The exhibition offers an in-depth exploration of the spiritual and visual legacy of three masters of painting, Caspar David Friedrich, John Constable and J.M.W. Turner, revealing their echoes in the work of seven leading figures on the international art scene, Giovanni Anselmo, Massimo Bertolini, Ian Kiaer, David Shutter, Linda Fregni Nagler, Pesce Khete and Michele Tocca.

A fascinating journey that connects the great painting of the nineteenth century with the expressive research of our own time. Far from being a mere historical celebration, the exhibition shows how the bond between humankind, nature and the infinite remains vital in art today. The itinerary unfolds along three conceptual strands corresponding to the different “souls” of Romanticism: Friedrich’s hermetic and metaphysical art, Constable’s frank naturalism, and Turner’s landscape as a mental space.

In the wake of Caspar David Friedrich, the artists Giovanni Anselmo, Linda Fregni Nagler, Ian Kiaer and Massimo Bartolini invite us to reflect on the individual’s sense of bewilderment and wonder before the cosmos. Through magnetic sculptures, photographic archives, symbolic “dewdrops” and structures as fragile as modern ruins, the works challenge the viewer to confront vastness and the unknown.

Drawing inspiration from John Constable, from his simple and straightforward painting of landscape and nature, Michele Tocca and David Schutter instead propose a pure and direct form of painting. Through the practice of painting en plein air and the mnemonic study of the painterly gesture, the two artists seek “firstimeness”, the ability to look at the world with fresh eyes. The study of clouds and the unfiltered rendering of landscape become here a spiritual exercise aimed at rediscovering the truth of simple things.

Finally, the energy of J. M. W. Turner finds expression in the works of Pesce Khete. Here the landscape ceases to be a physical place and becomes a mental space: a journey into the human soul where colour and mark turn into rhythm, emotion and reflection.

“La Spezia welcomed the Romantic poets. It gave them a land from which to contemplate immensity: sea and sky merging in a shifting spectrum of blues. What became of that poetic tension? Is it merely a memory inscribed in a time now concluded? More than two centuries separate us from the Romantic revolution that swept through the entire nineteenth century, to the point that critics questioned whether it was truly an artistic movement in the strict sense, or rather an eternal dimension of human feeling, when the soul is overtaken by a sense of nature, by the desire for the unattainable, by a presentiment of the cosmos and its silences. Today, even as technology makes ever more knowable what was once deemed immeasurable, Romanticism resurfaces in contemporary art as both tension and memory, finding new reasons and forms of expression. The works of seven artists from different generations, many created specifically for this exhibition, once again confront us with the abyssal nature of the reality in which we are immersed, rekindling the sense of infinity hidden in every corner of space and every instant of time.”

Elena Volpato, curator of the exhibition

“With this exhibition, CAMeC confirms its vocation as a place of dialogue between history, contemporaneity and territory. Rethinking Romanticism in contemporary art invites us to rediscover, through the artists’ gaze, that profound relationship between humankind and nature that has shaped the cultural history of our city and its landscape, long a source of inspiration for artists and poets. As the municipal administration, we strongly support a project that enhances La Spezia as a city of culture, capable of hosting high-level artistic research and of offering citizens and visitors opportunities for reflection, beauty and shared growth.”

Pierluigi Peracchini, Mayor of La Spezia

“This exhibition addresses a theme that runs through the history of art and continues to speak to the present, inviting reflection on the relationship between humankind and nature, on the sense of the infinite and on the capacity of the gaze to go beyond the immediate—elements that find in our territory a particularly meaningful natural and cultural context. In synergy with the Municipality of La Spezia, Fondazione Carispezia reaffirms its commitment to CAMeC as a space open to the community, capable of embracing research and vision, offering opportunities for knowledge and participation, and recognizing culture as an essential factor of civic growth and social cohesion, thereby strengthening the Museum’s role as an attraction also at national and international level through high-quality proposals.”

Andrea Corradino, President of Fondazione Carispezia

“CAMeC is delighted to host and promote the exhibition conceived by Elena Volpato: driven by the depth of her thinking and by the message of the artists she has involved, we look forward to welcoming the public to rethink together, with wonder and courage, a new Romanticism.”

Giacomo Bei – President of the CAMeC Management Committee