L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, APRIL 20, 2017 www.italoamericano.org L'Italo-Americano 26 C arol Togneri's pivotal moment of discovery occurred in Alhambra, CA, when she was a child and her Tuscan grandma showed her the reproductions of the art trea- sures, stored in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. No expensive travels, or "Grand Tours" to Italy, but sim- ply the images imprinted on a lit- tle book, favored Carol's inti- mate revelation. Carol Togneri, current chief curator at the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, has dug out from the vault eight wonder- ful portraits of flirtatious young women by Verona-native painter, Pietro Rotari (1707-62) – on dis- play, from March 3 rd to July 31 st , in occasion of the 310 th anniversary of the artist's birth – hoping to trigger among the viewers the same intimate dis- covery she experienced as a child. Could you elaborate on the genesis of the exhibition, Serial Flirtations: Rotari's Muses, currently on display at the Norton Simon Museum? I've never had the chance to travel to Russia, but I've always been enamored of the large room at the Peterhof Palace (located in Peterhof, Saint Petersburg), whose photos I've been looking over and over. This room is decorated with nothing but Italian painter, Pietro Rotari's paintings from floor to ceiling, on all four walls. We need to picture it, almost as a mosaic, mostly with the heads of beautiful young women, and, occasionally, the ones of old women, as well as young boys and old men. This "magic" place has always been a huge curiosity of mine and, someday, I hope to see it. The founder of our art collec- tion, Norton Simon, purchased six of these "character studies," aka "Passioni" - as Rotari alter- natively called them. They are anonymous portraits of women dressed up in different costumes, indicative of the different parts of the world they come from – including Italy, Poland, and sev- eral areas of Russia. Rotari did these to please Elizabeth, the Empress of Russia, who invited the artist to Saint Petersburg around 1750. However, the painter had real- ized some of those portraits, when he was in Dresden, before moving to Russia. Initially, Pietro Rotari - native of a village nearby Verona and coming from a rather well-off family of landowners - painted religious commissions and altar- pieces for churches around that area. By the time he was in his late thirties, he traveled first to Vienna, then Dresden and, final- ly, Saint Petersburg. In these European capital cities, influ- enced by the style of, among oth- ers, the French-Swiss artist, J.-E. Liotard, he abandoned, almost entirely, religious-themed late Baroque paintings and turned to portraits. Rotari developed his very own refined style. The European rulers asked him to portray not only themselves, but also the people living in their courts. Norton Simon purchased six portraits of young Russian women by Rotari, including a larger one with a girl writing a letter. Those paintings were probably realized in Russia, shortly before the artist's myste- rious death. In his will, he left a number of paintings to Catherine, but also instructed that everything in his home and studio should be sent back to his brother in Verona. Our set of Rotari's come from the Cartolari family, who still owned the paintings in the 1960s and 70s, and then eventually sold to Simon through a series of art dealers. Since Mr. Simon bought them, these head portraits remained in the vault and I've always wanted to show them. Now, it has finally come a good opportunity to hang together those with the above mentioned portrait of a girl writing a letter and a copy after Rotari, that was donated to the museum. In the same small gallery, where our exhibition is hosted, on the opposite wall, I've had a mirror installed, that is the blown-up photograph of the room at the Peterhof Palace, where they were originally hung. Pietro Rotari traveled extensively to several royal courts in Europe, reaching suc- cess abroad and even initiating a prolific studio with a number of followers in Russia. Was his case something usual, or was it more common back then the other way around, with foreign artists coming to Italy for their "Grand Tour"? That's true that, starting from the seventeenth century, lots of artists, mostly from the Netherlands, came to live in Rome and other cities in Italy and even took on Italian nick- names. However, it is also true that, by the eighteenth century, more and more Italian artists were travelling north of the Alps. I believe the reason is that, particularly the courts of Vienna, Dresden and Saint Petersburg had started to become very wealthy and rich in terms of their collections. They were sending agents to Italy and France, to col- lect old masters. Thus, they were putting together huge galleries and these were being talked about. The works on display were being engraved and sent around. Sometimes, you could even see engravings with the interiors of the exhibition rooms. Lots of Italian artists received commissions from abroad. Also architects from Italy were asked to build streets and buildings in Saint Petersburg. Not only that was a time in which Italian artists would go outside their home country, make a lot of money and be treated almost "royally" by their wealthy patrons, but, we have to consider how the Venetian Republic, at least up until the 1600s, was a major trade hub. Merchants would take possession of objects that were being sent from differ- ent parts of the world. At the time of Rotari, these VALERIO VIALE Carol Togneri: exposing new "gems" from the Norton Simon Museum's vault routes were fairly well-travelled. Also, Naples was fought over between Austria and Spain. The latter eventually won, but Austria kept control over large part of northern Italy. Taking in consideration all these factors, Rotari's case was certainly not unusual. You recently gave a lecture, titled In Praise of Women: Pietro Rotari in Russia. What's the aspect that impresses you the most about the eight "muses" portrayed by Rotari? Our Rotari's portraits are not quite as emotive as some others by the same artist, in which you can see a girl dabbing her eyes as she starts crying, an angry indi- vidual or a jealous person. However, Rotari was keeping up not only with other artistic trends, but also treatises and model books, instructing on how to paint and show emotions. That is evident in his early works, including altarpieces, scattered around Italy. I think this is a popular trick, or a trope, the painter plays with. People in Vienna and elsewhere sought Rotari out not only for portraits of themselves, but also to portray young women dressed differently and in various stages of emotions. The talent displayed by him, encouraged people to fall in love with his work. Looking at the portraits' dates, it looks like Rotari's technique evolved towards an increasing luminosity, particu- larly evident in Young Girl Writing a Love Letter (circa 1755). Is that the case? I think he was probably pick- ing up that style and learning how to capitalize on putting the young girl straight and front in the com- position. It's important to notice how these portraits have a blueish, or more often, a dark green back- ground that doesn't distract the viewer. The young woman could be in an interior or exterior. The painter put all the emphasis on the sub- ject and her duties of writing, but also the moment when she inter- rupts her activity. Rotari's luminosity is one of his tricks to make her, front and center, the first thing you see as you walk up to the portrait. She is the only focal point capturing the viewer's attention, except perhaps for a few writing materials - pen, ink well and the seal - on her desk. Therefore, Rotari's use of light effectively enhances this experience. Norton Simon Museum's Chief Curator - Carol Togneri. Photo courtesy of C. Togneri LOS ANGELES ITALIAN COMMUNITY

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