Boldini, Segantini, Previati, Chini, Balla, Boccioni, Severini, Depero, Wildt, de Chirico, Savinio, Casorati, Donghi, Morandi, de Pisis, Carrà, Campigli, Mafai, Guttuso, Fontana, Schifano, Kounellis, Paolini and others

15 March – 29 June 2025
Fondazione Magnani-Rocca, Mamiano di Traversetolo – Parma

Flowers, with their ephemeral beauty and symbolic charge, have inspired generations of artists. With the arrival of spring, the Fondazione Magnani-Rocca celebrates this timeless subject with a unique exhibition: over 150 works, ranging from the masters of Symbolism to contemporary art, transform the Villa dei Capolavori into a garden of art and poetry.

The exhibition FLORA. The Enchantment of Flowers in Italian Art from the Twentieth Century to Today is scheduled to run from 15 March to 29 June 2025 at the Villa dei Capolavori, home of the Fondazione Magnani-Rocca in Mamiano di Traversetolo (Parma), nestled in the splendor of the newly restored Parco Romantico. With its Italian garden, its English garden, the biolake, and the new contemporary garden inspired by the New Perennial Movement, the Park offers a multisensory experience that changes with the passing of the seasons.

Over 150 Masterpieces in a Floral Tribute to Italian Art

The exhibition features over 150 ‘floral’ masterpieces by some of the greatest masters of Italian art, spanning from the late 19th century to the present day. There are Segantini, Longoni, and Fornara’s hydrangeas; Previati and Donghi’s dahlias; Depero’s explosive magical flora; and Casorati’s hypnotic bouquets of cornflowers, poppies, and daisies; not to mention de Pisis’ lightning-struck gladiolus and the chrysanthemums of de Chirico and Cremona. Alongside these marvels, the Villa’s galleries present a journey through Symbolism, Futurism, Magic Realism, Abstraction, and the new expressive forms of contemporary art.

A journey through Symbolism and contemporary art, featuring prestigious loans.

The flower is never just a flower. For Boldini, it is a symbol of grace; for de Pisis, an explosion of color and a reflection on the transience of life; for Morandi, a silent meditation. FLORA explores the evolution of this subject in Italian art, from the symbolic richness of Segantini and Previati to the avant-garde vision of Balla and Depero, up to the contemporary languages of Kounellis, De Maria, Gilardi, Schifano, and Paolini.

The halls of the Villa dei Capolavori are transformed into secret gardens, conjured by the works of Pellizza da Volpedo, Chini, Nomellini, Moggioli, and Boccioni. They host painted and sculpted flowers from the 20th century: from the symbolic to the Futurist, from the cut to the silent, up to the restless flowers.

All this is complemented by spaces hosting masterpieces by Monet, Renoir, Cézanne, Dürer, Titian, Goya, Canova, and Burri, once belonging to Luigi Magnani.

Many “queens of flowers” inhabit the exhibition, appearing in intense portraits where the flower holds as much presence as the protagonist herself, with major works by Boldini, Tito, Zandomeneghi, Balla, Marussig, Fontana, and Pasolini. The rose takes center stage in an entire section: Morandi’s Roses engage in a dialogue with those of Funi, Oppi, Cagnaccio, Pirandello, and Mafai.

The artworks come from major museums, public institutions, and private collections, including the Museo del Novecento in Milan, the Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea in Rome, the Museo Novecento in Florence, the Museo Morandi in Bologna, the municipal museums of Ferrara, and the Gabinetto Scientifico Letterario G.P. Vieusseux in Florence.

The exhibition is the result of a collaboration between the Fondazione Magnani-Rocca and MART, the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Trento and Rovereto, and is curated by Daniela Ferrari and Stefano Roffi. It is made possible thanks to the support of Fondazione Cariparma and Crédit Agricole Italia.

“There is no painter of the twentieth century who has not painted flowers, following an intimate vocation and a deeply personal interpretation—a representational challenge. The flower is a simple subject, yet it is also a universe of complex symbols and sophisticated forms, making it utterly irresistible.” — Daniela Ferrari

The exhibition is set within the Parco Romantico, a unique landscape gem in Italy.

At the same time, the restoration of the Parco Romantico surrounding the Villa dei Capolavori is presented—a unique landscape treasure in Italy, spanning twelve hectares and featuring an English garden, an Italian garden, and the new contemporary garden.

A green heritage with hundreds of new trees, shrubs, and flowers, featuring exotic and monumental plants surrounding the villa that was once the residence of Luigi Magnani. The Parco Romantico also preserves three majestic specimens listed in the Register of Monumental Trees of Italy: Cedrus libani, Sequoia sempervirens, and Platanus hybrida, which have undergone special care.

With the addition of a biolake and the multisensory experience of the new contemporary garden inspired by the New Perennial Movement—where visitors will be immersed in an explosion of colors and scents, surrounded by a landscape that evolves month by month, season after season—the park restoration has been made possible thanks to the support of the Ministry of Culture through PNRR funds.

Luigi Magnani, a pioneer of an environmental awareness surprisingly ahead of his time, was one of the founders of Italia Nostra, one of Italy’s first environmental movements, dedicated to the comprehensive protection of the country’s cultural and natural heritage. This visionary approach reflects his deep commitment to preserving beauty and nature at a time when environmental consciousness was not yet widely established.