ROME: MUSES OF THE BELLE EPOQUE

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Rome's Villa Torlonia hosts a fascinating tribute to the famous women dancers of the Belle Epoque by the artist Maria Cristina Crespo in the whimsical Casina delle Civette (Little Owl House) in the villa grounds. The exhibition, entitled Il Giardino delle Muse Danzanti (the Garden of the Dancing Muses) displays the ceramic heads of eight mythical performers such as Mata Hari, Isadora Duncan and Ida Rubenstein in the form of vases containing the flowers that were symbols of the craftsmen and artists of the Liberty movement.

These women were not simply performers, explains Maria Cristina, They were independent and emancipated when most women were confined to secondary roles in society. They were highly intelligent and cultured. Many, like Ida Rubenstein and the eccentric millionairess Marchesa Casati were in their turn patrons of the arts.

The influence of these women on the society of the late 19th-early 20th centuries has not been sufficiently appreciated, according to Crespo. These dancers had affaires with half the crowned heads of Europe, political leaders and artists. The Russian dancer Olga Koklova was Pablo Picasso's first wife when he lived in Rome's Via Margutta. The American Loie Fuller, considered to be the fore-runner of modern dance, used special effects in her performances and her Danse Serpentine was immortalized by the Lumire Brothers in 1897. The Bella Otero was a star of the Folies Berge, as well as being mistress of, among others, King Edward VII of Britain and the Italian poet Gabriele D'Annunzio. The aristocratic Clio de Merode, secret mistress of King Leopold II of Belgium, posed for leading Impressionist artists like Toulouse-Lautrec and Degas.

Crespo investigated the histories of these women, uncovering many little known facts and secrets of their lives, which she has published in a book of biographies with the title Il Giardino delle Muse Danzanti: Le Dannunziane. The exhibition, in fact, is part of the centenary celebrations of the birth of Italian poet, WW1 war hero and noted libertine, Gabriele D'Annunzio,

The exhibition runs until the 28 June 2015 Tues/Sun:9am-7pm

M. Stenhouse

 

Info:  www.museivllatorlonia.it  

 

 

Posted on 25 Jun 2015 by Editor
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