Gualtieri traces in exhibition the story of Umberto Tirelli, refined collector

From March 26 to July 3, 2022, Palazzo Bentivoglio in Gualtieri is hosting the exhibition Umberto Tirelli. The Tirelli-Trappetti Art Collection, 1992-2022, curated by Nadia Stefanel, to retrace the history of Umberto Tirelli (Gualtieri 1928 - Rome 1990), a great tailor of theater and cinema who dressed stars and divines of the Roman Dolce Vita.

However, the exhibition does not intend to focus on the public side of Tirelli and his important collaborations (among them, those with Luchino Visconti, Giorgio Strehler, Luca Ronconi, Jean Cocteau, Gae Aulenti, Federico Fellini, Franco Zeffirelli, and Pier Paolo Pasolini), but on the private dimension, on the figure of a refined collector who formed a tailor-made art collection, starting from deep friendships with great artists and costume designers.

In fact, all the works on display are part of the generous donation made in 1992 by Dino Trappetti, Umberto’s successor in the management of Tirelli Costumes, in favor of the City of Gualtieri. Umberto Tirelli was deeply attached to his hometown. With this exhibition, the Municipal Administration intends to enhance and make more accessible to the public the works received as gifts and which, in turn, were given to Umberto Tirelli by great artists and costume designers as a sign of friendship.

Thirty years after the donation and four years after the exhibition Umberto Tirelli. Return to Gualtieri, the Municipality of Gualtieri and the Antonio Ligabue Museum Foundation are promoting the launch of a study and cataloging of the collection itself, with a new layout that encourages the public to read it, thanks in part to the help of testimonials and explanatory panels.

“The Tirelli-Trappetti donation,” says curator Nadia Stefanel, “was more than a bequest of sheets, plans, graphics, and oils by great 20th-century artists, with original frames and mounts, and two splendid costumes; it was sharing Tirelli’s private with local people. Why his private? Because that collection was born solely from deep bonds of friendship, from intimate moments when Tirelli collected, between friendly chats, small drawings made by great friends, which filled his heart with the pure feelings that only great people can have.”

The exhibition opens with a series of photographs portraying, among others, Maria Callas, Albero Moravia, Ingrid Bergman, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Sofia Loren and Hubert de Givenchy. The exhibition continues in two sections: on the one hand, the sketches, drafts and finished works of well-known figures from the world of theater who also tried their hand at painting (such as Bice Brichetto, Yannis Tsaroukis); on the other hand, the works created by famous names from the art scene contemporary to him, such as Balthus, Felice Casorati, Giorgio De Chirico, Lila De Nobili, Giosetta Fioroni, Renato Guttuso, Mino Maccari, Giacomo Manzù and Marino Mazzacurati. Among the most interesting works are, for example, Renato Guttuso’s Portrait of Romolo Valli, Balthus’ Michelina , Giorgio De Chirico’s The Angel, and Marino Mazzacurati’s Lovers. An important corpus consists of works by Fabrizio Clerici, all related to episodes of life and friendship. Finally, the Icarus Room displays two costumes that are part of the collection: one worn by Romolo Valli in Pirandello’sEnrico IV directed by Giorgio De Lullo and the other worn by Romy Schneider in Luchino Visconti’s Ludwig. Also present are some original playbills, on loan from Tirelli Costumes.

The exhibition project is completed by the display in Sala Giove and the Torrazzo of fifteen paintings and five bronzes by Antonio Ligabue selected and collected by Sergio and Francesco Negri, authoritative experts on his painting and sculpture production.

Umberto Tirelli. The Tirelli-Trappetti Art Collection, 1992-2022 is promoted by the Municipality of Gualtieri and the Antonio Ligabue Museum Foundation, is organized in collaboration with the Region of Emilia-Romagna and the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Reggio Emilia Pietro Manodori, and with the support of Proloco di Gualtieri, with contributions from the Members of the Antonio Ligabue Museum Foundation - Emilbanca (main sponsor), Landi Renzo, Boorea, Coopservice - and Albergo Ligabue, Padana Tubi and S.A.BA.R. Services.

For info and reservations: www.museo-ligabue.it

Hours: Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.; Sundays and holidays from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Image: Mino Maccari, Costume sketch, detail ( watercolor, 50 x 63 cm). Photo by Fabio Fantini

Gualtieri traces in exhibition the story of Umberto Tirelli, refined collector

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