Davide Lajolo Collection of Contemporary Art.
"...culture is the fruit of a history that begins before us and will continue after us. By being born, we are part of a millenary dialogue, begun by our ancestors and projected every day between present and future." (L. Lajolo)
There is all the warm affection of a daughter in the words that Laurana Lajolo uses in her invitation to visit the "Art '900" collection in Nizza Monferrato; there is that pattern of "human generosity" that her father passed on to her through genetics, but above all through his own example, his life, his works, his passion for art and social commitment. Davide Lajolo was born in Vinchio, seven kilometres from Nizza Monferrato. He was a soldier, partisan, journalist, writer, politician and, above all, a great art enthusiast, the kind of art that his daughter and granddaughter have generously made available to the Municipality of Nizza Monferrato for a permanent exhibition that is a veritable anthology of the 20th century avant-garde.
"Artists are people who attract me: their virtues and faults are dispelled in the spell they can create" (D. Lajolo)
Around one hundred works, including paintings and sculptures, and behind each work of art lies a meeting of souls destined to be united in the name of art and friendship: Lajolo, thanks to his great culture and sensitivity, used to review exhibitions and catalogues, and the authors, out of gratitude and esteem, would give him something of themselves, a true "exchange of creativity", as his heirs pointed out. An exhibition that should be interpreted as an intimate dialogue between the writer and his painter and sculptor friends. The words that Davide Lajolo dedicated to each author accompany the exhibition and guide the visitor through the years of cultural ferment that followed the Second World War. There are some great names on display, there are the innovations of an era that aims to recover from the horrors and who else could understand this spirit of rebirth more effectively than a partisan writer? Who but Lajolo's sensitivity was able to enter, without prejudice, into the hearts and minds of Guttuso, Ligabue, Manzù, Bodini, Dova, Messina, Carrà, Sassu and many others?
A confidential tale that unfolds in nine sections, where art and literature chase each other and merge.
Davide Lajolo loved Vinchio, but he also loved Nizza Monferrato. He used to call it "my capital" and the city rewarded him by making him an honorary citizen. This special bond dates back to 23 April 1945, when Lajolo and his Garibaldian partisans entered the town and liberated it. His art collection is hosted, along with the Palazzo del Gusto (Palace of Taste) and the Enoteca Regionale di Nizza (Regional Wine Centre), in the historic Palazzo Crova in those streets that are a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and it is the epitome of a story of artistic, cultural and civic commitment.
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