Federica Galli (1932-2009) is one of the best-known Italian printmakers of her generation, an indefatigable creator who in the course of her long career created a unique vision of Italian landscape, the Venetian lagoon and the city of Venice itself.
Galli captured in her etchings an empty, almost imaginary Venice, a city of mostly modest narrow streets, deserted campi and small canals, rather than the Venice of the sumptuous palazzi of the Grand Canal, monumental churches and celebrated tourist sites. When those appear in her prints they are rendered as reflections on the water or viewed from high above as if detached from reality and human presence.
Hers is an intimate and melancholy vision that despite the exactitude and accuracy of her views infuses the city with a dream-like, slightly surreal quality. The same dream-like quality is discernible in her renderings of the Venetian lagoon and ancient trees and landscapes from many parts of Italy. Her asymmetrical compositions, bird’s eye views of the city, the fine quality of her drawing and the luster of her inks recall the delicate beauty of Japanese woodblock prints.
In retrospect her view of Italy is that of a nature and towns modernity hasn’t yet touched. Mass tourism, suburban and industrial sprawl are wholly absent from her vision. She has managed to preserve in the etchings of her home country a meditative quality, a sense of solitude and contemplation, a feeling of quiet beauty that acts as balm against the irritations and stress of the modern world.
Her prints were exhibited for the first time in Greece at the Old Fortress of Corfu and at the municipal gallery in Athens in 1996 but have not been shown since. She has exhibited in many prestigious institutions during her career, among others : the Palazzo dei Diamanti, Ferrara, Fondazione Cini, Venice, Palazzo del Te, Mantova, Accademia di Firenze, Castello Sforzesco di Milano (retrospective of 182 etchings), the Imperial Archives of the Forbidden City in Beijing, China and the Palazzo dei Pio – Carpi, Modena.
The Fondazione Federica Galli and Chris Boïcos Fine Arts are grateful for the opportunity to show an important retrospective of Federica Galli’s oeuvre in the supremely beautiful setting of the Municipal Gallery of Corfu in the old Governor’s palace. The Venetian history, architecture and gardens of old Corfu provide indeed the ideal setting for Galli’s nostalgic vision of Italy’s ancient trees and the discreet beauty of the back streets and canals of Venice. Lorenza Salamon, president of the Fondazione Galli, Milano will be giving a slide lecture in Italian on the artist in the Palace lecture hall of the Municipal Art Gallery of Corfu on Saturday 10 July at 8pm. The lecture will be translated into Greek by Chris Boïcos.
Venice
Saint Mark’s Basin
Venetian Lagoon
Landscapes and Trees
