Image: Frost Art Museum, Miami
The Wolfsonian–FIU is presenting 'La Superba: Genoa and The Wolfsoniana', an installation that uses paintings, travel posters, books and decorative arts to trace Genoa’s role as a mercantile and financial center in the first half of the 20th century. The display is organized as a celebration of The Wolfsoniana’s 20th anniversary and of the long connection between Italy and the United States.
According to the museum’s exhibition information, Genoa is described as an ancient port city with a distinct character and a place known as 'La Superba', or 'the superb'. The Wolfsonian notes that Genoa and its Riviera have long attracted artists and writers from around the world, including museum founder Mitchell “Micky” Wolfson, Jr. The installation draws from the museum’s own collection to build that picture of the city through visual and designed objects rather than through a conventional historical survey.
The exhibition is curated by Silvia Barisione and installed on the sixth floor at The Wolfsonian–FIU, 1001 Washington Avenue in Miami Beach. The museum says the project is organized by The Wolfsonian–FIU and thanks The Wolfsoniana–Palazzo Ducale Fondazione per la Cultura, Genoa, along with contributors to The Wolfsonian–Wolfsoniana Collaboration Fund, for support. The museum also identifies the work as a reflection of the enduring relationship between the two institutions.
The Wolfsonian’s description of the show places particular emphasis on Genoa’s dual identity as a port and a center of commerce. That framing is reinforced by the kinds of works included: the installation features paintings, travel posters, books and decorative arts that together map the city’s image in the early 1900s. Among the highlighted works are Aurelio Craffonara’s poster 'Genova e la Riviera Italiana' from 1931, John MacWhirter’s painting 'The Old Harbor, Genoa – Morning' from 1909, and Alberto Helios Gagliardo’s 'La pietá umana' from 1946.
The object list also includes Alberto Issel’s 'Desk for a lady' from 1901, underscoring the exhibition’s mix of art and design. The museum’s own text on the installation connects The Wolfsoniana to Genoa’s civic history, noting that the collection was gifted by Wolfson to Palazzo Ducale Fondazione per la Cultura, the city’s main cultural center and former residence of the Doge, and that the institution opened to the public in Nervi in 2005. The Wolfsonian refers to The Wolfsoniana as a 'documentarum' that documents the recent past.
'La Superba: Genoa and The Wolfsoniana' is listed as ongoing on the museum’s website. It appears alongside another Wolfsonian display, 'Modern Design Across Borders', which the museum says is also on view through July 19. For 'La Superba', the site gives the place as the sixth floor and does not provide a separate closing date on the exhibition page itself, while the event listing information in the source material notes that it is on view through July 19.
