A Writer In Italy - travel, books, art and life

A Florentine Cafe & Musings on Women and Art in Italy

Michelle Johnston Season 10 Episode 113

"Solitude is a place I like to go" - Tracey Emin

Welcome to Episode #113:

Today I share some beautiful moments in Bologna and Florence while sitting at a cafe close to Mercato Centrale in the centro storico of Firenze. Exploring art and culture was at the forefront of my experience in Italy on this recent travel adventure and there is no doubt there are many moving parts on this journey of mine. I discover much more than I expect seeing Tracey Emin at the Palazzo Strozzi and the restored artwork of Plautilla Nelli - The Last Supper c.1560 at the Santa Maria Novella.

I mention the Strozzi Gallery and seeing Tracey Emin Sex and Solitude and The Time for Women exhibition that are currently showing in Florence, yet would also like to add while in Milan I went to I am Leonor Fini at the Palazzo Reale and loved her work and the beauty of her rich artist life in Italy and France. It came as quite a surprise to see such a femme de force of art after perusing the NovoCento in Milan, a wonderful museum of 20th and 21st Century modern art, yet certainly I noticed that 99 percent of the work was the art of men, a legacy that obviously reflects something more pertinent to art history and Italian culture. These observations left me pondering the times and the culture of art in Italy and perhaps my own experience as a woman forging ahead in difficult times in the 21st Century.

Enjoy x

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