PISA - From October 15, 2025, to April 7, 2026, Palazzo Blu will host the Belle Époque exhibition, curated by Professor Francesca Dini, created in collaboration with MondoMostre and with the contribution of the Pisa Foundation.

A unique journey that leads visitors to the heart of late-19th-century Paris, the capital of elegance and modernity, told through masterpieces from prestigious international museums—including the Musée d'Orsay, the Louvre, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Uffizi Galleries, the Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte, and Palazzo Te—as well as important private collections presented to the public for the first time.

The exhibition celebrates the allure of the Belle Époque, a period in which art, literature, music, and customs made Paris the cultural center of the world. The undisputed protagonists are the Italian artists who chose the French capital as their adopted home, including Giovanni Boldini, Giuseppe De Nittis, and Vittorio Corcos, who captured the spirit of their time with a refined and personal perspective, becoming leading figures on the European art scene.

The exhibition unfolds through several thematic sections that retrace the key moments of those years, from the political upheavals of 1870 to the birth of modern Paris, conveying the richness and variety of a unique era.

On display are the sophisticated portraits of Boldini, Blanche, and Sargent, the urban views of De Nittis, the Impressionist atmospheres of Zandomeneghi, and the cosmopolitan elegance of Mariano Fortuny and the Maison Goupil. These works testify to the vitality of a period in which creativity and social life, scientific progress and new lifestyles helped shape the image of Belle Époque Paris, which remains an icon of charm and modernity today.

Federico Zandomeneghi, At the Café Nouvelle Athènes, 1885. Oil on canvas, 90 x 70 cm. Private collection.

Giovanni Boldini, Portrait of Helleu painting Madame Gauterau, 1884. Oil on ceramic Deck, diam. 30 cm. Private collection.

Giovanni Boldini, On the bench in the Bois, 1872, 46 x 34 cm. Private collection.

Giuseppe De Nittis, In the fields around London, c. 1875. Oil on canvas, 41 x 50 cm. Private collection, courtesy Fondazione Enrico Piceni, Milan.

Giuseppe De Nittis, Return from the races, 1875. Oil on canvas, 58.1 x 114.6 cm. Philadelphia Museum of Art: Gift of John G. Johnson for the W.P. Wilstach Collection, (W1906-1-10).

Raimundo de Madrazo y Garreta, Le ruban rose (The Pink Ribbon). Oil on canvas, 81 x 65 cm. Courtesy Galerie Ary Jan, Paris.

Vittorio Matteo Corcos, Governesses at the Champs Elysées, 1892. Oil on canvas, 171 x 140 cm. Palazzo Foresti Collection – Carpi.

Vittorio Matteo Corcos, Reading on the Sea, 1910. Oil on canvas, 130 x 228 cm. Private collection.