A selection of paintings by students of the Academy of Fine Arts of Bologna, mostly unknown, produced in the first half of the twentieth century: a collection of stylistic varies, well representing the growth of students of the Academy, very attentive to the new artistic currents.
Nineteenth-century portraits
The group of paintings is the result of highly skilled students of painting courses. High quality portraits, yet without signing and dating.
Portrait of an old man (1800/1900) by UnknownAccademia di Belle Arti di Bologna
Portrait of a gentleman (1800/1900) by UnknownAccademia di Belle Arti di Bologna
This canvas seems to have been taken from a photographic original, a novelty introduced by the professor and then director of the Academy, Antonio Puccinelli, exponent of a modern painting.
Portrait of a moustached man (Panzacchi) (1800/1900) by UnknownAccademia di Belle Arti di Bologna
This portrait feeds many curiosities especially in relation to the identity of the model: it seems that Professor Enrico Panzacchi, already portrayed by Vittorio Corcos in 1894.
Twentieth-century portraits
By proceeding chronologically, the historical fund of the Academy welcomes an interesting group of portraits produced in the twentieth century.
Portrait of an old man (1900/1999) by UnknownAccademia di Belle Arti di Bologna
Portrait of an old man (1900/1999) by UnknownAccademia di Belle Arti di Bologna
Portrait of a woman with earrings (1900/1999) by UnknownAccademia di Belle Arti di Bologna
The penetrating ability of the unknown author in the psychology of the woman facing him, in the routine and in the almost resignation with which she lays it is remarkable.
Portrait of an old woman (1900/1999) by UnknownAccademia di Belle Arti di Bologna
Singularly expressive and so castigated in pictorial media, it is thinly plated to a large part of the surface, making the wooden support veins appear as almost a second design.
Woman's silhoutte (1900/1999) by UnknownAccademia di Belle Arti di Bologna
Portrait of woman with fur (1900/1999) by UnknownAccademia di Belle Arti di Bologna
Portrait of a woman with hat (1900/1999) by UnknownAccademia di Belle Arti di Bologna
There is a curious detail in this painting: the artist initially began to dip a naked, then changed his mind and opted for a female bust half.
Female portrait (1900/1999) by Margherita PoliAccademia di Belle Arti di Bologna
Boy posing (1900/1999) by Vacchi (Assunta o Paolo)Accademia di Belle Arti di Bologna
Portrait of a man with white scarf (1900/1999) by Roberto BentiniAccademia di Belle Arti di Bologna
Footballers (1900/1999) by Antonio (Nino) GasparriAccademia di Belle Arti di Bologna
The football players
It is not surprising that a work like this was born at the time when Bologna Calcio triumphed in Italy and Europe and the Italian national won the 1934 Football World Cup, to win the 1936 Olympics and celebrate world success in 1938 In addition to the lesson of primitivism and of a well-established and commonly-acclaimed genius, the genesis of this interesting painting has also contributed to a certain stylistic and comic art deco style Art Déco, of which Mario and Severo Pozzati were masters in those years.
The square shape of the painting is unusual, but functional to the front occupation of the space by the four athletes against a horizon that curbs to enhance the scene more.
The School of naked
The works: about thirty paintings on canvas, board and cardboard. Subject: the human figure. Dimensions: almost always modest, bozzettista, just like the exercises performed in the classroom under the supervision of a teacher. The authors: students of the Academy of Fine Arts of Bologna, more often than not known but well known, but with some major emergencies in the artistic landscape of Bologna and beyond. The period: the first half of the twentieth century and more specifically the years before the First World War, the 1930s and the second after the war.
Female torso on its back (1900/1999) by Alfredo ProttiAccademia di Belle Arti di Bologna
The ancient painting in the fund.
Female nude sitting (1900/1999) by Giannino (Lodovico) LambertiniAccademia di Belle Arti di Bologna
Female nude shoulders (1900/1999) by Lodovico LambertiniAccademia di Belle Arti di Bologna
Female nude silhouette (1900/1999) by Luigi PasqualiAccademia di Belle Arti di Bologna
Female nude front (1900/1999) by Vittorio ZagniAccademia di Belle Arti di Bologna
Female torso with arms raised (1900/1999) by Vittorio ZagniAccademia di Belle Arti di Bologna
The boxer at rest (1900/1999) by Vittorio ZagniAccademia di Belle Arti di Bologna
Male nude from the waist up (1900/1999) by Giuseppina De SerasAccademia di Belle Arti di Bologna
Portrait of a man with moustache (1900/1999) by UnknownAccademia di Belle Arti di Bologna
Female torso with breast discovered (1900/1999) by UnknownAccademia di Belle Arti di Bologna
Female nude sitting (1900/1999) by UnknownAccademia di Belle Arti di Bologna
Female nude sitting (1900/1999) by UnknownAccademia di Belle Arti di Bologna
Female nude outstretched (1900/1999) by UnknownAccademia di Belle Arti di Bologna
Female nude shoulders (1900/1999) by UnknownAccademia di Belle Arti di Bologna
Female torso (1900/1999) by UnknownAccademia di Belle Arti di Bologna
Female nude outstretched on its back (1900/1999) by Giuseppe BartoliAccademia di Belle Arti di Bologna
Female nude sitting on a yellow drape (1900/1999) by Giuseppe BartoliAccademia di Belle Arti di Bologna
Male model holding a pole (1900/1999) by Vittorio CaroliAccademia di Belle Arti di Bologna
Male torso with head bowed (1900/1999) by Vittorio CaroliAccademia di Belle Arti di Bologna
Male nude with pitcher (1900/1999) by UnknownAccademia di Belle Arti di Bologna
Two bathers (1900/1999) by Giorgio BandieriAccademia di Belle Arti di Bologna
Female nude sleepy (1900/1999) by Ilario RossiAccademia di Belle Arti di Bologna
Neoclassical shapes, even purists in their utmost perfection, chromatic gaps worthy of a Renaissance garrison, an infallible instinct in grasping glimpses and volumes.
Male nude sitting (1900/1999) by Ilario RossiAccademia di Belle Arti di Bologna
Female nude with colored drapes (1900/1999) by Orlando RanuzziAccademia di Belle Arti di Bologna
The two Ranuzzi paintings are distinguished by a quick and light brushstroke, pleasing to emphasize, just like, caressing them, the contours of the human figure.
Female torso naked (1900/1999) by Orlando RanuzziAccademia di Belle Arti di Bologna
With great mastery Ranuzzi wisdom shows the delicate traits, the cheek cheeks on the clear skin, the slightly violet color of the joints.
Female nude outstretched with yellow drape (1900/1999) by UnknownAccademia di Belle Arti di Bologna
The youngest painting of the fund, dating back to the 1960s but of an unknown author.
Margherita Poli
Born Reggio Emilia in 1909, enrolled at the Academy between 1933 and 1936, Margherita Poli was a discreet talent artist, particularly interested in the female figure.
Female nude with the left hand on her hip (1900/1999) by Margherita PoliAccademia di Belle Arti di Bologna
Female nude sitting with hair in a bun (1900/1999) by Margherita PoliAccademia di Belle Arti di Bologna
Profile of woman with tape clips (1900/1999) by Margherita PoliAccademia di Belle Arti di Bologna
Female nude arms folded (1900/1999) by Margherita PoliAccademia di Belle Arti di Bologna
Still life
The only two works that are played by strangers to this fund, as if they were to be part of them by chance or by mistake, are dead, signed, dated and stylistically alike.
Still Life with torso in profile (1900/1999) by UnknownAccademia di Belle Arti di Bologna
Still life with crockery (1900/1999) by UnknownAccademia di Belle Arti di Bologna
This is, in summary, the physiognomy of a core of paintings that have been preserved since the time of their execution at the depositions of the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna, and that the patient reordered by the teachers of the Academy, finally allows to appreciate and study.
Curated by
Prof. Daniele Campagnoli
referent for the Google Art & Culture project / Academy of Fine Art Bologna
Prof. Maria Giovanna Battistini
referent for the historical fund and the picture gallery / Academy of Fine Art Bologna
