Design.

The reopening of AGWA Historical offers an exciting opportunity to revisit the Gallery’s permanent collection and experience the works in a new and refreshing way.

“There is a lot of architecture in the Centenary Galleries which impacted on the display,” said Melissa Harpley, Curator of Historical and Modern Art.

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Moving the historical works into the main gallery space has taken that visual interference out so that you can see the works differently. As a curator, it enabled me to make some interesting groupings and provided more flexibility in the placement of works than was possible in the Centenary Galleries.

Melissa Harpley

AGWA Curator of Historical and Modern Art

Unlike the Centenary Galleries, which is mostly comprised of long-established square rooms, the central gallery space is designed in a triangular shape, which enhances the viewing of the collection.

“What is so fantastic about this building is the fact that it doesn’t have right angles,” she said.

“It allows those visual connections which are important for art. You can stand in some spaces of the gallery and see a 1860s landscape, but you might also see a Heidelberg landscape and a Hans Heysen from 1914. You couldn’t do that in the Centenary Galleries.”

The AGWA Historical will undergo two separate iterations. The first hang coincided with another important historical exhibition, Sidney Nolan’s Ned Kelly series which opened the same day.

There’s one point where Ned Kelly and Historical share a wall, and we’ve managed to design the show, so the Ned Kelly work sits next to the Hans Heysen. I think there’s a nice connection between not only the approach to the Australian landscape but even down to the two men on horses echoed in both paintings.

Melissa Harpley

AGWA Curator of Historical and Modern Art

Hans Heysen Droving into the light 1914-1921. State Art Collection, Art Gallery of Western Australia. Gift of Mr W H Vincent, 1922.

Sidney Nolan Ned Kelly 1946 from the Ned Kelly series 1946 – 1947. Gift of Sunday Reed 1977. National Gallery of Australia.

The second iteration of AGWA Historical is scheduled for November and Melissa said she is excited about the upcoming curatorial possibilities and encourages the public to attend both reprises of the collection.

“Looking at the works in the historical collection, particularly the ones with figures, humans haven’t changed. The works from the past are still very much a meditation or commentary on what it means to be human and what it means to be in the world,” says Melissa.

“I think people will connect with that because it’s as relevant now as it was then.”

Glimpse into the collection

Find out more about the AGWA Historical Collection visit our website artgallery.wa.gov.au

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Join a free guided tour of AGWA Historical or one of our other fantastic collections.

AGWA

Card Text

August 11th marked an important day in AGWA history, as the Gallery celebrated the reopening of its Historical Collection; part of the permanent AGWA Collection displays which spans across many time periods in Australian and international art.

Launch of AGWA’s Historical Collection

Melissa Harpley

Curator insights with Melissa Harpley

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Re-Imagining History

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