Arte e Arti

Abbiamo cominciato a pensare a questo articolo un paio di mesi fa, in giorni in cui nel nostro Paese la cultura era al centro di sventurate notizie: dal caso dell’autista del camion di rifiuti che, per distrazione, facendo retromarcia distrusse il porticato della chiesa rinascimentale che custodiva uno dei capolavori di Pontormo, all’epoca dei fatti fortunatamente “altrove” per una mostra, ai tweet dei politici che rilevavano come in oltre un’ora di discorso di presentazione al Senato del Presidente del Consiglio la parola cultura non fosse mai stata pronunciata. Proprio in quel momento dall’estero arrivavano notizie, diffuse anche dalla stampa italiana, circa una particolare quanto interessante mostra promossa dal LACMA di Los Angeles. Incuriositi abbiamo deciso di approfondire il tema, con la lettura del catalogo e un interessante scambio di battute con la curatrice Naoko Takahatake, che riportiamo in calce all’articolo.
Un’opportuna precisazione circa il Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) è dovuta, museo che essendo nato solo nel 1965 risulta piuttosto giovane agli occhi degli europei, ma che grazie alla sua collezione di oltre 135.000 oggetti spalmati su 6000 anni di storia è il più grande degli Stati Uniti occidentali.
Proprio qui dallo scorso 3 giugno fino al 16 settembre va in scena la mostra The Chiaroscuro Woodcut in Renaissance Italy, che in ottobre si sposterà nella sede dell’istituzione collaboratrice, la National Gallery of Art di Washington.

“Tanto clamore per nulla?” Sarà forse il primo pensiero di qualche lettore ormai abituato alle sensazionalistiche mostre che plaudiamo giornalmente a Casa Nostra dove tali eventi, ognuno di volta in volta dedicato a una star dell’arte europea capace di incuriosire diverse migliaia di visitatori, non mancano. Nulla di male, ben inteso, ma oltre a rimanere favorevolmente colpiti, crediamo sia opportuno mettere sul tavolo un breve spunto di riflessione, focalizzando l’interesse non tanto sui contenuti ma su come un grande museo straniero abbia deciso di dedicare ad un tema, per la propria cultura certamente secondario e di nicchia, un grande evento frutto della collaborazione tra diverse istituzioni internazionali e di oltre un decennio di studi specifici, riuscendo sinanco a vantare una diffusione della notizia oltre i confini del proprio continente.
Sicuramente, e questo è di grande aiuto, i cugini americani possono contare su risorse diverse, frutto di un mecenatismo sostanzioso e strutturato che ha modo di sostenere la cultura (la mostra è infatti realizzata col supporto della Robert Lehman Foundation -intitolata a colui al quale il Metropolitan Museum ha dedicato un’intera ala per conservarne l’incredibile lascito-, della Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, dalla Annenberg Foundatione, con la partecipazione dell’Istituto Italiano di Cultura in Los Angeles, del LACMA Prints and Drawings Council, e infine dell’International Fine Print Dealers Association). 
Tuttavia la chiave di volta sembra essere la disponibilità da parte dei fruitori della mostra ad accogliere temi certamente meno noti, forse apparentemente più complessi, ma culturalmente nutrienti.
A dover di cronaca c’è ovviamente da ricordare che, chi avesse avuto modo di visitare nel 2012 la mostra “Carte che paion fatte col pennello”: chiaroscuri italiani dal Cinquecento al Settecento organizzata dal Gabinetto Disegni e Stampe degli Uffizi conoscerà già molto bene il tema, descritto da quella mostra che fu, come d’uso per quel luogo, un piccolo gioiello. Gioielli appunto, che istituzioni meritevoli continuano a promuovere, rischiando tuttavia di rimanere sempre più spesso adombrate dai grandi eventi del “mostrificio” all’italiana.
Venendo al succo della mostra, il chiaroscuro, noto nel nostro Paese in quanto tecnica xilografica squisitamente italiana ascrivibile a un periodo storico compreso a grandi linee tra il 1516 e i primissimi anni del Seicento, è a tutti gli effetti una tecnica di stampa di grande raffinatezza, che permette a chi la possiede quasi di dissimulare col duro legno l’effetto morbido e soffuso del pennello.

La mostra, la prima grande esposizione americana legata al tema, si focalizza su un centinaio di stampe a chiaroscuro provenienti da 19 musei prestatori con l’intento, secondo Michael Govan amministratore delegato dell’Istituzione, di celebrare attraverso illustri antichi esempi la nomea della città di Los Angeles, rinomata per il suo appoggio alle tecniche di stampa e di collaborazione tra artisti e stampatori: mecenatismo vecchio e nuovo a dialogo.
Tra le varie tecniche di stampa il chiaroscuro è certamente una di quelle rimasta meno compresa, e da qui è partito il lavoro d’equipe guidato da Naoko Takahatake, che grazie ad un lavoro decennale ha messo a frutto i risultati ottenuti da storci dell’arte, conservatori, e scienziati ognuno dei quali ha indagato la tecnica sotto la lente della propria specialità, arricchendo e ampliando il panorama di competenze a riguardo. Non solo studi critici e attribuzionistici quindi – che peraltro hanno analizzato l’opera di diversi artisti tutti italiani che a partire dall’invenzione di Girolamo da Carpi in poi si dedicarono al chiaroscuro- ma anche indagini sui materiali usati, sulla tecnica che è stata ripercorsa simulandone varianti e passaggi esecutivi documentati in calce al catalogo, chiudendo infine con un censimento delle principali filigrane documentate.
All’alba di una ennesima nuova legislatura, che dovrebbe sempre rappresentare un’occasione di verifica e cambiamento, la riflessione vecchia ma sempre attuale resta quindi la stessa: come passare dal consumo di cultura “da selfie” ad uno più sostanziale che indirizzi alla crescita, personale e civile?

Si riporta di seguito l’intervista rilasciata da Naoko Takahatake, curatrice del Prints and Drawings department del Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)

– We found very interesting the idea of focusing an exhibition over a minor Italian artistic technique such as the chiaroscuro, and  we also appreciated (and find it curious as well) it was done by an important American Institution. How the idea to dedicate an exhibition to chiaroscuro woodcut in LA was born?
I began studying chiaroscuro woodcuts at the National Gallery of Art in Washington (where the exhibition will travel in October), prior to becoming a curator at LACMA. I soon understood that these works of art represented an ideal subject for an exhibition: visually striking, historically significant, and technically complex, they offered rich research possibilities and were certain to appeal broadly to visitors. It was exciting to think we might make a significant scholarly contribution while also introducing these beautiful prints to new audiences. LACMA has long supported the art of the print, and the director as well as my colleagues throughout the institution enthusiastically embraced the project. There is a meaningful connection between the pioneering technique of chiaroscuro and the world-renowned, technically innovative printmaking that has been practiced in Los Angeles for decades.

– Did the supporters (public and private) had an important role in supporting the project?
We are grateful to all the supporters who recognized the importance of this exhibition and generously contributed to its realization. Their participation enabled us to conduct our research, produce the catalogue, borrow important works from 18 American and British collections, and present these treasures beautifully, and thoughtfully, to our public.

– In your opinion, what is the most important contribution that this exhibition will leave to scholars?
Despite the chiaroscuro woodcut’s historical significance – such artists as Titian, Raphael, Parmigianino, and Beccafumi engaged with it – it has remained one of the least understood phenomena of Renaissance printmaking.  Notably, much confusion around the attribution and chronology of Italian chiaroscuro woodcuts has persisted, which has impeded a clear view of their creative evolution. This is because there is little historical evidence about chiaroscuro production: few documentary records survive, the prints generally lack signatures and dates, and the identities of many practitioners are obscure. In the light of this, we turned to the physical characteristics of the prints themselves as our primary evidence. By interpreting the material facts of chiaroscuro woodcuts – the formulation of printing inks, the printing procedures, and the physical traits of the paper – we have been able to resolve some long contested workshop attributions and convey a more comprehensive history of the technique’s development.
Beyond the specifics of attribution and chronology of chiaroscuro woodcuts, however, I believe the interdisciplinary, collaborative approach of our research itself, which pooled the skills of art historians, conservators, and scientists, is a noteworthy contribution to print scholarship.

– Among the international institutions with wich LACMA has collaborated, is there one that the research group considers particularly significant?
The works in the exhibition are primarily from American institutions, with additional loans from British collections.  As the first major exhibition on chiaroscuro woodcuts in the United States, we felt it was especially important to show the rich holdings in this country. Great chiaroscuro impressions can be found not only in major museums, but also in libraries and smaller university museum collections. However, our research took us to collections around the world, many of which we visited repeatedly over the years.  Because our investigation greatly relied on the physical evidence of the prints, all the works we consulted added in some way to our knowledge and understanding of the Renaissance chiaroscuro workshops. Therefore, it is difficult to single out one collection. Some of the oldest and largest repositories of chiaroscuros are in Europe – the British Museum, London; Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris; Albertina, Vienna; Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam; Kupferstichkabinett, Berlin; Gabinetto dei disegni e delle stampe degli Uffizi, Florence, to name but a few.  And there are several equally important collections in the United States – notably, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Library of Congress, Washington.

– How the LACMA’s main collection was formed?
LACMA’s prints and drawings collection comprises over 25,000 works spanning five centuries of Western graphic production. Founded in 1947, it is one of the most important repositories of prints and drawings in the western United States. Prints of the Italian Renaissance, and in particular chiaroscuro woodcuts, constitute a rich vein thanks to the major bequest from Mary Stansbury Ruiz in the late 1980s, as well as more recent important donations and acquisitions. LACMA’s chiaroscuro holdings were critical to our technical research, and several are featured in the exhibition.

– What are the best, most representative, or unique pieces of the exhibition?
This is also a difficult question to answer, because we sought out for the exhibition the most beautiful, representative works as well as those of greatest rarity. Perhaps the most celebrated Renaissance chiaroscuro woodcut is Diogenes, made by Ugo da Carpi in collaboration with Parmigianino, which is shown in three early impressions.  Other well known works are: Martyrdom of Two Saints by Antonio da Trento after Parmigianino, Saturn by Niccolò Vicentino after Pordenone, and the monumental Triumph of Caesar by Andrea Andreani (printed from 43 blocks). It is important to note that chiaroscuro woodcuts are among the most rare prints of the Renaissance, and some works are less familiar because they survive in so few impressions. This is especially the case for several superb works issued from smaller workshops, such as Nicolò Boldrini’s Tree with Two Goats, or the chiaroscuros after Antonio Campi and Marco Pino. We have been able to include some works in the exhibition, like Lucantonio degli Uberti’s Witches and Domenico Beccafumi’s Three Male Nudes, which are known to scholars in only one or two impressions each.

– In your opinion the exhibition catalogue will remains as an official bibliography for the chiaroscuro?
The catalogue aims to provide the most comprehensive study to date of the subject. It not only examines works in the exhibition, but also documents a decade of research in some 40 collections worldwide. The contributions by art historians and a conservator offer the most thorough analysis of the chiaroscuro woodcut’s technical processes, as well as fresh perspectives on its historical context and creative evolution.

– In a general overview in which scholars tend to focus solely on their discipline, this exhibition shows how collaboration can give unexpected results increasing the knowledge over the theme. Can you briefly describe how you developed your pioneering interdisciplinary research?
In 2008, as a curatorial fellow at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, I met Linda Stiber Morenus, senior conservator at the neighboring Library of Congress. Fortuitously, we were both in the early stages of researching chiaroscuro woodcuts, and immediately recognized the complementary knowledge we brought to the subject. While I had an academic art historical background in Italian Renaissance printmaking, Linda had deep technical expertise and experience in examining works on paper. 
Over the years, we have examined countless prints together and openly exchanged ideas, building upon and refining each other’s findings. Our interdisciplinary research broadened in scope when I joined LACMA, which has an active conservation center. I was fortunate to enlist the help of three LACMA colleagues – conservation scientists Charlotte Eng and Diana Rambaldi, conservation scientists, and conservator Erin Jue – who generously contributed to our study, especially the material investigation of the colorants used in chiaroscuro woodcut printing inks.
Such technical art history, which combines the skills of art historians, conservators, and material scientists, is not new – but ours is the first exhibition on the chiaroscuro woodcut to incorporate such interdisciplinary research. As the catalogue demonstrates, this approach yielded a wealth of new information.  Indeed, this collaboration was one of the most fruitful and rewarding aspects of the project.