Venice, explorations of art and taste in the city in the days of cinema
A dip in the Adriatic Sea at the early beach of Lido di Venezia these days treat yourself with discretion on the no surprise, to find yourself suddenly, to find water with a movie star who may have booked a white cabana and no morning at the beach of the ‘Excelsior Des Bains. These, in fact, are the hottest days of the International Film Festival, now in its 79th edition, of seamless screenings, events and presentations between the rationalist Palazzo del Cinema, the Palazzo del Casino and the PalaBiennale. And the last weeks of the Biennale of Contemporary Art between the Giardini and the Arsenale are also being experienced, curated by Cecilia Alemani, the first Italian woman deservedly to choose from all over the world the most lively interpreters of the fervent impulses of our society to be translated into art. .
Dinner under the roofs of the Palazzina Grassi at the Ridotto peak
It could happen that a Hollywood or French cinema actor is at the table at the Palazzina Grassi, in its sparkling and refined Krug Lounge or on the Terrace hidden among the Venetian roofs overlooking the Grand Canal and the result of the ever-glamorous vision of the designer Philippe Starck. More difficult, mathematically, but you must absolutely try, book at the Ridotto, the restaurant of Gianni and Nicolò Bonaccorsi in the Sestiere Castello which is inspired by a small theater, where you can taste black spaghetti, sea urchins, peppers and friggitelli and sole endive , bergamot and Gin Paracelso Dibaldo. Local, in Salizzada dei Greci, Zanze XVI which is located in Fondamenta dei Tolentini, and Wisteria near Campo San Tomà also offer high quality cuisine that enhances the flavors of the territory in a more contemporary key, enhancing the millenary gastronomic history of the taverns .
From Peggy for magical surrealism and to the house of Doge Grimani
There is always a reason and it is always a pleasure to visit the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, also because until 22 September it hosts the exhibition “Surrealism and Magic”: the enchanted modernity that investigates the attraction of that artistic current for mystery, the esotericism, the myth aroused by the occult in artists such as Giorgio de Chirico, Max Ernst up to Leonora Carrington and Remedios Varo. Palazzo Vendramin Grimani, reopened a few months ago thanks to the Albero d’or Foundation in the San Polo district, is a gem of the Grand Canal: in addition to admiring the rooms of that was the residence of Doge Pietro Grimani, you have the opportunity to attend the exchange with contemporary artists invited to experiences in residence.
Return to Palazzo Fortuny between dreams and nudes
Another threshold that can be cured while remaining enchanted by the beauty of the environments in which one has passed from canvases and fabrics is Palazzo Fortuny, which the rearrangement of the rooms has once again become the architectural emblem of the flowery Gothic style: it conveys the vivid impression that the exuberant and glamorous personality of Mariano Fortuny y Madrazo, its famous owner, still lingers there. You are invited to dream by the wall cycles of the Winter Garden, which the artifice of the trompe-l’œil makes oneiric, then you are surrounded by the nudes painted by Mariano, who was a descendant of a Spanish family with a strong artistic DNA. The love for collecting has led to a unique and exciting collection of clothes, tapestries, carpets, glass, pottery.
There is Afro at Ca ‘Pesaro and the Royal Apartments at the Correr Museum
Ca ‘Pesaro is a classic destination for every trip to the lagoon to immerse yourself every time among the thinking sculptures of Auguste Rodin, meet Gustav Klimt’s Salomé and in this period also to be part of the euphoria aroused by the exhibition “Afro 1950-1970 . From Italy to America and back ”, dedicated to Afro Basaldella, which sees the protagonist as our representative of abstractionism, loved and much collected in the USA, where he met the school of Pollock and De Kooning in the Big Apple. The path that can be taken inside the private apartments used by the ruling houses of Bonaparte, Habsburg and Savoy from the nineteenth century until 1920 inside the Royal Palace – we are inside the Correr Museum – reopens in July: the sumptuous decorations and upholstery, the original furniture returned to its place, project into a sumptuous setting.