Villa Menafoglio Litta Panza

This month I have been spending quite a bit of time in the area of Varese, which is about 55 kilometers north-northwest of Milan. The only time I had been there previously was to attend an exhibition at the Villa Menafoglio Litta Panza. Part of the FAI (Fondo Ambiente Italiano), which is the equivalent of the British National Trust, Villa Panza is open to view throughout the year, 10 am-6 pm daily except Mondays. In addition to the beautiful Italian gardens, the Villa also houses a part of the Giuseppe Panza collection of late-20th-century art. With a special emphasis on Minimal, Conceptual, Postminimal, and Environmental art produced between about 1965 and 1975, the collection consists of some 2,500 pieces. Artists represented include Carl André, Dan Flavin, Hamish Fulton, Robert Irwin, Donald Judd, Joseph Kosuth, Sol LeWitt, Richard Long, Brice Marden, Robert Mangold, Bruce Nauman, Richard Nonas, Richard Serra, Joel Shapiro, James Turrell, Lawrence Weiner, and Doug Wheeler. Many of the works in the collection depend on a specific site to be envisioned and built. In the early 1970s, Panza commissioned several of these types of environments for Villa Menafoglio Litta Panza, inviting Flavin, Irwin, Maria Nordman, and Turrell to create permanent installations for the space. Some 350 of the pieces were bought by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation of New York, but have been on permanent loan to the FAI since 1992.

Transports Of Delight

I may have mentioned my stupendously expensive, and enormously enjoyable, lunch in the village of Ranco just outside Angera on Lago Maggiore. Well, I went back there the other Sunday. Not to eat, even though the experience was a feast for the eyes and the senses. This time it was to visit the Transport Museum, which a friend just knew that I would like. I did not. I adored it. Set up as a private passion by a certain Francesco Olgiari, the museum looks at all forms of transport. There are quite a few locomotives as well as trams -- horse-drawn as well as electric -- and there is even a reconstruction of a coalmine in Sardinia and the trucks that ran on tracks to bring out the coal, and other minerals. As a mountainous country, Italy has its fair share of single-track railways that are amazing feats of engineering in the first instance and then extraordinary ways to see the countryside. There are several examples of these in the Transport Museum at Ranco. One is a cabin from the Como-Brunate cable car. If you know Como, you will have seen the track going up to the top of the hillside behind the town. Brunate was and is a summer resort for the well-heeled of the area who built lovely villas. Worth an outing if you are around.

Then there are some Milan tramcars, the 1928 version which are still going strong. I am not sure if it is an urban myth, but they say round here that San Francisco has bought some and they are in use in the city. Perhaps some of our readers from SF can put us straight on that.

There's also an example of one of the Milan trolley-buses as well as a carriage from the city's metro.

As well as the vehicles themselves, there are pictures, posters, and accessories. The things I think I loved best were those metal plaques that are still hung on the sides of long-distance Italian railway cars to tell you where the train is going. Apart from being able to spot some of the journeys I have taken -- Paris-Venice in the days when it was just a train and no longer the Orient Express and before it became it again, if you see what I mean -- I saw some that sparked memories of Italian history. Why would there have been a Naples-Dortmund express if not to transport the emigrant workers in the 1950s and 1960s to their new place of work? Looking at these is a bit like looking at railway timetables. I did not see many of those, although there was one that showed how it used to take two hours to get from Gallarate to Varese. That's what it still feels like, but it is only 15 minutes.

I also saw pictures of the tramcar that used to run from Florence to Fiesole via San Domenico. No trace of that now -- even though in Firenze some people do still talk about taking the "tram." There were also some bus-stop signs from Florence, from years ago, that showed the 36 and 37 bus to Galluzzo and Tavernuzze.

Until the end of March, the transport museum at Ranco is open 3-5 pm daily except Monday. After that, the hours are: 10 am-noon and 3-6 pm. Admission is free. Donations are welcome, and a guidebook is available. Click here for more information. A word of advice. This museum really does feel like a place to go take a "sentimental journey," so it is probably better suited to adults or older children.

Visiting Ranco reminded me that there are still plenty of really fun ways to get from A to B. The Cento Valli railway is one, taking you from Domodossola to Locarno in Switzerland. (The Transport Museum at Ranco features some posters.) Not sure that there are one hundred valleys, but there is so much to look at that you soon lose count, and anyway it does not matter because there are also myriad gorges and waterfalls, not to mention woodlands and forest, as well as cable car tracks that promise thrilling views. The train makes various stops, and that serves to reminds you that this is not just a tourist thing. It is also the lifeline for people who live out in the mountains. Another I recommend is the "little red" Bernina express train that leaves from Tirano takes you to Saint Moritz over the Bernina Pass, which is 2,400 meters, and pretty impressive, I can tell you.

Toying With The Past

Another place we visited recently was the Rocca Borromeo at Angera. Originally a Roman fortification, the Rocca dominates the southern end of Lago Maggiore. As you can imagine, the views are magnificent. In addition to interesting 14th-century Gothic frescoes in the Sala di Giustizia, the Rocca also includes other affreschi removed from Palazzo Borromeo in Milan. Another attraction is the Toy Museum. This is quite interesting but, again, is perhaps more suitable for adults, who -- at least as far as the mid-20th century exhibits are concerned - can reminisce about what they had, what they did not have, what the other kids had, and so forth. What is il gioco dell'oca anyway? Click here for more information.

Dining In Style

The Rocca Borromeo is part of the Castelli & Ville association, which consists of 30 historic properties in the Lombardy region, most of them open from April through to the end of October. The association also organizes special events. One of these is called Invito a Cena (Invitation to Dinner). For the winter season, the dates are as follows: Saturday November, 8, Castello di San Gaudenzio at Cervesina, near Pavia, Friday November 14, at one of the three Castelli di Bellinzona, which are just over the border into Switzerland and are among the UNESCO World Heritage sites. On Saturday November 15, you can eat at Castello di Casiglio near Erba, a town close to Como. On the following Saturday, the location is Palazzo Borromeo Arese at Cesano Maderno, some 15 kilometers from Milan. The last place on the season's list is Castello di Grumello at Grumello del Monte, a short distance from Bergamo. The date there is Saturday November 29. Reservations are, of course, essential and can be made by clicking here for the Castelli & Ville site, where the menu may also be perused. If you miss these dates and, let's face it, most of us will, don't worry. The program will be resumed in the late spring of 2004.

Making An Exhibition Of Themselves

Last month's Roberta Reports featured a huge number of exhibitions. While there are fewer new offerings this month, there are still plenty of options. Here's a quick round-up. In Piacenza, you can explore the work of Ludovico Mosconi, a local artist who exhibited widely in Europe. Eighty of his paintings will be shown as part of the exhibition called Inquiete Stelle which runs to January 18, 2004 at Palazzo Gotico. Closing on the same day at the Museo del Corso in Rome will be Fabergé -- l'orafo degli Zar. The show, "Fabergé, The Tsars' Goldsmith," features 75 objects, including three eggs from the Kremlin Museum in Moscow. Coming up at the end of February and running to mid-July is Perugino -- il divin pittore, which will be split between several locations: Perugia, Cittŕ della Pieve, Deruta, and Corciano.

Advertising The Fact

On Monday November 3, I am off to the press preview of the Museum of Advertising at the Castello di Rivoli just outside Turin. As well as a permanent collection, the museum will also be holding exhibitions. Rather than being a museum of Italian advertising, of which there are a number of small examples in various parts of the country, the Rivoli concern is designed to look at pubblicitŕ, as advertising is called in Italian, in the worldwide context. Thus, one of the key features, located in the impressive Manica Lunga gallery, will be over 300 TV commercials from the 1950s to the present day, many of which have won awards at Cannes and Venice.

The second floor of the exhibition space, meanwhile, will display a selection of advertising posters from the 1930s through to the 1960s. Artists include Severo Pozzati (SEPO), Marcello Nizzoli, Raymond Peynet, Nico Edel, Gino Boccasile, and Leonetto Cappiello.

The exhibition also includes 16 sets representing the "imaginary spaces" that advertising conjures, whether these be the backdrops for TV spots, or press ads.

The exhibition runs to February 29, 2004. The 200-page catalogue is by Skira. As well as over 90 color photos, there are critical essays by leading Italian commentators, such as Alberto Abruzzese, Rossana Bonadei (with Federico Andreotti), Franco Farinelli, Franco La Cecla, Ugo Volli, as well as Annamaria Testa (with Cristina D'Addato and Davide Jabes).

The Artist's Studio

Rivoli is a short drive from the center of Turin. I may also stop off in town and see L'officina del mago -- l'artista nel suo atelier 1900-1950. Being held in Palazzo Cavour, this exhibition focuses on the place where artistic creation takes place. The show takes it name from the painting by one of my favorite artists of the beginning of the twentieth century: Fortunato Depero. In it, we see Mr. and Mrs. Depero at work. He is painting and drawing, while she is weaving and embroidering. Other artists included in the show include Giuseppe Pellizza da Volpedo, Giorgio de Chirico, Giacomo Balla, Filippo de Pisis, Mario Sironi, and Carlo Levi -- whom many people know better as the author of the memoir Christ Stopped at Eboli, where he tells of his being sent into internal exile in Basilicata during the Fascist era. You have until February 8.

What A Picture

One site I would recommend in Turin is the Museum of the Cinema at the Mole Antonelliana. The building itself, which features on the back of the Italian one Eurocent coin, is pretty amazing, and has become the symbol of Turin. A word on the name. It was designed by one Alessandro Antonelli and, as you may know, one of several ways of forming an adjective in Italian is to add iano/a to the end of the word in question (OK, not Dante, which becomes dantesco, but you know what I mean). That gives us antonelliano. Meanwhile mole has nothing to do with little furry animals, or small skin blemishes, but indeed means "a great big mass." According to the Blue Guide to Northern Italy, the Mole Antonelliana "was much admired by Nietzsche." (Make of that what you will.) The space is quite extraordinary and has enabled the designers to conjure some extraordinary effects. If you have seen the Museum of the Moving Image in New York, don't pass this one up. It's quite, quite different. Click here for details of the Cinema Museum.

Great Things To See At The Belvedere

Opening on November 23 and running to December 23 2004, the exhibition Trentuno dicembre Millenovecentosessanta is also the last event of the TusciaElecta 2002-2003 Arte Contemporanea nel Chianti initiative, and is being held in the Forte Belvedere in Florence. Confused? Who wouldn't be? Let's make it simple. The date referred to in the title of the exhibition: December 31, 1960 is when photographer Paola De Pietri was born. For this, her first solo show, she tracked down other people who were born on the same day, filmed them and recorded their voices. The outcome is six videos, the objective being to observe the differences (or the similarities, perhaps) between people who have lived the same number of days in a set period.

As for TusciaElecta, this is sponsored by the municipalities of the Chianti fiorentino and Chianti senese, and although most of the events take place within that area, one exhibition is always held in Florence. Now in its fourth session, TusciaElecta has previously included contributions from artists such as Bill Viola, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Luciano Berio, and Ryuichi Sakamoto. That the exhibition lasts until next December even though TusciaElecta finishes officially at the end of this December which is, I guess, just one of those small mercies we are always being told to be grateful for. The catalogue to the show at the Fortezza is by Maschietto Editore. Click here for more details.

Tasty Hideaway

Just to conclude, I had a lovely dinner the other evening at a little trattoria in Milan called La Pergola. Totally central and quite hidden away, it is ten minutes walk from the Duomo and yet is in a secluded location in a little cobbled alleyway (called Vicolo Santa Caterina) that runs between Largo Ricchini and Piazza San Nazaro. This is just the sort of place you wish there were more of. Reputedly one of the oldest restaurants in Milan, La Pergola deserves to be better known. Well, actually, no it doesn't. It's very small, and you really do need to make reservations. Call 02-5830-7392 (closed Sundays). So, let's keep this one strictly to ourselves, OK?

By Roberta Kedzierski, Milan

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