An artistic and cultural itinerary among the most important museums of the plains outside Bologna.
A two-day art trip that takes us back to different periods and styles: from the Bolognese painters of the 1300s to the contemporary art of Pirro Cuniberti.
The art journey through the museums of the Bolognese plains begins with the Quadreria of Argelato [Picture Gallery], a collection of about 140 works of art preserved at the historical headquarters of EmilBanca in Argelato.
Paintings, drawings and sculptures dating from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century belonging to the Quadreria of the "Ritiro San Pellegrino" [Picture Gallery], a historic charity institution in Bologna.
The collection, a unique example in the surrounding area, boasts important works also from schools of other regions. The Quadreria can be visited by appointment only.
Just ten kilometers from Argelato, in the municipality of Pieve di Cento is the Magi '900 Museum.
Born from the dedication of the art collector Giulio Bargellini, the museum is located in a renovated grain silo of 1933, inside which there is a collection of Italian art of the 20th century, a contemporary one and a room dedicated to the Belle Époque.
The museum conserves a collection of works dedicated to Italian Contemporary Figurative Art, Africa and South America and the New Realisms. On the outside, it is surrounded by the Sculpture Garden, with plastic works of different materials and languages, including the well-known Man of Peace.
In addition to the permanent and temporary exhibitions, the museum organizes various types of events, involving artists, collectors, critics, the public and students.
The current permanent collection is dedicated to protagonists and movements of art and visual culture between the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, including Boldini, De Chirico and Modigliani.
In Pieve di Cento there is also the Pinacoteca [Art Gallery], which hosts paintings by artists from Bologna, Ferrara and Veneto from the fourteenth to the eighteenth century, and a considerable collection of contemporary art and glass formed thanks to several donations.
Among the classical works, we would like to mention the works of Scarsellino and the students of Guercino's studio. The masterpiece of the Museum is a polychrome wooden Madonna of the XIV century.
Contemporary artworks include the graphic works of the Efrem Tavoni collection, coming from the famous Morgan's Paint; the works of Severo Pozzati and Pirro Cuniberti, painter and draftsman born in Sala Bolognese and a pupil of Giorgio Morandi.
Cuniberti is one of the most original artists within the “linea fantastica” [fantastic line] of Italian art of the second half of the twentieth century, an expression through which he communicates a vision of the world focused on themes of everyday life.
Moving towards San Pietro in Casale, we reach the Museo Casa Frabboni, which is located in the city center, inside the Cultural Park.
Opened to the public in December 2003, the Museo Casa Frabboni is the restructured house, part of a converted barchessa [barn], where the artist Guido Frabboni (1926-1994) lived and worked for a long time. He donated his house, his works and his collection of majolicas and icons to the Municipality.
Today the museum is an exhibition space that includes a section dedicated to the life and activity of the maestro Frabboni and a section, on the second floor of the building, dedicated to the sculptures and paintings of Raimondo Raimondi, a local artist with international fame. The museum also hosts the archaeological section "Pianura romana. Villa Vicus Via", dedicated to the archaeological evidence of the Roman period discovered in the area. At the center of the exhibition are the findings of the Maccaretolo settlement.
The art trip ends in San Lazzaro di Savena, a few kilometers from the center of Bologna, at the Cirulli Foundation, a cultural institution whose purpose is the celebration and valorization of Italian art and visual culture of the 20th century, from the birth of Modernity to the years of the economical boom (1900-1970). This takes place through testimonies from different subject areas: visual art, photography, graphics, design.
The museum is located in the historical building designed by Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni in 1960.
In addition to the collections exhibited, the Foundation's cultural projects and exhibitions are of great relevance.
