PicassoNapoli exhibition in Praiano
Until Dec. 31, 2023 at the chapel of the charming and elegant former Congrega del Rosario in Praiano is the photographic and documentary exhibition “PicassoNapoli”. Produced by the Bideri Foundation (a nonprofit institution that turns its activities to the promotion and enhancement of Neapolitan culture), the exhibition traces the great Spanish master’s stay in Naples in 1917, focusing on the suggestions related to his listening to Neapolitan songs.
The exhibition ideally moves from a postcard sent on April 21, 1917, by Picasso to French poet-director Jean Cocteau, in which he wrote, “My dear Jean, we are writing to you from the restaurant where we had lunch with the Russian consuls. We are happy and singing Neapolitan songs“. The songs sung and heard by the Andalusian artist are the narrative cue to reconstruct the soundscape in which he found himself immersed during his Neapolitan sojourn.
Through scores, scripts and manuscripts from the Bideri archive, the panorama of Neapolitan songs that were most successful in the 1910s is first defined, some of which were heard by Picasso. Then ample space is also given to Neapolitan songs dedicated to the war, which marked the musical production of the period.
Again drawing on the Bideri archive, the exhibition recounts the face of the Neapolitan city of which the famous painter was a curious explorer in the company of Cocteau and Stravinsky. Of the Naples that captured Picasso’s attention, the exhibition recalls the reminiscences traceable in the curtain of the ballet Parade, made a few weeks after the Neapolitan sojourn, and in the costumes for the ballet Pulcinella, perfected in 1920. Finally, the exhibition recounts the epiphanic visits to Pompeii and the vacation in Positano, made shortly before leaving the city for good.
The exhibition will be open on the following days (free admission)
OCTOBER 2023
Saturday the 7th from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, the 14th, from 4 to 6 p.m.
Tuesday, the 17th, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.
Saturday 28, 4 to 6 p.m.
NOVEMBER 2023
Saturday, 11th, from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Saturday 25, 3:30 to 5:30 p.m.
DECEMBER 2023
Saturday 9, from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Saturday 23, from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
For more information visit the official website of the Bideri Foundation.
