Overview
This four-day course will be held at Palazzo Butera in Palermo, Sicily. The exclusive access will include an extensive tour of the palazzo by the Head Curator Dr Claudio Gulli, who will explain the story of its Renaissance, which houses the eclectic and inspiring art collection of Francesca and Massimo Valsecchi. Throughout the course, art historian Ben Street and Christie’s art specialists will explore Old Masters and Contemporary Art works as well as Decorative Arts whilst also delving into the history of art collections and discussing the future of art, including NFTs.
As part of the programme, you will visit the most significant sites of the city and its surroundings, covering the rich history of Sicily as a meeting point for civilizations for over 2000 years and its influences on the arts, architecture and culture.
*Accommodation and flights are not included, however we are able to provide recommendations. Please also note that our tours include walking and standing in galleries, for anyone with mobility issues, please get in touch with our team to discuss options.
Any Questions?
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Schedule
Day 1 - 20 April 2023
9.30 – 11.30
Palazzo Butera – The Francesca and Massimo Valsecchi Collection
Claudio Gulli
Introducing the art collection housed in the beautiful and innovatively restored spaces of the Palazzo Butera. It will lead through the contemporary art works downstairs to the eclectic collection on the upper floors, where one is invited to a dialogue between the spaces that have been created, the original and recent frescoes, and the wide array of works ranging from Old Masters to Art Nouveau, rare 18th Century porcelain, Arts & Crafts and more.
11.40 - 13.10
The Unfolding of the Sicilian Narrative – A Short History of the Arts and Cultures
Erland Swaving
A lecture introducing Sicily as a meeting point for civilizations, unpeeling over 2000 years of encounters and exchanges, from Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Normans, Spanish and Italians through the lens of art, architecture, literature and film.
13.10 - 14.10
Lunch Palazzo Butera
14.30-17.00
Visit to Monreale
With Valentina and Claudio
The Cathedral, which was conceived by King William II and completed in 1182, is not only one of the most beautiful examples of Norman architecture but is significant as the epitome of confluences of cultures, religions and styles with Norman, Byzantine and Arab influences, and has come to symbolise Sicily as a cosmopolitan hub.
Day 2 - 21 April 2023
9.30 - 11.00
Visit to Palazzo Abatellis
With Claudio Gulli
The 15th Century Catalan-Gothic Palazzo Abatellis houses a regional art museum of fine Sicilian art from predominantly the12th – 18th Century. It is located very close to Palazzo Butera and was the residence of Francesco Abatellis, Master Portulano of the Kingdom.
11.30 – 13.00
Art Markets as Art Mediators – Opinion Leaders and the Connoisseurship Throughout the Ages
Dirk Boll
This lecture talks about the (important but underestimated) role commercial markets have played for the mediation of art. Primary market dealer are often great connoisseurs of the oeuvres of their artists, due to personal insight and intellectual exchange. Their mediation of art they understand well is the closest one can get to the artist’s thinking, at least before art history kicks in and starts academic research work. Once the oeuvre has been canonised, knowledge is usually wider spread, but still the trade and the auction house specialists will have an advantage: Whilst art history books are open to everybody, they see a much higher number of works, so their eye is likely very well “educated” when it comes to artistic oeuvres they work with. Again, this makes them very good ambassadors for this product. And the market players have a powerful platform to operate on, with high visibility. Maybe -at least for a while- the market is more influential to spread the knowledge than the institutions?
13.00 - 14.00
Lunch Palazzo Butera
14.30 - 16.00
How Artists Make Art History
Ben Street
This talk will focus on how modern artists have helped us to see, and re-see, works of art of the past. When artists of the nineteenth century visited the great museum collections of the Old Masters, their engagement with them transformed both modern art itself and our way of understanding the past. Looking closely at the work of painters such as Paul Cezanne, Edouard Manet, Dante Gabriel Rosetti and Edward Burne-Jones and the collections of the Musée du Louvre, Paris, and the National Gallery, London, this talk will show how art practice illuminated the past and changed it forever.
17.00 - 18.30
Visit Palazzo Mazzarino
Claudio Gulli
The early 17th Century Palazzo Mazzarino with hanging gardens and terraces, is located in the heart of Palermo on Via Maqueda.
Before entering the family of the present owner, the marquis of Belingieri, the palace had belonged to the Treasurer of the Kingdom in the early 17th Century, the Branciforte, Lanza and Mazzarino families.
Day 3 - 22 April 2023
9.30 - 11.00
Innovation and Inspiration: Designing and Collecting the Nineteenth Century
Jeremy Howard
11.00 - 12.30
Walkthrough with Jeremy Howard to look at examples of decorative arts in Palazzo Butera, and at the same time the tour will draw attention to how Massimo & Francesca Valsecchi and Giovanni re-created the palace bringing back and restoring original features in combination with their new vision for the building using the best local craftsmanship and tradition.
13.00 - 14.00
Lunch Palazzo Butera
14.30 - 17.00
Villa Bordonare Chiaramonte
Claudio Gulli will explore the cultural journey of this erudite collector, who amassed over 400 paintings and 4000 works of art in his villa which he had extended by the architect Ernesto Basile. The collection attracted the interest of numerous well-known names in the arts such as Bernard Berenson, Adolph Goldschmidt, Gustavo Frizzoni, Hermann Voss and Adolfo Venturi.
19.30
Group Dinner at Villa Bordonare Chiaramonte
Day 4 - 23 April 2023
9.30 - 11.00
Visit highlights of Palermo – Walking tour
11.30 - 13.00
Art History – Old Masters & Contemporary Art: A Comparative Study
Ben Street
A lecture on the evolution of art and movements through conversations between Old Masters and Contemporary Art, based on art historical facts and the visual experience.
13.15 - 14.15
Lunch Palazzo Butera
14.30 - 15.30
Panel discussion: The Art of Collecting
With Francesca and Massimo Valsecchi, Mariolina Bassetti, Claudio Gulli, Dirk Boll, Ben Street and Jeremy Howard.
16.00 - 18.00
Orto Botanico
Led by Claudio Gulli
The Orto Botanico which is a short walking distance from the Palazzo Butera, was conceived in the late 18th Century and as home to 12.000 different species and managed by the University of Palermo, is one of the most important and oldest botanical gardens in Europe. The French architect Leon Dufourney designed the Neo-Classical Gymnasium flanked by a Tepidariumand and Caldarium, as well as the surrounding layout according to Carl Linnaeus’ system of classification.
