'Art and Magic. The Allure of Esotericism in Europe' in Rovigo, Palazzo Roverella

From 29^th September 2018 to 27^th January 2019, #palazzoroverella will host an exhibition where art, magic and esotericism take on leading roles.

Sponsored by the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Padova e #rovigo in collaboration with the Accademia dei Concordi and the Municipality of #rovigo and curated by Francesco Parisi, the exhibition reviews the relations linking the esoteric trends in fashion between 1880 and the years immediately following World War I and their influence on European figurative arts – from Symbolism to the subsequent historical avant-garde movements. The artists on display include: Odilon Redon, Paul Ranson, Eugene Grasset, Jean Delville, Felicien Rops, Austin Osman Spare, Paul Serusier, Alberto Martini, Carlos Schwabe, Wassily Kandinsky, Auguste Rodin, Edvard Munch, Frantisek Kupka, Giorgio Kienerk, Leonardo Bistolfi, Ferdinand Hodler, Hugo Höppener (Fidus), Ernesto Basile, Paul Klee, Johannes Itten, Luigi Russolo, Gaetano Previati, George Frederic Watts, Giacomo Balla, Piet Mondrian, Romolo Romani.

The interest in esoteric doctrines, with their wealth of myths and symbolic representations, burst onto the scene of late-1800s Europe, coinciding with the development of Symbolist art. Starting from France and Belgium, the influence of esoteric culture on the figurative arts soon spread across Europe, becoming interwoven with literature and involving – thanks to Joséphin Péladan and his Salon de la Rose+Croix – the main names in international Symbolism, from Fernand Khnopff to Jean Delville, to Gaetano Previati.

Last but not least, Hermetic theories – mainly Helena Petrovna Blavatsky’s Theosophy – and optical and colour studies played a key role in the genesis of Abstractionism, heavily influencing the work of artists such as Paul Klee, Johannes Itten, Piet Mondrian and Wassily Kandinsky. In Italy, these relations with esoteric symbologies would also influence the studies on Abstract art carried out by painters like Giacomo Balla, Arnaldo Ginna and Julius Evola, in a peculiar parallelism with the interest in Occultism shown by writers such as Gabriele D’Annunzio, Dino Campana and Luigi Pirandello.

Fascinated by literary works such as The Great Initiates, by Édouard Schuré, or Joris-Karl Huysmans’ renowned decadent novel Là-bas, painters and sculptors – alongside travellers, writers and journalists – began looking to Eastern religions or Hermetic texts for a sort of alternative fashion compared to the widespread reflections on Christianity. The 1900s witnessed the establishment of several communities (like Monte Verità, located near Ascona) revolving around a utopic magical/irrational system whose initiates practiced sun worship, nudism and vegetarianism – and who counted the likes of Carl Gustav Jung, Hermann Hesse and Paul Klee amongst their number.

Throughout the exhibition, visitors will find themselves travelling along an initiation path that starts off with initiatory Silence (Entrance, Enigma, Invitation to Silence), passing through temples and altars (section II, Esoteric Architecture: Temples and Altars) towards the final illumination, before coming to a close with the representation of auras and rays of light (section III, Psyche, Cosmos, Aura and Ancestral Shapes).

Leading characters of the exhibition, portrayed via detailed iconographic sections, include: the Devil in all his variations, from demons intent on sowing discord amongst men all the way down to the modern Faust who accompanies the artist in his creative act; the Witch, previously an icon of the decadent Art Nouveau style and now drawing the artist into the depths of sensual pleasure and submission; animals such as owls, wolves, ravens, bats and nocturnal spirits – incubi – with their mysterious allure.

Furthermore, a vast section accompanying the entire exhibition is devoted to illustrated books and engravings, from priceless volumes by Mucha and Félicien Rops to George De Feure’s lithographs.

The exhibition catalogue, published by Silvana Editoriale, features critical texts by Francesco Parisi, Jean-David Jumeau Lafond (Salon de la Rose+Croix), Hana Larvovà (Prague and Magical Bohemia), Emanuele Bardazzi (Illustration and Esotericism Between the 1800s and the 1900s), Fabio Mangone (Esoteric Architecture), Paolo Bolpagni (Music and Esotericism), Mario Finazzi (Giacomo Balla and Theosophy), Mara Folini (Monte Verità and the Mittel-European Artists), Matteo Fochessati (Theosophists and Anthroposophists in Liguria), Jolanda Nigro Covre (Esotericism and Abstract Art).

In order to promote this great September exhibition, Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Padova e #rovigo is launching two “special” offers. First of all, a “Group Offer”: groups who book their tour by 30^th September will receive 5 free tickets and an exhibition catalogue.

The second “Special Offer” is meant for residents of #rovigo and its province: residents who purchase a ticket, either as individual visitors or as part of a group, will have the right to come back and enjoy the exhibition as many times as they wish. Of course, in order to avoid any misuse, the ticket purchased the first time will be labelled with the purchaser’s name and surname; thus, by showing this ticket and an ID, he or she can return to the exhibition any time they choose. If the visitor chooses to return in the company of a relative or friend, the second person can purchase a reduced-price ticket.

Art and Magic

The Allure of Esotericism in Europe

Rovigo, Palazzo Roverella

29^th September 2018 – 27^th January 2019

Exhibition curated by Francesco Parisi

www.palazzoroverella.com