Event taking place on
Friday 8 March 2024 at 5.30pm
Museo Fortuny, Venice
To present the Exhibition
ATTILIO SIMONETTI 1843-1925
Curated by Giovanni Carboni
Running 21 March – 4 May 2024 at the Galleria Goffi Carboni Antiquariato, Rome
Presentation talks by
Chiara Squarcina, Scientific Director of the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia
Cristina da Roit, Curator of the Museo Fortuny
Guest Speaker
Giovanni Carboni, Exhibition Curator
Having established himself during the second half of the nineteenth century as one of the best known and most sought-after Italian masters abroad, Attilio Simonetti – painter, engraver, collector and antique dealer – was certainly a most interesting figure on the European artistic scene of his era.
From 21 March to 4 May 2024, the Galleria Goffi Carboni Antiquariato (directed by Giovanni Carboni, a descendant of the artist) will present an exhibition dedicated to him in its rooms in Via Margutta, Rome. A friend and the only recognized student of Mariano Fortuny y Marsal, one of the greatest Spanish painters of the nineteenth century, Simonetti opened a studio in Palazzo Altemps in the 1870s. Through the French dealer, Goupil, he also quickly became an artist recognized by an international public and his paintings were purchased by clients such as the Rothschilds and the Italian Royals.
The exhibition presents an unprecedented aspect of his work, as it shows paintings, watercolors, drawings and engravings not intended for the market and constantly remaining the property of his descendants. Works that were a far cry from compromises with the then prevailing tastes and created by an artist who had not only achieved great fame but also begun to dedicate himself to the antiques trade. No longer dependant on a continuous sale of his works, Simonetti had the opportunity to follow new inspirations and make more room for original subjects better suited to himself, such as the one represented by The Turkey Pasture (1885). The only paintings from the market present in the exhibition are the pair of oils The Herald and The Drum, which were purchased at the Naples exhibition of 1877 by Prince Umberto of Savoy for his private collection and returned to the artist’s family after the exile of the Royals in 1946. The exhibition therefore offers a unique opportunity to see hitherto unseen works of high quality.
The Fortuny Museum in Venice (dedicated to Mariano Fortuny y Madrazo, the brilliant and eclectic son of the Spanish painter) wanted to pay homage to him in its rooms by presenting, on 8 March 2024, a preview of the Rome exhibition and its accompanying catalogue. The strong ties between the Simonetti and Fortuny families continued over the years, even after the death of the two artists, thanks to friendships and correspondence between the children (Emma Simonetti and Mariano Fortuny y Madrazo, in particular). And it is in a natural line of succession that, today, the relations between the two ‘families’ are reinforced through happy and fruitful exchanges between the Fortuny Museum (whose archive contains the most complete documentation of Marsal’s work) and Goffi Carboni Antiquariato, with its Archivio Simonetti dedicated to the latter artist and his family.
These relations are still evidenced today by the presence, in the museum, of the Roman painter’s portrait, painted by Fortuny senior and recalling their friendship, their art and their world. Edited by Giovanni Carboni and printed by Campisano Editore, the Exhibition catalogue has a preface by Cristina Da Roit and includes essays by the curator, Eugenia Querci, and Alessandra Imbellone. Entrance by invitation only until all available places are filled.