Novecento italiano. Opere dalla Collezione Generali
Novecento italiano. Opere dalla collezione Generali, edited by Costantino D'Orazio, Rome, Moebius, 2026, 140 pp., ill., hardcover. Catalogue of the exhibition held at Palazzo Bonaparte, Rome, 14 July – 23 August 2026.
The volume accompanies the exhibition with which Generali celebrated the tenth anniversary of Valore Cultura, the Group's program that makes art accessible and supports Italian artistic heritage. Produced and organized by Arthemisia in the rooms of Palazzo Bonaparte — a historic residence owned by Generali and home to the first Spazio Valore Cultura — the exhibition brought together for the first time 53 works from the Generali Collection: 36 paintings, 9 historic advertising posters, and 8 artist scarves, coming from the Company's various offices.
The catalogue opens with introductory greetings by Chairman Andrea Sironi, Group CEO Philippe Donnet, and Country Manager and CEO of Generali Italia Giancarlo Fancel, alongside a contribution by Iole Siena for Arthemisia. This is followed by the introductory essay by the curator, which reconstructs the genesis of the collection — born in Assitalia at the beginning of the 1980s thanks to the acquisition policy promoted by Giovanni Pieraccini, with the first purchases of de Chirico and Boccioni between 1981 and 1982 — and interprets its underlying principle: not a prestige collection, but a heritage built over time on quality and historical awareness, reflecting a company that also takes responsibility for social evolution through art.
The illustrations reflect the layout of the exhibition path across eight rooms, from the deconstructed figures of the Avant-gardes to landscapes, from figures in an interior to studies on the human body, up to the room dedicated to the dialogue between art, business, and communication, featuring posters signed by Dudovich, Beltrame, Boccasile, and Sigon, and scarves designed by Accardi, Consagra, Dorazio, Marotta, Perilli, Santomaso, Schifano, and Scialoja. Closing the narrative is Le tre età by Gustav Klimt, the guest of honor granted on exceptional loan by the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea in Rome.
The volume is part of a consolidated tradition of studies on the collection: the first catalogue, Arte del Novecento italiano nelle collezioni di Assitalia (Milan, Electa, 1987), edited by Maurizio Fagiolo dell’Arco, published on the occasion of the exhibition at Villa Medici, home of the French Academy in Rome; Dipinti del '900 italiano. Collezione Assitalia, edited by Maurizio Calvesi and Fabio Benzi (Milan, Electa, 1993), published on the occasion of the exhibition at the Fondazione Memmo of Palazzo Ruspoli for the 70th anniversary of Assitalia; and finally La collezione INA Assitalia, edited by Roberta Bernabei (Milan, Electa, 2005), which updated the catalogue with new acquisitions and attributions that emerged in the meantime, defining the scope of the collection as a complete historical entity. These contributions still form the scientific basis for the study of the collection today.
On the cover, Figura (La signora Ducrey) by Ubaldo Oppi.