Light from Italy: From Fattori to Morandi
From 5 July to 26 October 2025, the exhibition Light from Italy: From Fattori to Morandi is taking place in the Great Exhibition Hall of the main building of the Latvian National Museum of Art in Riga (Jaņa Rozentāla laukums 1).
For the first time in Northen Europe, a substantial collection from the Uffizi Galleries in Florence will be exhibited – 86 masterpieces from the permanent exhibition and holdings of the Pitti Palace Gallery of Modern Art, starting from the unification of Italy in 1861 up to the interwar period of the 20th century.
This selection reflects the main movements of Italian art, from the Macchiaioli group to Divisionism, from Symbolism to forms of Italian Expressionism, and from Futurism to Neoclassicism in the 1920s. In collaboration with the Uffizi Galleries, an illustrated catalog is being prepared in Latvian, Italian, and English.
The works of Italian artists in the exhibition will be presented in dialogue with late 19th century and classical modernist heritage from Latvia, which art experts in Latvia and abroad consider to be among the most internationally most recognised aspects of Latvian cultural patrimony. The exhibition is accompanied by a variety of archive materials, photographs and stories about contacts between Italian and Latvian artists, offering the Latvian public as well as visitors to Riga a rich artistic experience and knowledge about cultural processes in Europe and their interrelationships. An important place in the exhibition is taken by historical narratives, enhancing the understanding of Italy's modern history, nation-building and cultural revival in the 1860s, which takes place in parallel to the New Latvian movement and ceases in the period of Fascist Italy.
This project is noteworthy for the involvement of notable Italian art historians in the research of the collection of the Latvian National Museum of Art, as well as in developing the exhibition concept and creating the catalog.
From the Italian side, the realisation of the project is managed by Vanessa Gavioli and Elena Marconi, the heads of the Pitti Palace Gallery of Modern Art at the Uffizi Galleries, along with one of the brightest young-generation Italian art scholars and curators Guicciardo Maria Sassoli de’ Bianchi Strozzi Cavina. The curator from Latvia is Astrīda Rogule, the curator of the Contemporary Art Collection at the Latvian National Museum of Art (LNMM), and the exhibition design is by Artūrs Analts.
The exhibition Light from Italy: From Fattori to Morandi is produced with the aim of promoting collaboration opportunities between the twin cities of Florence and Riga in ensuring access to cultural heritage. Riga City Council is one of the main supporters of this project, the exhibition is one of the cultural priorities for 2025 in Riga.
The project is realised by the Latvian National Museum of Art in collaboration with the Uffizi Galleries and association Nuova Artemarea with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia, Riga City Council, Embassy of Italy in Riga, Embassy of Latvia in Italy.
