[Paintings in Raccolte Frugone quoted in the article below (Foto Rb 2018)]
"Raccolte Frugone" (Frugone
Collections) is an excellent small museum located inside Villa Grimaldi-Fassio in the Nervi
botanic park near Genoa. In fact Nervi, though an independent town
geographically, is a district of Genoa proper, and its railway station is
called Genoa-Nervi.
The
well-kept town of Nervi is comprised between the green hills and the sea. Its
park includes several Mediterranean plants and trees, all labelled by name and
type. The Grimaldi-Fassio Villa is maintained impeccably, and constitutes one
of Nervi three museums (the other two being the Modern Art Gallery and the
Wolfsonian Gallery).
"Raccolte
Frugone" was a welcome and pleasant discovery for the present writer who,
even though native to the region of Liguria, had never before visited, in fact
not even - shamefully - known about this art gallery.
The
selection of paintings and sculptures in Villa Grimaldi Fassio is compact and
representative of some of the best Italian artists of the 19th century.
Favourite paintings of the writer of this note in the
Frugone Collections are Giuseppe De Nittis, Signora in bianco nel giardino;
Angelo Alebardi, Ritratto di bimba; Domenico Morelli, Giovane donna
dormiente; Pietro Trubezkoy, In porto; Giovanni Fattori, Pattuglia di cavalleggeri;
Ettore Tito, Pagine d'amore and Ritratto femminile; and Luigi Bechi, Dopo la burrasca.
All of these represent a good
overview of Italian Impressionism and Ottocento Realism even though not
all are in the artistic current of Macchiaioli. The themes of modern life,
traditional activities, new varieties of portraiture and innovative use of
colour are visible in these paintings.
There
were no visitors to the Museum except the present writer who hesitated, out of
regional jealousy for a place remained exclusive in an area otherwise so
inflated with mass tourism, before sharing this post with others who might
indeed go to this permanent exhibition.
[Roberto
Bertoni]
