From 29 October 2021 to 30 January 2022, the Fortress of Bard will host an important anthological exhibition dedicated to Antonio Ligabue, one of the greatest artists of the 20th century, covering his entire artistic career. The exhibition, curated by Sandro Parmiggiani, aims to acquaint the public with the various different modes of artistic expression used by Ligabue and the impressive results he managed to achieve with each technique: 90 works in all, with approximately 50 paintings including some real masterpieces  – Caccia grossa (Big game), 1929; Circo (Circus), 1941-42 ca.; Tigre reale (Royal Bengal tiger), 1941; Leopardo con serpente (Leopard with snake), 1955-56; Caccia (Hunt), 1955; Autoritratto con cavalletto (Self-portrait with easel), 1954-55; Autoritratto con spaventapasseri (Self-portrait with scarecrows), 1957-58; Autoritratto (Self-portrait), 1957 – as well as sculptures, drawings and engravings, borrowed from private collections, public galleries and banks.

Two main themes run through the artist’s work: exotic, wild animals, creatures of the forest, and self-portraits, representing a painful chapter in his life imbued with bitterness and poetry. But there are other subjects as well, such as scenes from rural life and domestic animals. The exhibition also pays particular attention, for the first time, to his sculpture: a substantial body of over twenty works in bronze, mainly of animals. Another recurring theme in Ligabue’s paintings is the Po Valley’s flat landscape with the castles and houses of his native Switzerland, topped by spires and fluttering banners, clearly visible in the background: all perfectly true-to-life, the product of a memory that clung tenaciously to images that remained vivid throughout his life.

Info
Fort Bard Association
Bard (Aosta)
Tel. + 39 0125 833811 | info@fortedibard.it  

Opening times
Tuesday-Friday: 10.00-18.00
Saturday, Sunday and public holidays: 10.00-19.00
Monday: closed

Tickets
Full 10 euro | Reduced 8 euro | Schools 5 euro