PAST EVENTS
BICE VISCONTI:
THE REASSEMBLED PAPERS: DRAWINGS AND SKETCHBOOKS FROM THE GREAT WAR
London Exhibition, Millbank
1 October – 30 November 2017
A version of the exhibition entitled ‘Perspectives – World War I Stories’ was subsequently shown at the Sir Denis Mahon Library and Archive at the National Gallery of Ireland.
The Sir Denis Mahon Foundation promoted and organised the exhibition, Bice Visconti: The Reassembled Papers – Drawings and Sketchbooks from the Great War, first shown at 48 Millbank in London (1 October – 30 November 2017) during events in remembrance of the First World War. A version of the exhibition entitled ‘Perspectives – World War I Stories’ was subsequently shown at the Sir Denis Mahon Library and Archive at the National Gallery of Ireland. Sir Denis much admired Bice Visconti’s work as an artist, describing her style as con quel tocco sciolto (“with such a fluid stroke”).
Beatrice (Bice) Visconti was born into an aristocratic family in Milan, Italy. As a young woman, she travelled to Paris, where she enrolled in classes at the Académie Julian, a popular studio for women seeking artistic training. Like many women across Europe during the war, Visconti volunteered as a nurse with the Italian Red Cross. Stationed in a field hospital in 1915, she kept a series of pocket-sized sketchbooks, in which she drew people she encountered there, with quick but deft sketches of nurses and soldiers, effectively capturing a vivid perception of the conditions of life near the front line. There is a real sense of melancholy in many of these images, reflecting the dire circumstances of the war being fought in Italy at that time. Her later sketchbooks are also a testimony of her interest in recording real-life situations and in the art of drawing, with subjects as diverse as aviation, sacred themes of the Holy Family, ballet, her holiday travels during the 1930s, and various poetic and delicate drawings of flora and fauna. Visconti’s creative career continued after the war and, in 1938 and 1953, she published two acclaimed books on Italian cuisine.
The exhibition catalogue, Bice Visconti: The Reassembled Papers – Drawings and Sketchbooks from the Great War, can be purchased from Our Shop on the Sir Denis Mahon Foundation website.
BICE VISCONTI:
THE REASSEMBLED PAPERS: DRAWINGS AND SKETCHBOOKS FROM THE GREAT WAR SHOP
“BICE VISCONTI”
The Reassembled Papers Drawings and Sketchbooks from the Great War
London Exhibition, Millbank
1 October – 30 November 2017
The Reassembled Papers
Drawings and Sketchbooks from the Great War
ALL PAST EVENTS
TIME {?} AND ETERNAL LIFE
5 October – 20 December 2020
The exhibition spans over five millennia, exploring the concept of time and of Eternal life from Antiquity to the Modern Era. This immense period is divided into three chapters, each a chronological step forward.
WILLIAM BLAKE AT FLAT TIME HOUSE
30 January - 8 March 2020
Organised by Flat Time House in partnership with the Sir Denis Mahon Foundation, and curated by Chris McCabe and Magnus Rena, the exhibition gave a unique opportunity to view Blake’s work in the domestic environment of John Latham’s home.
LUCRETIA CANTATA AT THE BOWES MUSEUM
13 November 2019
The Sir Denis Mahon Foundation was delighted to support The Bowes Museum on the occasion of their exhibition, The Power and the Virtue : Guido Reni’s Death of Lucretia (26 October 2019 – 20 January 2020), which highlights the theme of female beauty in Reni’s painting, particularly the depiction of devotional and legendary heroines such as Cleopatra, Saint Catherine, Saint Mary Magdalene, and specifically the suicide of Lucretia Romana.
VISIONARIES AND THE ART OF PERFORMANCE
28 June - 14 July 2019
Through the work of several artists, the exhibition suggests that visionary qualities are not exclusive to one period or personality, but they are enduring characteristics of artistic creativity.
VISIONS & VISIONARIES
11 December 2018 - 30 April 2019
They made the “visionary” into a poetic manifesto, the germ of an idea that is still relevant in the contemporary world with artists such as Geoffrey Fletcher, John Latham, Grayson Perry, or in art movements like Technomedioevo.
TECHNO MEDIOEVO STUDY DAY
14 June 2018
The Sir Denis Mahon Foundation and Museum of the Order of St John hosted a study day to explore The Language and Meaning of Time in Art & Science. The study day took place following a recent exhibition.
TECHNO MEDIOEVO: AGE OF FUTURE RELOADED
1 March - 16 June 2018
What would the past have been like in the Middle Ages if the future had happened before?
BICE VISCONTI: THE REASSEMBLED PAPERS: DRAWINGS AND SKETCHBOOKS FROM THE GREAT WAR
1 October – 20 November 2017
The exhibition was held during the events in remembrance of the Great War and presented part of the graphic corpus of works by the artist, Bice Visconti (1883-1962), who enrolled as a volunteer in the Italian Red Cross in 1915, working in a field hospital where she recorded moments in the lives of soldiers and medical personnel.
CARAVAGGIO: FASHION AND FABRICS
3 October 2016 – 31 January 2017
This exhibition put a spotlight on the fabrics used during Caravaggio's time, with a focus on Caravaggio's painting, The Cardsharps (1594), which was loaned to the museum by the Sir Denis Mahon Foundation. It also provided the opportunity to view ancient textiles and religious vestments from the collections of the Diocese of Novara and the Rubelli Museum in Venice.