THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART

 

The Civic Gallery of Modern Art in Palermo is now open to the public in its prestigious new premises in the Monumental Complex of Sant’Anna alla Misericordia. The new premises were inaugurated amid great celebration on Saturday 2 December in the presence of numerous personalities and with the participation of thousands of visitors.

The works in the Civil Gallery – neoclassical, Romantic and realistic paintings and sculptures – provide an ample and well-articulated cross-section of the figurative arts in Sicily in the period between the late 18^th century and the early 20^th century.

There are 216 works on show, 178 paintings and 38 sculptures, that reconstruct the fascinating stages in changing taste that led the founder and first Director of the Gallery, Empedocle Restivo, and his illustrious counsellors, such as the architect Ernesto Basile (the leading figure of Art Nouveau in Italy) and the industrialist Vittorio Ducrot, but also influential patrons of the arts like Ignazio Florio, to acquire items that would best represent modern art in Italy, especially at the Biennial Exhibitions in Venice and in other important art shows or in prestigious private galleeeries.

The Gallery presents master pieces by Giuseppe Sciuti, Francesco Lojacono, Antonino Leto, Ettore De Maria Bergler, Antonio Mancini, Franz von Stuck, Giovanni Boldini, Ettore Tito, Domenico Trentacoste, Pietro Canonica, Pietro Fragiacomo, Cesare Laurenti, Plinio Nomellini, Aleardo Terzi, Gino Severini, Carlo Carrà, Arturo Tosi, Mario Sironi, Fausto Pirandello, Felice Casorati, Massimo Campigli, Pietro Consagra, Emilio Greco and Renato Guttuso, but also by countless other Sicilian and non-Sicilian artists, with significant works that have literarily been rediscovered.

Special rooms have been prepared at Sant’Anna to host temporary exhibitions, while other areas have been set aside for educational activities; there are a library, a bookshop where it is possible to buy publications and gadgets, and a snack bar, as befits a modern museum facility.

The opening hours for the public are as follows: Tuesday to Sunday, 9.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. (closed on Mondays). The Gallery closes at 6.30 p.m. but last admissions are at 5.30. Entrance is free until 6 January 2007. The ticket office closes at 5.30. Entrance charge (from 7 January 2007): full rate, 7 euros; reduced rate, 5 euros. The following are entitled to the reduced rate: groups (minimum, 15 persons) with reservation compulsory; persons over 60 years of age; young people aged between 19 and 25 years; university students with documentary evidence, and persons possessing entrance tickets to the Gipsoteca (Plaster Cast collection) at Palazzo Ziino. 

Entrance is free for all young people under the age of 18, school parties (maximum of two accompanying teachers per class), students at the Palermo Academy of Fine Arts, disadvantaged persons with carer, tourist guides, and journalists with professional identification cards or officially credited.