‘Visions From the North’ Show & Free Tour

Open March 4 – May 21: Visions From the North: Estonian Painting from Enn Kunila’s Collection 1910-1940. Museo Novecento of 20th Century Art, Piazza Santa Maria Novella 10, Florence. Exhibition: €4, museum full price €8,50, under 18 free of charge

In an effort to expand their already expansive compilation of modern European art, the Museo Novecento brings a temporary exhibit featuring Estonian paintings– the first time Florence has ever seen a private collection this large comprised solely of contemporary northeastern European artists. Curated by Eero Epner, Visions From the North is composed of pieces from Estonian entrepreneur Enn Kunila’s broad personal collection that he has spent about 25 years accumulating.

Walking from room to room, it is impossible to dispute the influences that the French and Central European Impressionists have had on these painters: with the broad and wild brushstrokes, stimulating bright color schemes, and gorgeous natural landscapes, the Nordic works encapsulate the connection with nature and the fascination of life that early Modernist painters strived to recreate on canvas.

Instead of the twinkly streets of Paris, we see the muted pinks and whites of a snowy Tallinn suburb, and the vibrant greens and oranges of a gorgeous Finnish sunset.

To reserve a spot at a free special guided visit in English with the collection’s curator on March 4, email segreteria.museonovecento@muse.comune.fi.it The guided tours will commence at 11, 12, and 15:30. Space is limited.

The two room exhibition includes artists such as Ants Laikmaa, Elmar Kits, Villem Ormisson, and Nikolai Trikk. Visions From the North pays particular attention to Konrad Mägi, who is considered the first and the most influential Modern Estonian painter.

Dedicating a whole room to Mägi, a self-taught painter whose expressive and emphatically bright pieces cause one’s heart to stir and eyes to explore the magic of nature, the exhibit places great importance on the animating principle of Northern European landscapes.

After over 100 years of Estonian Modernist art hidden away in Northern Europe, Enn Kunila says “it’s not too late to share the art of this small but wonderful country with the rest of the world,” and what better place than our own Florence.  (tessa lucia debole)