Frascione Gallery, Worth Avenue’s newest art gallery, presents its inaugural exhibition “Timelessness” featuring rare Old Masters, Modern, and Contemporary paintings and sculptures. The exhibition opens on February 13th in anticipation of an influx of visitors to Palm Beach’s renowned luxury shopping and dining destination for Valentine’s Day and Presidents’ Day weekend. “Timelessness” runs through Saturday, March 30th, Frascione Gallery, 256 Worth AvenueVia Amore, Suite O, Palm Beach, FL, 33480, frascione.com. Curated by Massimo Pulini in partnership with Aria Art Gallery in Florence, Italy, “Timelessness” explores how art transcends time and place. Art never ceases to tell different stories to everyone and this narrative is tied to a remote time and distant geography. The exhibition aims to serve as a laboratory for researching these connections, giving rise to dialectical forms between the past and present, near and remote. Exhibiting artists include: Girolamo Forabosco (Venice, ca. 1605 – Padua 1679); Nicola Samorì (Italy, 1977); Carlo Dolci (Florence, 1616-1687); Ettore Frani (Italy, 1978); Giovanni Battista Vanni (Florence, 1599 – Pistoia, 1660); Fabrizio Corneli (Italy, 1958); Master of the Scandicci Lamentation (Florence, late 15c. early 16c.; Salustiano (Spain, 1965); Giuliano Bugiardini (Florence, 1476-1555); Diango Hernandez (Cuba, 1970); Benvenuto di Giovanni (Siena, 1436-1518); Carole Feuerman (USA, 1945); Evangelista di Pian di Meleto (ca. 1460 – Urbino, 1549); and Michelangelo Bastiani (Italy, 1979). Correlations Between Old Masters and Modern & Contemporary Pulini’s curation fosters dialogues between Old Master paintings placed side-by-side. He comments, “each work of art is the result of a time and space; a history and geography. Its existence releases new stories in every era and place that hosts it.”
Girolamo Forabosco (Venice, ca. 1605 – Padua, 1679), Christ Giving Blessing (ca. 1640) and Nicola Samorì, (b. 1977, Italy), Well of the Prophet (2023-2024) “The world, human existence and art have ancient wounds – an original sin that binds us and around which we can recognize ourselves.” Well of the Prophet by Nicola Samori is precious and age-old. An onyx shows a deep wound in the center, running diagonally with branches wrinkled to the left. The face mirrors that of Christ Giving Blessing by Girolamo Forabosco . Christ still looks to the viewer, but at the same time, is swallowed up by the well of ancestral matter.
Benvenuto di Giovanni (Siena, 1436-1518), Madonna with Child, St. John the Baptist, and St. Jerome (ca. 1475-1480) and Carole Feuerman (USA, 1945), Chrysalis, gold (2019) “The fifteenth-century composure, still mindful of the hieratic icon, can now also be found in a meditative wellness practice.” Like the Madonna with Child, the head of Feuerman’s young swimmer is also surrounded by gold. The gesture of her clasped hands allows her to transcend centuries and cultures, establishing an eloquent connection with the ancient made of pure forms, symbols, and silence.
Evangelista di Pian di Meleto (Pian di Meleto, ca. 1460 – Urbino, 1549), Saint Sebastian (ca. 1500) and Michelangelo Bastiani (Italy, 1979), The Dancer (2021) “A saint tied to a tree speaks to us of stoic endurance and the sublimation of the limit is also narrated by a new genie in the lamp – a dancer who has the strength of a tornado.” Compared to San Sebastian’s stoic endurance, the Dancer stands as an antinomy, if not as a redemption for the martyr’s imprisonment.
Giovanni Battista Vanni (Florence, 1599 – Pistoia, 1660), David with Goliath’s Head (ca. 1623) and Fabrizio Corneli (Italy, 1958), Hexagonal Hyperborean (1996) “The gait of a dance step unites two works with opposite meanings: the trophy of victory and death is contrasted with a gift of light.”
About Massimo Pulini Massimo Pulini, who was born in Cesena, Italy, is an Italian painter and art historian. He teaches painting at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Bologna and is considered to be one of the most influential art historians in the field of both national and international art. Pulini has published several essays about, in particular, artists of the 1600s. He is also the consultant for the Luigi Koelliker’s collection, one of the most important private collections of 17th century European paintings. In 2011 he published his first novel, along with some monographs on 17th century artists. He has written several historical books about the artists of the 1600s.
Pulini’s artistic career started in 1975, when he got his first solo exhibition at the Galleria Comunale d’Arte in Cesena (FC). He has since displayed his works in many important private and public galleries, such as: Palazzo Strozzi and at F.I.A.C. Grand Palais in Paris in in 1982; Palazzo dei Priori in Perugia in 1984; Galerie Koller in Zurigo in 1987; Palazzo della Pilotta in Parma in 1999; Galleria di Arte Moderna e Contemporanea in San Gimignano (Italy) in 2003. In 2002, commissioned by the Vatican Museum, he decorated the vault of one of the Pope’s rooms.
From 1977 to 1979, Pulini worked on a series of assemblages, where he combined images and textiles or papers. It is after this first period of experimentation that the artist started to make his images overlap and interact on a single surface, painting them with the classical process of oil on canvas. His painting skills of traditional mold applied to the attention towards the history of art, create works of great success in the critical and artistic world.
Pulini’s paintings led to the rediscovery of abandoned expressive means, through the usage of techniques and figurative representations belonging to seventeenth-century artistic culture.
The artist’s personal research has various phases and is distinguished also by the use of different mediums, keeping his interest in the history of paintings and memory constant. The latest experiments with graphite drawings, which appear behind painted plexiglass plates, confirm the artist’s restless search for new materials. A research however not aimed at itself, but at the continuous regeneration of the ghosts of history considered a mirror of existence.About Frascione Gallery Established in 1893 by Enrico Frascione, a renowned art collector and dealer, the Frascione collection specialized in European paintings from the 14th to 17th century, with a notable focus on the Renaissance. Now in its fourth generation, Federico Gandolfi Vannini, leads the family legacy. Under Gandolfi Vannini’s stewardship, Frascione Palm Beach is set to debut in February 2024, harmonizing Old Master paintings with Modern and Contemporary artworks, fostering captivating dialogues between eras and schools of thought. Frascione Gallery offers tailored consultations for collectors and designers. Renowned for its participation in prestigious art fairs such as TEFAF New York, Paris Fine Art and the Florence Biennale BIAF, Frascione expands its cultural footprint to the Palm Beach Show, marking its inaugural show in South Florida and aiming to influence the artistic landscape across the Americas. Multiple publications and collaborations with art historians underscore the gallery’s commitment to academic contributions. For over a century, Frascione has served an esteemed clientele across Europe, Asia, and the United States, including museums and private collections, solidifying its position as a beacon of artistic excellence. Frascione Gallery (Palm Beach) 256 Worth AvenueVia Amore, Suite O Palm Beach, FL33480Tuesday – Saturday, 10 am to 6 pmSunday appointments upon request.+1.561.444.2092 frascione.com info@frascione.com Frascione Arte (Florence)Palazzo Ricasoli FiridolfiVia Maggio 550125 Florence, ItalyTuesday – Saturday mornings, 9 am to 1 pmTuesday – Friday afternoons, 3 pm to 6 pm+39.055.23.99.205
