Andrew Lambirth

Italian treats

A Decade of Discovery<br /> <em>Esoterick Collection, 39a Canonbury Square, London, N1, until 6 April</em>

issue 02 February 2008

A Decade of Discovery
Esoterick Collection, 39a Canonbury Square, London, N1, until 6 April

This year, as the Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art celebrates its tenth anniversary, garlanded with plaudits for the loan exhibitions it has mounted, it is time to focus once again on its greatest asset: its permanent collection. This new display, occupying all six galleries, shows the collection to fine advantage, enabling a group of works by Massimo Campigli to be viewed for the first time, along with a couple of new acquisitions, and further enhanced by works loaned from British and Italian collections, mostly private individuals whose generosity must be applauded.

The exhibition starts on the ground floor with a room of the Estorick’s big names — the Futurists. The visitor is greeted by an early Giacomo Balla portrait in pastels (a private loan), not perhaps immediately recognisable as being by this artist until you study the surface of the picture, energised as it is by electric-blue touches.

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