Inside ADVANCING WOMEN ARTISTS
Nelli, no longer ‘invisible’ Conservation: The heart of art Forging ahead: AWA’s Art Alliance Uffizi Women Artists The Last of the ‘Flood Ladies’
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The Women behind the AWA Women world-wide band together to support art and conservation. One of the most exciting things about AWA is the connection we create between women artists of the past and modern women. AWA brings together ladies from all nations and ‘walks of knowledge‘ who have decided to join our quest. The Foundation is rapidly growing, as recognition for ‘our artists‘ becomes more widespread. Supporting art and restoration in Florence means participating in a combination of ‘grand gestures‘ and ‘small efforts‘. Together, we look to both the past and the future - for Florence… and for women around the globe. Together we will reclaim our role in the history of art.
Founder & Chair
Florence Council of Advisors
Jane Fortune
Helen Bayley Annarita Caputo Tina Carrari Claire Eskander Valentina Grossi Orzalesi Kirsten Hills Georgette Jupe Rossella Lari Madeliene Leone Susan Madocks Lister Silvia Mascalchi Sara Matthews-Grieco Adelina Modesti Federica Parretti Sasha Perugini Sabine Pretsch Fiona Richards Rea Stavropoulos Emily Schiavone Dorothée Volpini Maestri Elizabeth Wicks
Board of Directors Noreen Ackerman Mary Clare Broadbent Cathryn R. Fortune Nancy Galliher Nancy Hunt Betty Schneider Alice Vogler Pam Fortune
International Advisory Council Suzanne Apple Kristine Bouaichi Connie Clark Pepper Dowd Debbie Lilly Margaret MacKinnon Donna Malin Eizabeth Negrey Dorothee Volpini Maestri
Staff
Florence Executive Committee
Linda Falcone, Director linda@advancingwomenartists.org
Jane Adams Linda Falcone Kathryn Rakich Sheila Barker Leslie Jameff
Jane Adams, Partnership Relations jane.adams@advancingwomenartists.org
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Susanna Bracci Simonetta Brandolini d’Adda Andrea L. Davis Hermione Grassi Lyall Harris Penny Howard Alexandra Korey Andrina Lever Nicola Ann MacGregor Donata Magrini Poiret Masse Molly McIlwrath Freya Middleton Sara Papini Cheryl Pappas Viola Parretti Deirdre Pirro Myrtò Psicharis Emily Sue Rosner Michelle Tarnopolsky Gabriella Tonini Paola Vojnovic
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Welcome Inside
Autumn 2017
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elcome to Inside AWA our new ‘insider’s magazine’ that celebrates the fundamental
ADVANCING WOMEN ARTISTS
Nelli, no longer ‘invisible’
mission we share!
My hope is that by leafing through these pages, you will
Conservation: The heart of art
find fond memories or discover your art-based dreams for
Forging ahead: AWA’s Art Alliance
the future. It has been an exciting year for the foundation
Uffizi Women Artists The Last of the ‘Flood Ladies’
- with more exposure we could have dreamed possible, thanks to ‘The First Last’ fundraising extravaganza and the
PHOTO: DUART CASTLE, SWEN STROOP ART BY WOMEN: FROM STORAGE TO SPOTLIGHT
first-ever Nelli show at the Uffizi Gallery. Upcoming restorations with Villa Il Palmerino, the Last Supper Museum of Andrea del Sarto and the Uffizi itself will surely trigger your imagination as to the next steps we can take together to strengthen and advance the protection and exhibition of historic women artists in Florence. Your support is valuable. Your creative vision is indispensable. Thank you, as ever, for joining my quest.
Jane Fortune Founder & Chair, AWA
Inside AWA Magazine Editors: Linda Falcone, Fiona Richards Photographers: M. Badiani, F. Cacchiani, V. Capalbo, L. Cardini, C. Cheade, Domingie e Rabatti, K. Hills, Swietlan N Kraczyna G. Missirilis, Design: FPE Media Ltd Follow us: T: @AWA_Foundation F: Facebook.com/advancingwomenartists W: www.advancingwomenartists.org Advancing Women Artists Foundation Via dei Fossi 1 Florence, 50123
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Contents
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BACKGROUND
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
2: The Women behind the AWA
9. The last 10 year's work
3: Welcome
16. The First Last Campaign
6. Sharing the Joy
22. Nelli on Show
8. Who Makes it Happen
25. 15 Flood Project
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Autumn 2017
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48 40 16 PROJECTS
NEW INITIATIVES
NEWS UPDATE
30. Getting Nelli Ready
48. Art Alliance
52. Sojourn
34. Uffizi Women Project
50. Art Angels
56. Books
40. Women Artists of the 1900s
24. The Gift of Travel
58. AWA TV
43. Nelli Lunette Project
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6o. Novelties
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FLORIN AWARD
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Sharing Florentine Joy
Jane Fortune receives the Golden Florin Award
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Above: Florence Mayor presents Jane Fortune with Golden Florin Left: Palazzo Vecchio, 'Florino d'Oro' ceremony
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n 2016, Florence’s Mayor Dario Nardella presented AWA’s founder and chair with the city’s highest honor: the Golden Florin Award for her work with AWA. Hosted at the famed Palazzo Vecchio, the ceremony was part of the Global Mayor’s Forum called, “Unity and Diversity” where 60 mayors from all over the globe met to discuss the preservation of natural and artistic heritage. Over two hundred and fifty members of Florence’s art-and-culture community joined us for the evening, many of whom have played a fundamental role in the advancement of AWA over the past decade. The global forum and awards ceremony, also hosted by Florence’s Councilor for International Relations, Nicoletta Mantovani Pavarotti, included a special screening of ‘When the World Answered: Florence, Women Artists and the 1966 Flood’, the
successful PBS documentary based on the book by the same name by Jane Fortune and Linda Falcone (The Florentine Press, 2014). Part of the commemorative program honoring the fiftiethanniversary of Florence’s flood, Jane’s ‘Fiorino’ was the perfect time to remember the documentary’s ‘Flood Ladies’ who gifted their works to Florence to replace the 14,000 masterpieces lost in the deluge.
THE MAYOR’S MESSAGE “Jane Fortune’s intuition, passion and commitment is truly part of the heritage and values of our community. For all of these reasons, we consider Mrs. Fortune, one of our citizens, one of us, a Florentine in every way, and I’d even go so far as to say, a great Florentine, and for this reason we are truly proud to present her with Il Fiorino d’Oro.”
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WHO HELPS IT HAPPEN?
Our Honorary Council of Museum Curators in Florence support AWA’s projects. As the art
historians responsible for the ‘well-being’ of works we restore, they guide each of our conservation projects.
State, regional and private museums have been our partners for projects at the Accademia Gallery, the San Marco Museum, the Palatine Gallery, the Last Supper Museum of Andrea del Sarto, Pitti’s Gallery of Modern Art, the Uffizi Gallery, Library and Prints and Drawings Department and Opera di Santa Croce. Florence Civic Museums work with AWA, as
we liason with the Mayor’s Office, its International Relations Department and the Equal Opportunities Office, restoring works for Palazzo Vecchio, the Santa Maria Novella Complex, Santa Maria del Carmine and Florence’s Twentieth-century Museum.
Our Media Partners help spread the news,
literally! AWA’s projects are regularly featured in the following magazines: The Florentine, Timeless Travels, Toscana & Chianti News and This Tuscan Life.
As culture grows…
A long list of organizations and businesses have supported AWA in myriad ways: Alessandro Bonsanti Contemporary Archive at the Gabinetto Vieusseux, Medici Dynasty Show, Palazzo Spinelli, Friends of Florence, the Medici Archive Project, the Jane Fortune Research Project on Women Artists at MAP, the Regional Council of Tuscany, Nerdi Orafi, Fondazione Giovanni Michelucci, Freya’s Florence, Associazione Culturale, Il Palmerino, Aquaflor, The Savoy Hotel, the US Consulate in Florence, Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio and Fratelli Piccini Firenze.
Right, from top: Jane Fortune with Florence museum curators; Book launch at the Uffizi Library; Timeless Travels on the presses with Jane Fortune’s article on Florence; Conference at Santa Maria del Carmine
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AWA IS‌OVER THE HILL Over the last decade, AWA has restored over 40 works by women artists!
Here are some of our most high-profile projects from years past. Returned to their original dignity, and to the museum spotlight, this art is reason to celebrate!
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HISTORY
2006 and 2009 Suor Plautilla Nelli (1524–1588)
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elli's masterwork, Lamentation with Saints is located in the San Marco Museum's large refectory. It was restored in 2006. Saint Domenic Receives the Rosary and Saint Catherine in Prayer, hosted at the Last Supper Museum of Andrea del Sarto were next in line, in 2009. Both were commissioned as part of a tryptic series and represent saints that are key to Nelli's religious order - the Dominicans.
Above, top and middle right: Nelli’s restored works at San Marco and San Salvi Right: Jane Fortune at Florence’s British Institute
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HISTORY
2008 Artemisia Gentileschi (1593–1652)
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aroque master Artemisia Gentileschi was the first female member of Florence's Accademia dell'Arte del Disegno, Europe's earliest academy for drawing. Her David and Bathsheba, which graced the Grand Duke's apartments in 1662, was restored in 2008 after 363 years in storage. It was featured in the AWA-sponsored show "A Christmas Gift to Florence" in December 2008. It was later placed in the Gallery's Sala delle Nicchie where it was on public view for six years. Now in storage in the gallery's Salone del Letto, it has been showcased in prestigious exhibitions including "Galileo and his Contemporaries" at Pisa's Palazzo Blu.
Above: Artemisia Gentileschi’s David and Bathsheba Right, top: Inauguration at Pitti’s Palatine Gallery Right: Detail of the painting being restored
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HISTORY
2011 Irene Parenti Duclos (1754–1795)
AWA restored a work by eighteenth-century Florentine painter Irene Parenti Duclos: Copy of Andrea del Sarto's Madonna del Sacco at the Accademia Gallery. It is the only work at the Accademia Gallery by a woman. Research conducted during the project proved that Duclos had climbed vertiginous scaffolding to copy the Del Sarto original - hoops skirts and all!
Above: Restoring the Accademia’s Madonna del Sacco Right: Detail of restored painting, and painting in situ Below: J. Fortune and B. Hesse at our inaugural seminar
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HISTORY
2012 and 2013 Fèlicie de Fauveau (1801–1886)
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wo memorial marble monuments by nineteenthcentury French sculptress Fèlicie de Fauveau, in Santa Croce and Santa Maria del Carmine, were restored in 2012 and 2013. The former honors West Indian poet Louise Favreau, and is based on a poem the girl had written. Blackened by dust and debris, the Carmine piece was severely
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damaged as a result of bombings during the Nazi occupation of Florence in World War II and the Arno's flooding in 1966. It depicts the artist's mother, Anne De La Pierre. Below: Views of De Fauveau’s monuments in Santa Croce and Santa Maria del Carmine
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HISTORY
2016 Violante Siries Cerroti (1709–1783)
Above: Various stages of the conservation including stretching, consolidation and touch ups. Restorers: E. Wicks, N. Fontani
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WA restored a masterwork by the Florentine Violante Siries Cerroti, an artist for the Medici clan and the first woman granted permission to copy at the Uffizi Gallery in 1770. This devotional work at the Florentine
church of Santa Maria Maddalena de’ Pazzi was damaged by Florence’s 1966 flood. It depicts the Madonna presenting the Christ-child to Maria Maddelena de’ Pazzi, a Florentine noblewoman who was sainted in 1669. INSIDE AWA
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HISTORY
2016 Adriana Pincherle (1906–1996)
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xpressionistic painter Adriana Pincherle was the protagonist of a far reaching project in 2016, which saw the restoration of 12 portraits at the Gabinetto Vieusseux’s Contemporary Archive “A. Bonsanti” in via Maggio. The paintings, depicting Italy’s top twentieth-century writers and intellectuals, were exhibited in the Regional exhibition Adriana Pincherle: Colors of an Artist, part of a program co-sponsored by Villa Il Palmerino called ‘Women Artists of the 1900s’. Below: Pincherle’s ‘Italian Writers Series’
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THE FIRST LAST
Plautilla Nelli was a pioneering artist who truly made history. There's still a chance to play your own part in her revolutionary story.
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THE FIRST LAST
PROJECT BASICS WHAT
Nelli’s Last Supper is the largest painting by an early woman artist in the world. Created in the 1560s, the artist’s masterwork is the only known Last Supper painting by a female painter. In storage for over 450 years, this 21-foot long painting will soon be restored to its original dignity and shared with the public for the first time ever.
WHERE AND WHEN
The conservation project will be completed in late October 2019, after four years in the studio. We are already looking forward to its permanent display and inauguration in the soon-to-be revamped Museum of Santa Maria Novella, an iconic location in the heart of Florence.
HOW
TheFirstLast is our campaign to research, restore and exhibit Nelli's Last Supper. The first phase is primarily focused on increasing public awareness about Nelli's legacy among the general art-loving population via a digital, worldwide crowd-funding campaign. Phase II, called 'Adopt an Apostle', involves the commitment of deeply engaged community leaders, individual philanthropists, and local or international companies.
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HOW MUCH Phase I – Initial goal TheFirstLast crowdfunding campaign was launched on March 1, 2017 and we reached our initial goal of 65,000 dollars three months later, at midnight on Easter Sunday. These funds cover 80% of the costs linked to the painting's four-year sojourn at the conservator’s studio and includes transport, insurance, materials and painstaking labor. On-line donors have continued pledging their support even after the Phase I's official end. Phase II The 'Adopt and Apostle' program aims to raise 180,000 dollars to support remaining restoration costs and fund the production of a made-for-television documentary, an international press campaign, a full-color publication featuring discoveries made, a complete photographic campaign (photos and video), diagnostic analysis and the underwriting of a conference with top international scholars and museum curators who have been studying Nelli throughout AWA’s decade-long journey to recover her oeuvre.
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THE FIRST LAST
REASONS TO CELEBRATE PHASE I Phase I inspired 418 donors from 19 countries to become part of Nelli's numerous "restoration team".
Fahrenheit, Il Corriere, La Reppubblica, IO Donna, The Florentine and Timeless Travels.
A total of 67,244 dollars has been raised via our stillactive crowdfunding platform.
On Good Friday 2017, just two days before AWA needed to reach its 65,000-goal on the crowdfunding platform, Mark Gordon Smith, President of Private Italy Tours LTD kicked our Phase I campaign "over the top" with a $10,000 contribution made in memory of his mother, artist Helen D. Smith. "Our donation,” Mark explains, "is made with the hope that all women will be inspired by the story of a dedicated artist whose genius is just now coming to light, whose love of craft created such a legacy."
Nelli and her work has been featured in the media over 90 times since TheFirstLast campaign was kicked off. This includes newspapers, magazines, TV and web. To name a few, she has peeked through the pages of Vanity Fair, How to Spend It, The Art Newspaper, Apollo Magazine, Fine Art Connoisseur, The Art Tribune, Frankfurter Allgemeine Woche, Reality Magazine,
Phase I garnered incredible enthusiasm on the Florence scene… A special mention goes to Dario Nardella Mayor of Florence, Florentine actress Elena Sofia Ricci and the city’s Councilor for Welfare of Equal Opportunity Sara Funaro, and the Municipality of Florence and its Civic Museum Services, in charge of curating the conservation efforts. We shared the ‘victory’ with Flod, the agency that curated the campaign and with our ‘prize partners’: the Medici Dynasty Show, Casa dell’Orafo Nerdi, the artisanal perfumery AquaFlor, Palazzo Spinelli, the Savoy Hotel of Rocco Forte Hotels and The Florentine.
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THE FIRST LAST
Above and below: Launching TheFirstLast campaign at Santa Maria Novella Left: Equal Opportunity Councilor at lab-based press conference Left: Nelli donor Mark Gordon Smith
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THE FIRST LAST
What you should know about the Last Supper Not all saints have been identified, so museum curators and Dominican monks are doing some detective work for AWA. Leonardo’s Last Supper provides a road-map of sorts, as scholars believe she emulated his ‘order’. (Nelli had likely seen an engraved copy of Leonardo’s original). With her masterwork, Nelli placed herself among the ranks of her male counterparts: Leonardo Da Vinci, Andrea del Sarto and Domenico Ghirlandaio - all of whom painted Last Suppers to prove their prowess as art professionals. Our conservator believes that Nelli would have needed male help to stretch her 21-foot canvas. To get it into the restoration studio, we needed six strong male transporters! The canvas (without a frame!) weighs 191 pounds.
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Above, clockwise from top left: Manoevering the painting through the window to the conservator’s studio; detail waiting to be restored; the painting restored; diagnosing the Last Supper. Restorer: L. Lari Right, above: Cay Fortune with Bob Hesse; Below: The painting being restored
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THE FIRST LAST
REASONS TO BEGIN PHASE II The story behind 'Adopt an Apostle' When AWA Board member Cay Fortune first saw Nelli’s Last Supper upon its arrival at the restoration studio in 2015, she was struck by the power of the painting and felt a particular connection to its youngest Apostle: Saint John. A ground-breaking idea was born that day. Why not, she thought, engage a group of committed donors who would like to adopt each of the 12 saints - and Jesus as well! Two years have passed since the Adopt-an-Apostle idea was conceived and the magic of that ‘spark’ has never left her. Cay has recently shared her desire to ‘adopt’ John by means of a $10,000 contribution to TheFirstLast project. Her ‘condition’ for making this gift: that AWA welcome others into the ‘art adoption sphere’ by joining her with a similar gesture. Love, it seems, must always be shared. Cay believes that art restoration is a vocation and a personal commitment. All of us at AWA agree! The Saint of your choice is waiting to be selected. Jesus can be ‘personally restored’ for $30,000.
int The Sa ice r cho of you g to be in is wait . Jesus ed select rsonally ‘pe can be red’ for resto 0 $30,00
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Heartfelt thanks to all those who are making an effort to concretely remember the forgotten women artists in history and who supported the campaign which enormously benefitted from the efforts of our dedicated partners. View our TheFirstLast Donors Album on line for a complete list of Nelli's generous sponsors. www.advancingwomenartists.org
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Florence’s First Woman Artist No Longer Invisible Plautilla Nelli debuts at the Uffizi, after a decade with ‘Indiana Jane’
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arch 8, 2017 was a monumental day in the world’s art scene, especially from a ‘female perspective’. For the first time ever, the Uffizi Gallery exhibited the artwork of Florence’s first woman artist Plautilla Nelli. “She was an artist who achieved success against all odds," explains AWA founder, Jane Fortune. "When we first started restoring her art, she had three signed works to her name. Her oeuvre has grown to over 20 works, including new attributions by top international scholars. We’ve just restored seven ‘new’ works for the Uffizi show including two manuscripts dated 1568, considered to be the earliest examples of Nelli’s art. Scholars are beginning to discuss what constitutes Nelli’s
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school! In helping to find her voice, I found my own voice." The 3-month Uffizi exhibition curated by Nelli scholar Fausta Navarro focused on the painter’s ‘Art of Devotion’. It is the crowning achievement of a decade of AWA’s ‘Nelli projects’ which include full-scale conservation treatments, single-painting exhibitions and even the simple but essential act of painstakingly photographing the artist’s opus. Nelli was received at the Uffizi as the city’s Grand Dame, thanks to the gallery’s Director Eike Schmidt whose ambitious multi-year plan to make the Uffizi a ‘beacon’ for art by women includes include numerous temporary exhibitions featuring female artists throughout the centuries.
Above: Press tour with gallery director E. Schmidt and curator F. Navarro Right, clockwise from top left: Scenes from the exhibition; One of Nelli’s drawings; Enjoying Nelli’s earliest work; One of Nelli’s St Catherines after restoration
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NELLI’S DEBUT
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The gift of travel A new fund-raising tool
Florence is the cradle of the Renaissance man... but it also engendered the Renaissance woman! Female artists, entrepreneurs, noblewomen and spiritual guides. Promoters of fashion and craftsmanship. Comissioners of art and supporters of women's creativity. AWA has launched new 3-hour walking tours spotlighting some of the city's most tell-tale venues: San Marco, the Innocenti Museum, the Pitti Palace... providing a varied view of how women have inspired the collective imagination from the sixteenth-century onwards. These awareness-geared day tours are AWA's newest fund-raising venue. Viewing art and experiencing culture is the first step to protecting the vital legacy of women for Florence and the world.
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Flood Ladies
Fifteen works for the Restoring their art, reclaiming their story
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hen the devastating flood ravaged Florence in 1966, hundreds of artists from around the world rallied to support the city and restore its status as a dynamic art capital. Many of them were women. Affectionately referred to as 'the Flood Ladies', they donated their paintings and sculptures to the city to 'symbolically replace' the 14,000 art treasures lost in the deluge. During this project, designed to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the flood, AWA restored fifteen works of art by 'Flood Ladies', six of which are now
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permanently displayed at Florence's Museo Novecento in Piazza Santa Maria Novella. The others were included in a commemorative temporary show called ‘Beyond Borders’. Several 'Flood Ladies', like Amalia Ciardi Duprè (whose sculptures we restored in 2014) were not displayed, but honored in When the World Answered: Florence, Women Artists and the 1966 Flood, the book by Jane Fortune and Linda Falcone that became the basis for a PBS documentary by the same name.
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FLOOD LADIES
'Our' restored works exhibited at the ‘Beyond Borders’ show
Above: The ‘Beyond Borders’, exhibition, Museo Novecento Left: Still Life by A. Peláez Below: Apple-oranges by Edita Waterovna Broglio
Apple-oranges by Edita Waterovna Broglio (1886–1977) An exponent of Magic Realism, Broglio fled her native Latvia after Bloody Sunday in 1905 made the Russian Empire unsafe for those whose families had enjoyed Tsarist favor. She co-founded the 'Return to Order' movement and Valori Plastici, an influential art journal that ignited the debate: avant-garde styles versus traditional figurative principles. Measurements by Beatrice Lazzari (1900–1981) Lazzari was a proponent of avant-garde Rationalism. From 1964, she produced the graphite monochrome works for which she is most often recognized. One of the most original artists of her generation, Lazzari was a leader of post-war art in Italy. This oil-andpencil-on-canvas work is currently under consideration for permanent display at the museum. Still Life by Amelia Peláez A visual-arts pioneer in Latin America. Like Frida Kahlo, she is so revered that her paintings are called 'Amelias', using her first name only. In the 1940s, she developed her signature cubist style, where her compositions focused Cuba's traditional colonial culture, with a focus on the domestic sphere, particularly women.
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FLOOD LADIES
Stara Maslina by Vera BoéziéckoviâcPopoviâc Her works were opposed by ex-Yugoslavian state and party leader Tito, because she was part of the ‘Art Informel’ movement, which he declared ‘a decadent phenomenon’. A key exponent of post-war modernism in Belgrade in the 1960s, Boéziéckoviâc-Popoviâc produced works that have been described as ‘To obvious to be seen, they show the impotence of the eye.’ (L. Trifunovic). In the Garden by Daphe Maugham Casorati (1897–1982) Known for her Impressionistic flair, English painter Maugham trained and worked alongside painter, sculptor, and printmaker Felice Casorati, her rigorous but brilliant husband and teacher. This plein-air painting is an example of what Maugham’s husband most admired in the artist: her ability ‘to paint with simple joy’. Workers on Lunar Craters by Lolò Soldevilla (1901–1971) A main player in Cuba’s ‘Geometric Revolution’ Soldevilla worked in various mediums including sculpture, bas-reliefs and paper - in addition to painting. A member of ‘The Concrete Ten’ she founded Cuba’s Galeria de Arte Color-Luz, a short-lived but fundamental venue for the exhibition of Concrete Art in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Gray Bird by Rita Longa (1912–2000) This small wooden sculpture is a unique abstract departure from Longa’s usual iconic large-scale sculptures, epitomized by her famed Ballerina, which, in Havana, is nearly as famous as the mambo-haven it represents: Club Tropicana. Peasant Women by Genni Mucchi (1895–1969) A German-born sculptress whose work is often an expression of social protest or a denouncement of political violence. She often depicted the plight of the lower classes. A supporter of the ‘Corrente’ Movement, she authored sculptures that recall she was a recognized Resistance freedom fighter in the Italian resistance efforts during World War II. INSIDE AWA
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Top, left: In the Garden by Daphe Maugham Casorati; right: Stara Maslina by Vera BoéziéckoviâcPopoviâc Middle: Peasant Women by Genni Mucchi Right: Workers on Lunar Craters by Lolò Soldevilla
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FLOOD LADIES
Making the cut Six Flood-Lady works have become part of the Museum's permanent display
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arla Accardi's Composition (1966) showcases the Sicilian Abstract artist’s return to color after her blackand-white photography-like phase in the 1950s. She was at forefront of the avant-garde art scene for six decades. Titina Maselli's love for powerful urban scenes featuring iconic symbols of speed and modern city life is typified in her largescale work, Truck (1968), which showcases her signature colors: green, black and orange. Antonietta Raphael Mafai's Novecento works now include the whimsical painting View of Olevano (1928), the figurative bronze sculpture Maternity (1964), a stoic Brazilian onyx bust of collector Emilio Jesi (1940s) and the varnished bronze Mrs. Della Ragione (c. 1940).
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Above: Views of the museum’s permanent exhibition Left: Mafai’s Maternity
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FLOOD LADIES
The Last of the Flood Ladies… 2017 – AWA's Antonietta Raphael Mafai Restoration
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Top: Conservator Merj Nesi at work under the loggia Above: Filming for ‘Noi Siamo Cultura’
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ithuanian sculptor Antonietta Raphael Mafai was co-founder of the Scuola di Via Cavour. Her movement was an offshoot of the more all-encompassing Scuola Romana which brought together revolutionary artists between the two world wars, intent on making a break from Mussolini’s cannons for regime-supporting contemporary art. This varnished bronze portrait of Signora della Ragione was restored in full-view under the awnings of the first-floor loggia at the Museo Novecento and, in June 2017, became part of the museum’s permanent displayed collection. Della Ragione was an eclectic art collector who gifted his precious 241-piece collection to Florence after the flood. 'I give you my life', he stated in an open letter in Florence's main daily newspaper La Nazione. We understand his commitment to art!
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Getting Nelli ready for ‘Women’s Day’ Nelli's 2017 show was inaugurated at the Uffizi on March 8, International Women's Day. Before she 'stepped into the limelight', AWA restored seven more of her works.
A ‘new’ Nelli Annunciation at the ‘old’ Palace
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or Nelli and her fellow artists, the Annunciation was a popular theme in Renaissance Florence. Vasari in Le Vite noted that two of Nelli’s Annunciation paintings were owned by women: Marietta de’ Fedini, a Florentine, as well as one owned by the wife of a Spanish nobleman, Marquis Mondragone. Vasari continues, “She made so many paintings for the homes of Florentine gentlemen (and ladies!) that it would take too much time to list them all here.” Nelli’s Palazzo Vecchio Annunciation was found in storage in bedroom of Grand Duke Cosimo I (attributed by scholar Catherine Turrill); another has been in Uffizi
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ownership since 1953 and located in town of Follonica. It was transferred to Florence in the Spring of 2017 for her exhibition. The word on the street is that it’s staying in town!
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NELLI RESTORED
Nelli's 'Saint Catherine Collection'
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elli paintings have been found in Fiesole, Perugia, Siena and Prato…as well as in Florence’s Monastery of San Marco (which still hosts monks today). Nelli’s order lived across the street in the ‘female’ branch of San Marco and it appears that art was transferred between them! These discoveries by Fausta Navarro, inspired AWA to take action. They are 'sister' paintings to Nelli's small Saint Catherine with a Lily at San Salvi which AWA restored in 2013. Uffizi Director Eike Schmidt calls Nelli a precursor of Andy Warhol, because of her Saint Catherine series! Can you see it?
Left: Top: Nelli’s Annunciation before and after restoration. Left: Curators Serena Pini and Jennifer Celani viewing Nelli’s Annunciation with restorer Rossella Lari Clockwise from top left: Nelli’s Saint Catherine series under restoration; Above: Four Nelli paintings together
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NELLI RESTORED Does Nelli have a self-portrait?
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his question has plagued us for years, as we seek to uncover her life story whilst working to protect her creative legacy. In Renaissance convents it would not have been proper for a nun to represent herself as the protagonist of a work. Still, we like to think that the two tiny Dominican nuns found in Nelli's earliest parchment works, represent the artist and her sister Petronilla. For the Uffizi show, AWA restored two damaged sixteenth-century manuscripts, containing works by Nelli, that are in storage at the Museum of San Marco. You'll remember that's also home to her masterwork Lamentation with Saints. Restored in 2006, it was the painting that started it all!
Top: Nelli depicated as one of the two nuns? Above and right: Restoration and research of Nelli’s painted manuscripts in storeroom at the San Marco Museum
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NELLI RESTORED
Past restorations, finally seen
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t all starts with drawing. By Renaissance standards, a drawing or cartoon was of far more value than a finished painting. A Michelangelo cartoon, for example, was passed around to all his contemporaries, who would then develop their own take on the topic. But it was the initial sketches that really counted! In 2007, when AWA was still just a glimmer in Jane Fortune's eye, our founder funded the conservation of nine Nelli drawings at the Uffizi’s Prints and Drawings Department. Most are figure studies. Several of our restorations have since reconfirmed that Nelli’s large-scale works were produced using the drawings of Fra Bartolomeo, copying them via Vasari ‘spolvero’ technique.
Above: Nelli’s drawings on show at last Left: The flip-side of a Nelli painting tells its own story
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UFFIZI PROJECT
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Uffizi Women Artists 2018
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UFFIZI PROJECT
PROJECT BASICS WHERE Florence’s Uffizi Gallery has more artworks by women from the sixteenth to the twenty-first centuries than any other public museum in the world.
WHAT Uffizi Women Artists 2018 is a two-phase concept which aims to continue our partnership with the Uffizi Gallery which began with Plautilla Nelli’s first-ever solo exhibition in 2017. Discussed on several occasions with the Gallery’s director, we are awaiting several fundamental details needed to transform this concept into an official working project.
HOW Phase 1: The Grand Dames Return The Uffizi Gallery will soon be transferring a substantial portion of its collection from the Vasari Corridor into its main galleries. The majority of these works are self-portraits. We estimate that 12 to 15 artworks by women will be selected for permanent public exhibition. AWA and our partner Fratelli Piccini Firenze have proposed funding a maintenance project that will make these paintings ‘gallery ready’. One of the paintings selected will need full-scale restoration treatment. It will be the project’s ‘leading lady’.
Phase 2: Women’s Day Exhibition 2018 To celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8, 2018 we have proposed a continued partnership with the Uffizi in support of its 3-month exhibition on Elisabetta Sirani (16381665), a seventeenth-century artist from Bologna.
WHEN Phase 1: Now estimated Autumn 2018 Phase 2:
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March – June 2018
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UFFIZI PROJECT
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
About Uffizi Women
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Many were the first women ever to be accepted to Europe's earliest drawing Academy in Florence.
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In Medici times, having their works in the Uffizi Collection was a symbol of prestige.
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They often trained in the gallery itself without the need of a bodyguard. The was not the case in other comparable European museums.
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Their works were sought after by popes, kings and dukes, but several bent the rules to practice their craft.
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Many were successful entrepreneurs and artistic 'diplomats' working all over the world.
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Several taught other women their skills and ran thriving workshops. They were also often the subject of poetry.
About Elisabetta Sirani •
She was the primary breadwinner in her family by the age of 16. This was unheard of for a seventeenth-century woman.
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She authored so many paintings so quickly she was accused of having a hidden team of male assistants. She organized speed-painting sessions in public squares to squelch these rumors.
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She has 31 drawings in the Uffizi Collection. In the Renaissance and Baroque periods, artists considered drawings more valuable than finished paintings.
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She produced 170 works before passing away at the age of twenty-seven.
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She ran an all-women bottega with her sisters that turned out 24 professional female artists.
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UFFIZI PROJECT
A CREATIVE PARTNERSHIP FOR ART AWA and Fratelli Piccini Firenze
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ratelli Piccini Firenze, a historic centuryold company that designs and creates luxury jewelry is the last working atelier workshop on the Ponte Vecchio. It is currently working with AWA to conceive, plan and fund this project in collaboration with the Uffizi. AWA and Fratelli Piccini Firenze are committed partners in all aspects of the project, from communication to fundraising and funding. Our hope is to involve individual sponsors who wish to adopt the paintings included in Phase I.
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We will then co-host a professionally led GALA AUCTION dinner centered around a single high-profile painting that needs restoring and use the event’s proceeds to fund both that painting's conservation and a portion of the Women's Day Exhibition (Phase II). During the Gala Auction, we will present a jewel designed and created by Fratelli Piccini, inspired by Uffizi Women Artists. Proceeds from the sale of the jewel will be gifted to the Uffizi in support of our project.
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UFFIZI PROJECT
HOW THIS PROJECT REFLECTS OUR MISSION THE UFFIZI WOMEN ARTISTS 2018 CONCEPT includes all or any of the following: Art history research Diagnostic testing Restoration of paintings Painting maintenance Frame conservation Transport and insurance Photographic campaign Publication of new research Documentary short Promotional trailer Press conference Inaugural event and guided tour National and international press campaign Permanent or temporary exhibition at the museum Creation and funding of museum signage
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UFFIZI PROJECT
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HOW MUCH efore this concept is ready to become a full-fledged project, many blanks need to be filled in such as number of paintings, cost of maintenance, location of gala, etc.
It is likely the Uffizi will administer this project internally with their in-house conservators (they are all women!) and draft a contract stipulating a lump-sum gift from AWA/Fratelli Piccini and participating sponsors to cover the agreed upon facets of the conservation and its documentation. Gala Auction organization will be carried out directly by AWA/Fratelli Piccini. Although we are unable to present an accurate budget at this time, based on Nelli’s 2017 show and past projects carried out in recent years, we can provide the following ballpark budget estimates:
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Phase I: The Grand Dame’s Return Phase II: Women's Day Exhibition at the Uffizi 2018 84,000 to 100,000 US$
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WHAT
WOMEN ARTISTS OF THE 1900s
Female painters from all over Europe traveled to Tuscany to witness and partake in its thriving artistic and cultural community in the early 1900s. The four editions of this biannual project aim to rediscover and promote women artists from the last century by researching, restoring and exhibiting their works from public and private collections. A packed program calendar accompanies each edition and includes the presentation of conferences, guided visits and multi-media publications and video.
WHEN There are two remaining editions of this project scheduled for autumn 2018 and 2020.
HOW MUCH Edition 2018: $35,000 Edition 2020: $35,000
EDITION 2018 For 2018 we are evaluating artists Leonetta Pieraccini and Edda Cecchi in two exhibitions hosted at a central temporary gallery in the heart of Florence and Villa Il Palermino's evocative exhibition spaces. A multi-media Tuscan artist, Leonetta Pieraccini (1882-1997) was a major exponent of the Scuola Romana. Resisting post-Macchiaiolism and postImpressionism, her work was described by the critic Tinti, as having a masculine nature: ‘She paints vigorously with harshly modelled tones’. The Pitti hosts her work, and ten of her paintings and 109 of her drawings are housed in the Vieusseux’s Contemporary Archive. Her art was praised by the critic Tavolini in 1930 as being ‘capable of giving psychology to landscape’. Works by Impressionist painter Edda Cecchi (18911981) can be found in private Florentine collections and in Rome's National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art. She trained at London's Royal Academy of Arts and worked as a Liberty-style illustrator and costume designer.
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Above: Paintings by Eda Cecchi and Leonetta Pieraccini, leading ladies of the 2018 edition
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1900s ARTISTS
PAST EDITIONS
2016 "Different to the point of being divergent" 'Art and Memory. Adriana Pincherle and Eloisa Pacini', a show at Villa Il Palmerino, provided the chance to pair up two contrasting artistic languages. Such are Pacini’s placid tonal pastels compared to Pincherle’s vigorous color, bolstered by her openness toward European
trends. Its sister exhibition, Adriana Pincherle. 'Colors of an Artist', was held concurrently at the Regional Council of Tuscany’s palace headquarters. It included 12 newly-restored paintings by the artist.
2014 A show in the Tuscan hills and a Pitti home-coming
A restoration from Pincherle's Italian Portraits Series Chaplin's Women with two children (FFAST Collection) The three sisters: Chaplin's restored work at Pitti's GAM
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The Three Sisters, Elisabeth Chaplin’s 1912 painting at Pitti's Gallery of Modern Art, was restored during this edition. It was stored in the palace deposits, together with more than 600 of her works. Chaplin was paired with English artist Lola Costa for an exhibition in the Tuscan hills called 'Private Mythologies' at Villa Il Palmerino. The two painters who were contemporaries and neighbors made for interesting comparative viewing.
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1900s ARTISTS A CREATIVE PARNERSHIP FOR ART Women Artists of the 1900s is brainchild of AWA and Il Palmerino, a cultural association dedicated to art and women's literature, whose villa headquarters was a cultural salon for expat artists and intellectuals from the turn of the century to the mid-1950s. Today, it is an old-style oasis for international Tuscan-bound artists and exhibition space for contemporary and modern art.
RENEWED CULTURAL COMMITTMENT The project's players at a glance •
• • •
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The Gabinetto Vieusseux is Florence's oldest lending library with Italy's foremost collection of 20th centuries writers, once the reading room of Mark Twain and DH Lawrence. Its Contemporary Archive "A. Bonsanti" is a treasure trove for art by women. The US Consulate in Florence, always a supporter to US-Italian cultural initiatives. The Florentine, Tuscany's English-language newspaper and our long-time media partner The Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio may be hosting one of the 2018 edition's shows in its exhibition halls on Via Buffalini in the heart of downtown Florence. Rossella Lari Studio and Angela Gavazzi from the Gabinetto Vieusseux’s restoration labs will execute the restorations involved.
Above: Villa Il Palmerino in springtime Right: A presentation at the US Consulate in Florence
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WOMEN ARTISTS OF THE 1900s includes all or any of the following: Art history research Diagnostic testing Restoration/maintenance Frame conservation Transport and insurance Photographic campaign Publication of new research Documentary short Promotional trailer Press conference Inaugural event and guided tour National and international press campaign Two temporary exhibitions per edition Creation and funding of signage
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Nelli’s Lunette Project
Nelli's Third Lunette San Salvi's Crucifixion INSIDE AWA
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NELLI PROJECT
PROJECT BASICS WHAT When it comes to art by women in Italy - the country’s rich tradition started with Plautilla Nelli. A true Renaissance woman, she achieved artistic success against all odds. Part of a decade-long plan to uncover and salvage Nelli's precious oeuvre, this restoration project centered around Nelli's lunette, The Crucifixion, sheds new light on the artist's techniques and exemplifies how Florence supported the production of art by women as early as the sixteenth century.
WHEN This conservation project began in 2016 and the painting will be completed and exhibited in October 2018.
WHERE Once a sixteenth-century monastery, the Last Supper Museum of Andrea del Sarto in Florence has become a center for Nelli's restored works in recent years. The painting will be exhibited there permanently, as the central painting of a three-piece commission ordered by Arcangela Viola. The museum will host inaugural event and press conference.
WHO Initial project partners include AWA, Tuscany's Regional Museum Circuit, the Last Supper Museum of Andrea del Sarto and Rossella Lari Restoration Studio.
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NELLI PROJECT WHAT WILL THIS PROJECT INCLUDE? • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Art history research Diagnostic Testing Restoratation of painting Frame conservation Transport and Insurance Photographic campaign Documentary short (7 minutes) Promotional trailer (3 minutes) Press conference Inaugural event and guided tour National and international press campaign Permanent exhibition at the museum Creation and funding of museum signage
ALL OF AWA'S PROJECTS… DOCUMENT the restoration’s various phases from inception to completion via a full-scale photograghy and video campaign, which includes inaugural events. Documenting our work is vital to promoting these artists' achievements. INVOLVE A TEAM OF EXPERTS on the international art scene. Women restorers, art historians, administrators, museum executives and curators, philantropists, guides and volunteers work together to reclaim and protect art by women in Florence. SUPPORT AND PUBLISH NEW RESEARCH on the contributions of women artists and the 'life' of their paintings and sculptures. REACH THE ART-LOVING PUBLIC through AWA's press campaign, outreach programs, cultural lectures and guided tours.
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NELLI PROJECT
What made Nelli so extraordinary? A
sixteenth-century artist, Nelli taught other women her craft and managed an all-female workshop in her convent.
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hanks to her painterly commissions Nelli and her assistants became selfsufficient - a rare situation in a century where women did not have legal standing or the right to issue invoices.
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elli is one of the few female artists of her time who tackled large-scale painting of religious subjects.
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elli’s contemporaries believed her works were imbued with spirituality and many noble families wanted the paintings of ‘a pious woman’ in their private chapels.
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lautilla Nellli was the first recognized woman painter of Florence. This work is the earliest large-scale painting of the Crucifixion by a female artist.
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reated in the 1570s, it is a rare example of women commissioning art to other women.
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ery few paintings by women of Nelli’s time include the nude male body, as they were banned from anatomical training.
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n dire need of restoration, this painting has been in storage for centuries. It will return to the museum spotlight, in an environment similar to its original home.
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NELLI PROJECT
HOW MUCH ESTIMATED PROJECT COST: US$ 52,100 DOCUMENTATION AND RESEARCH – US$ 8,140 Honorarium for volunteer researchers full-phase photography campaign, documentary-short and video, restoration trailer.
FRAME AND SIGNAGE – US$ 4,780 Disassembly and remounting, cleaning, stuccowork, pictorial restoration of missing flakes, transport, insurance, museum signage.
RESTORATION – US$ 27,080 Transport, in-studio insurance, diagnostics with infra red testing, cleaning, color consolidation, stucco work, biocide anti-parasite treatment, wood-support restoration, pictorial restoration, varnishing, materials.
INAUGURAL EVENT – US$ 4,800 Event tech support (2 people), rental sound and visual equipment, inaugural cocktail, cleaning services, additional museum personnel costs, insurance, translation services.
PRESS AND COMMUNICATION – US$ 5,800 Press conference and traditional international press campaign, graphic promotional materials, social media and web communication translation services.
CULTURAL OUTREACH – US$ 1,500 Minimum two outreach events: lecture at cultural venue and guided tour, restoration packet for primary sponsors, event tech support.
How can you help? If you would like to more about contributing to the restoration of Nelli’s lunette, please contact: Jane Adams, Partnership Relations Advancing Women Artists jane.adams@advancingwomenartists.org Thank you!
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The Breakthrough Alliance This unique group is dedicated to preserving artworks by women, many of which have been languishing for centuries in Florence’s museum storages. The 1000-dollar annual commitment of Alliance members will help grow AWA’s mission. Preserving these works is the result of bold leadership and long-term commitments.
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WAYS TO FORGE AHEAD IN YOUR SUPPORT OF AWA'S MISSION
Extending personal invitations to friends and interested parties who may like to attend AWA's annual Sojourn, which is our most important tool for promoting awareness and financial support. Hosting or organizing screenings of AWA's video documentaries (Invisible Women, suggested) at local cultural venues or at private, in-home 'teatime' events Helping grow AWA's contact list by sharing promotional materials with friends and interested parties so that they may start receiving on-line updates about our activities. Proposing partnership opportunities from AWA's Project Menu to those interested, based on personal knowledge of sponsor potential, financially and in terms of mutual interests. Working with local museums and cultural centers to establish an 'AWA connection' for book sales, screenings, event-hosting, special sojourns for Museum members, and distribution of related promotional materials. Connecting with local businesses to propose sponsorship of AWA documentaries, via a portion of their advertising budget. (The next full-scale documentary will be Nelli's Last Supper, a don'tmiss opportunity for 2019).
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Gifting AWA novelties and books to friends and family when the opportunity arises. A 'conversation piece' can do wonders to trigger interest in our mission and it promotes a sense of belonging for those involved. Promoting AWA's new 'Day Tours' focused on women and art in Florence to those you know will be travelling to Tuscany independently. This is a wonderful 'first-approach' that may stimulate future relationships. Funding specific restorations/exhibitions/ publications that strike a personal chord with you. AWA will tailor-make a sponsorship proposal based on each contributor's vision and level of giving. Connecting AWA with others via your personal social media channels, in an effort to increase 'digital engagement' and promote 'visits' to our website, the foundation's most important point of reference. We are committed to keeping information up-to-the-minute! Organizing or facilitating Gala fund-raising events in the US and Florence, centered around one of the projects on AWA's 'menu' or garnering funding for in-town lectures and events. Sharing newsletters and invitations to in-town events, particularly with key members of the community likely to be interested in AWA’s mission.
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ART ALLIANCE
AWA'S COMMITMENTS TO YOU AWA has been laying the groundwork for the successful engagement of its Board and International Advisory Council. This list represents our efforts to provide you with the materials and knowledge you need to forge ahead with advocacy and support. Supply of printed promotional materials for in-hand advocacy An up-to-date website, which represents our prime reference point An active Youtube channel, Facebook page, Instagram account Video links to all of AWA's documentaries and video shorts Immediate US shipping of books Timely creation of customized sponsor packets based on one's personal interests* Timely creation of customized sponsor packets for new donors and institutions* Supply of 'Inside AWA' magazine samples for select contacts Supply of relevant e-press materials 'to strengthen our case' Up-to-date Sojourn information, program details, and follow-up Monthly update of AWA's data-base, allowing new contacts shared to be 'in the know' Sharing of low-resolution photos, for sending via email, when necessary In-advance notification of high-profile events in order to facilitate overseas attendance Availability for exchanges via email, phone or skype * All contributions are tax-deductible for US donors.
ANNUAL BENEFITS TO LOOK FORWARD TO* • • • • • • • •
Name recognition on our website Name recognition in Inside AWA, our new ‘insiders’ magazine A complimentary copy of the year’s publications A 5% discount on the purchase of AWA books and novelties Monthly newsletters (within the first ten days of each month) to favor engagement Receipt of all invitations, Florence or otherwise Advance notification of high-profile events in order to facilitate overseas attendance Invitation to Nelli Awards and Museum Director Luncheons, and Florence Council of Advisors meetings (in Florence) • Invitation to attend Board /Council meetings in Florence and US * Costs will apply for catered events and dinner/gala inaugurals, unless members are a direct sponsor of the specific project celebrated.
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Art Angel Program AWA’s
Who are AWA’s Art Angels? AWA’s Art Angels Program is being developed to respond to online queries from those who are looking to become part of the Foundation’s community. The idea is to create a program in which AWA’s Art Angels contribute an annual gift of 100 dollars in support of the restoration of art by women. They register on our website to receive special benefits.
Benefits for AWA’s Art Angels What are the pluses of becoming an Art Angel? Name recognition
Art Angels will receive name recognition on AWA’s website. Upon registration, they will also be invited to submit their favorite inspirational quote about art by women.
Art Angels are invited!
AWA often organizes cultural events for the general public. When space is tight and seats are limited, Art Angels will receive their invitations two days before they are sent to AWA fans and friends. RSVP rules still apply, but for first-come-first-serve events, Art Angels will have a head start!
News and views
Three times a year, a special newsletter will be created solely for Art Angels. It’s another way to keep abreast of the Foundation’s comings and goings, crafted for those who crave in-depth updates on AWA’s initiatives.
Magic Moments Gallery
Above: An angel anyone? A ‘cleaning test’ detail from Violante Siries masterwork. Bottom left: Supporting AWA is a joyful act.
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Art Angels will have special access to the ‘Magic Moments’ portion of our website that’s reserved for die-hard aficionados. This in-progress photo gallery captures our very favorite memories. It will help Art Angels be in the loop about AWA’s past, as we build our future ‘magic moments’ together.
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ART ANGELS
What do AWA’s Art Angels do?
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hey share AWA’s work with their friends. Helping raise awareness is fundamental to jarring the collective consciousness regarding art by women the world over! They strike up constructive conversations. Art Angels strive to be effective members of the art world by advocating the need to ‘advance’ women artists through research, restoration and exhibition. They know it’s the thought that counts! When the opportunity arises, they gift AWA books and novelties to those they love. Art Angels keep in mind that proceeds from our products and tours support art
restoration, if they ever need an original way to make someone else feel special.
How it works: The Art Angel Program is
conceived as an annual commitment. Art Angels will be invited to renew their 100-dollar pledge each year. The Foundation’s ‘Art Angel Year’ begins each September and runs until the following September. Though the Foundation accepts checks for other types of contributions, registration and payment to AWA's Art Angel Program is managed online only at this time.
Art Angels attend AWA events and love supporting our new books! Top right: A book launch at Santa Croce Middle: The audience at a lecture during ‘The TF Day’ fair. Lower left: Presenting ‘When the World Answered’.
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Say 'Sojourn' Safeguard Florence's art by loving it
AWA’s signature event is a six-day fall Sojourn. Our Sojourn is designed to share our love for Florence and help support the restoration of the city’s historic art by women. For many years, we have escorted groups of ardent art lovers to the city that magnetizes us: Florence.
Top: Sojourners at the Torrigiani Gardens Above: Welcome Luncheon at US Consulate in Florence Left: Gala dinner at Pitti’s Modern Art Gallery Right: An in-lab lecture with conservator E. Wicks
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SOJOURN
Sojourn Traditions
This trip is not just about travelling… it’s about ‘coming home’ to well-loved spots of pure joy. The hearty Tuscan cuisine at Armando’s family trattoria; the morning ‘a cappella mass’ at the Badia Fiorentina, the earliest Florentine church; a sophisticated Bellini toast at the riverside Harry’s Bar; a luncheon in the US Consulate’s ballroom, hosted by the US Consul General; a mindboggling trip to the Opificio delle Pietre Dure, a state-of-the-art restoration lab; an intimate evening at the eighteenth-century condo AWA’s founder calls home… these are just a few of the traditions we can’t wait to share with new and veteran guests.
The Heart of Art
Restoration is our life blood and we share this science with new aficionados. Our visits to women-run conservation studios provide a life-changing view of what the foundation is all about. It normally takes a few years to restore a painting to its original dignity… and we document each phase for posterity. Just wait and see which ‘phase’ of the process will be ‘yours’! INSIDE AWA
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SOJOURN
Snaps from AWA’s Sojourns featuring some of Florence’s best-loved venues, a few of our favorite spots off the beaten track and some gorgeous Tuscan fare
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SOJOURN
Artisan Experiences
Florence is a hands-on city and craftsmanship is the way to its heart. Florence has always been fertile terrain for time-honored trades. From the frame-makers that populate the Oltrarno district to local goldsmiths, the city’s artisans staunchly maintain the traditions of their forefathers. Whether shoes and leatherwork or hand-made musical instruments and sumptuous silks woven on Renaissance looms - Florence’s mastery must be enjoyed and protected.
Spiritual Dining
A mix of art-filled dining experiences and tasty Tuscan fare are a must for our guests. AWA’s Sojourns often include the chance to dine in some of the city’s most majestic palatial venues. We’ve supped in the Accademia in the shadow of Michelangelo’s David and enjoyed afterhours evenings at the Pitti’s Modern Art Gallery. AWA food-inspired travel also exhalts local culinary talent. Whether sipping hearty Tuscan reds at the warm, dynamic “Pandomonio” or sampling market goodies on a sublime market-to-table food tour, Florence is the place to experience festive Tuscan cuisine.
Why does AWA organize Sojourns?
During over twenty years of part-time Florentine living and after decades dedicated to preserving the city’s treasures, AWA’s founder Jane Fortune has formed a network of friends and colleagues who graciously spare no effort when it comes to creating special, luxury itineraries. Proceeds help restore of art by women in Florence’s museums and churches. We at AWA firmly believe that protecting art is strictly linked to loving it - and to love art one must experience it! The Sojourns offer both AWA hosts and our guests the chance to fall in love with Florence again and again! We are looking forward to the next Sojourn in 2018. Stay tuned for our program calendar! INSIDE AWA
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BOOKS
A look at books
Are you up on AWA's latest publications?
AWA usually supports two publications annually. Thanks to our books, restoration and exhibition becomes a lasting way to remember the legacy of the artists whose works we promote and protect.
Plautilla Nelli: Art and Devotion in Savonarola’s Footsteps
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elli's Uffizi exhibition catalog, curated by Nelli scholar Fausta Navarro, and underwritten by AWA spotlights the painter’s ‘Art of Devotion’. It includes numerous works the foundation has recently restored as well as photographs and descriptions of several new Nelli attributions. About 50 percent of educated women in Renaissance Florence were in convents. They were not as we imagine convents today. Instead, they were centers of culture, craftsmanship and even power. Editor: Navarro, F. Authors: L. Anatrini, S. Barker, D. degli Innocenti, J. Fortune, M. Grasso, F. Guarini, F. Navarro, A. Sarti, C. Turrill Lupi, E. Schmidt. Publisher: Sillabe, March 2017. Pages: 164 pages, full-color photos. Price: $29.99
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BOOKS Plautilla Nelli: Her art and where to find it
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here is nothing like an exhibition at the Uffizi to put an artist on the map! Inspired by popular demand this new 6-sided brochure showcases Nelli's works in Florence and is a light-weight accompaniment to her exhibition catalog, for those who want to experience her works first-hand at various Florence museums including San Salvi, San Marco and Palazzo Vecchio. Author: Jane Fortune Publisher: Sillabe, September 2017. Pages: 6, full-color photos Price: $2.99
The Lady Who Paints: Violante Siries Cerroti
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n art victim of Florence’s 1966 flood emerges as victor, fifty years after the disaster. Conservators Elizabeth Wicks and Nicoletta Fontani rescue Violante Siries’ masterwork at the Florentine Church of Santa Maria Maddalena de’ Pazzi, whilst researcher Poiret Masse scours Tuscany, recovering the missing pieces of the artist’s forgotten oeuvre. Famous in her day, but now virtually forgotten, eighteenthcentury Florentine painter Violante Siries has many stories to tell. Authors: I. Ciseri, J. Fortune, P. Masse, E. Wicks, Genre: Art Publisher: Pacini Editore, October 2016 Pages: 108 pages, full-color photos
Price: $20
Pincherle and Pacini: Twentieth-century women painters in Florence
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xplore Florence’s cultural haunts through paintings by eclectic woman artists, Adriana Pincherle and Eloisa Pacini. From Tuscan villas and downtown palaces to historic libraries and expansive archives, this book spotlights restoration and rediscovery. A pleasure trip through parallel Florentine exhibitions, it celebrates two creative lifestyles that are key to uncovering the city’s twentieth-century art experience. Artists quietly at the forefront of Florence’s important cultural movements, their respective paintings reflect European trends and sweet local flair. Authors: J. Fortune, R. Lari, G. Manghetti, L. Mannini and C. Toti. Publisher: B’Gruppo srl (Prato) The Florentine Press Series, May 2016 Pages: 108 pages, full-color photos. Price: $20
Invisible Women celebrates its fourth edition! AWA's signature publication by Jane Fortune is fresh off the press… AGAIN. We are celebrating its fourth edition! Here's what it looked like at the printer's nine years ago. It's been NINE years since Indiana Jane wrote her groundbreaking book...
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Is AWA TV ready?
Our special appearances on the small screen this fall
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ill you be 'zapping' on Skye this autumn in Italy? If so, make sure to track down 'Noi Siamo Cultura' (We are culture), the upcoming series produced by EffeTV that will be featuring AWA's work in Tuscany's Regional Museums. Medici villas like Cerreto Guidi and La Petraia both host art by courtly lady-painters and, museum storehouses like that of San Salvi are worth a whole season's worth of viewing. For documentary director Giuseppe Carrieri and his crew, it meant a week in Florence and beyond, following the trail of Research, Restoration and Exhibition AWA's guiding principles. Our museum hosts during the week included Stefano Casciu, Director of the Tuscan Regional Museum Circuit and Cristina Gnoni, director of the Last Supper Museum of Andrea del Sarto and Medici Villa Cerreto Giudi. Our partners Aquaflor and Fratelli Piccini will likely receive cameo appearances.
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Above: Interviews at La Petraia with Stefano Casciu, Director of Tuscany’s Regional Museum Circuit and curator Cristina Gnoni at San Salvi and Cerreto Guidi Left: Art storehouse San Salvi
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AWA TV
AWA ‘on screen’ at Florence’s ‘Women and Cinema Festival’ November 2017
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he premiere screening of AWA’s episode of Noi Siamo Cultura will be part of the 39th ‘Festival Internazionale di Cinema e Donne’, which runs from November 8 to 12, 2017. The annual event will be hosted at the ultracentral Teatro della Compagnia on Via Cavour. Specialized in documentaries and cinema auteur, the venue hosts nearly 500 people.
NEWS FLASH!
An audience of 30 million?
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WA and Plautilla Nelli will be featured in the second season of Dream of Italy, the travel series for TV presented by Kathy McCabe, who is host and executive producer. It will be broadcast this January on PBS in the USA to an audience of approximately 30 million. It will also be available to a worldwide audience online. AWA will be featured in a PBS series for the third time; the world premiere of WTWA (pictured here) is proof!
If you'd like to watch AWA-produced Top: AWA on screen at the Odeon Middle and right: Filming at the Cerreto Guidi villa
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documentaries, please visit our website at: www.advancingwomenartists.org
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NOVELTIES
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Supporting AWA inCreative Ways thanks to two new ‘conversation pieces’…
Two new artisanal gifts spotlighting Florentine craftsmanship are the perfect way to strike up a ‘conservation’ in support of art by women. It is always the right time to advocate AWA’s mission! Proceeds from the sale of our perfume and pendants will support the foundation’s restoration projects from the Renaissance onward.
The senses and sensibility
“Invisible”, the art perfume, is AWA’s tailormade tribute honoring the women artists whose works have been ‘invisible’ for centuries. Just a stone’s throw from Santa Croce, world-famous master perfumer Sileno Cheloni exemplifies and reinterprets the city’s century-old tradition, as the birthplace of Caterina de’ Medici, who won Paris’ heart with her purely Florentine knowledge of the art of perfume-making.
Alchemy in the heart of Florence
We presented Invisible in June 2017, during an olfactory performance for lifestyle and fashion journalists that revealed the origins of the word ‘perfume’ - scents released into the Universe by burning.
Master perfumer Cheloni puts the perfume into words:
Top left: Advancing Women Artists’ (AWA) Invisible perfume Top right (and above): Perfumier Sileno Cheloni performs a ‘diffusion ritual’ to welcome his latest perfume into the world
“Perfume is conceived in the realm of the invisible and it evokes all that is felt but not seen. This fragrance has floral hints, top notes of lemon leaves and violet, an accord of jasmine and osmanthus and its end notes exalting the decisiveness of the iris and the absolute preciousness of the rose. It’s a perfume inspired by creativity’s deepest values: desire, memory, yearning, intuition.”
Left: AWA at work at Aquaflor’s perfume lab
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NOVELTIES
Remembering the women artists who 'bent the rules' AWA and Nerdi Orafi Firenze
A tell-tale trinket
AWA's 'Women Artists Pendant', designed and handmade by Nerdi Orafi, represents a tiny painter's palette with a curved paintbrush, a tribute to historic women painters and sculptors who 'bent the rules' to practice their craft. It is also a testimony to the 'unbending' determination of female artists today.
A time-honored tradition
This artisan workshop has Renaissance flair and is located just steps from the Ponte Vecchio, in the same monastery where the Medici family once brought together Florentine goldsmiths. In the Nerdi workshop, sisters Daniela and Silvia Messeri work together to uphold the craftsmanship typical of their family traditions. It is the hands of its artisans that have made Florence great throughout the centuries. They restore ancient jewels or design new ones on commission, spanning various facets of the metal-working field.
What are they like?
Daniela Messeri has designed these 'shiny' reminders that art by women must be brought to public attention, one person at a time. Pendants are available in silver, silver with 18kt gold, and 18kt gold. The hammering technique on the palette contrasts with the smooth and thick form of the brush. Are you truly intrigued by our novelties? Visit our shop on the AWA website: www.advancingwomenartists.org
Right, top: Nerdi Orafi designs the pendant for AWA; Middle: The pendant in gold; Bottom: AWA Director Linda Falcone works with Nerdi Orafi to design the pendant.
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FOR LOVERS OF TRAVEL, ARCHAEOLOGY AND ART
In-depth articles | stunning photographs | wonderful sites to explore
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Through Advocacy, Contributions, Volunteering and Research, please join us. www.advancingwomenartists.org info@advancingwomenartists.org advancingwomenartists
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