After having analyzed the transformations in the fields of politics and territory, after having described the first part of the century from a musical point of view, the conference will start again with a more specific focus on transformations in the artistic field.
On the fourth day, on the theme “Grace and colour”, we will talk about the public image of women in the arts, of drawing schools, precious places of training for artists and artisans. We will analyze the grace and color of the exponents of Bari art such as Nicola Colonna, advocate of the renewal of the Umbertina area of Bari, illustrious of Bari and Apulian liberty such as the Prayer brothers, and Bitontini of national scope such as Francesco Speranza and Gaetano Spinelli.
It starts at 9, in the National Gallery of Puglia “G. and R. Devanna”. This second part of the conference opens with Professor Elena Pontiggia, art critic and historian, with a focus on the Apulian painters Francesco Speranza and Emilio Notte. Cecilia Minenna (regional directorate of Puglia Museums) presides.
This is followed by speeches by Stefano Causa (Suor Orsola Benincasa University – Naples) on “At the edges of the rose: the female imagination in Apulian painting between the 19th and 20th centuries”; Mimma Pasculli Ferrara (University of Bari) on “The frescoes by Nicola Colonna and Saverio Raimondi in the Church of San Giorgio in Bitonto”; Francesco Paolo Del Re, journalist, on “The luminous way. Francesco Speranza painter: letters, writings and documents from 1920 and 1940”; Isabella Di Liddo (University of Bari) on “The drawing school in Bari”; Nuccia Barbone Pugliese (Regional Directorate of Puglia Museums) on “The 20th century Apulian drawings in public and private collections”.
The afternoon session will start at 3pm and will be chaired by Professor Mimma Pasculli Ferrara (University of Bari). Expected speeches by Ruggiero Doronzo (University of Bari) on “The paintings of Gaetano Spinelli in Bitonto”; Carmelo Cipriani (Institute of secondary education “Marco Polo” of Bari) on “Themes and iconographic sources in the human comedy of Geremia Re”; Liliana Tangorra (Professional Institute Santarella – De Lilla) on “The whole world of the stage in the caricatures of Umberto Onorato”; Emilio Mastropasqua and Irene Malcangi (University of Bari, Research Center for Religious History in Puglia) on “The Prayer brothers in Puglia: from sketches to pictorial cycles in churches”; Nicola Cleopazzo (University of Salento) on “Antonio Maccagnini and his heirs in the first thirty years of the twentieth century. The Crucifixion and the dead Christ in the rites of Holy Week; Cecilia Minenna (regional direction of Puglia Museums) on “The Work of Frate Menotti, from caricatures to the sketches for Pasquale La Rotella”.
There will also be a speech, initially scheduled for 2 May, by Professor Federico Pirro (University of Bari) on “Industry in the Land of Bari between the end of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century”.
The conference “Bitonto and Puglia in the first half of the twentieth century” will end in the same venue on Friday 10 May with the last session, entitled “Grazia and Light”, which will mainly analyze architecture, fashion, theater and cinema. For further information, consult the program and register, visit the website www.centroricerchebitonto.com/convegno900/index.html.
«The current conference is the eighth conference that the Research Center has organized since its foundation in 1968 – underlines Professor Stefano Milillo, one of the founders of the association -. Starting from the late Roman age, we arrived at the first half of the 20th century. A period that seemed short, but which is instead a source of numerous food for thought both for the topics addressed in these days and for any analyzes that will start from this conference”.
The conference is sponsored by the Puglia Region, the Metropolitan City of Bari, the Municipality of Bitonto, the Banco di Napoli Foundation, the Puglia Regional Museums Directorate, the National Gallery of Puglia “G. and R. Devanna”, the University of Bari, the Polytechnic of Bari, Order of Journalists of Puglia, Order of Architects, Conservatory of Music “Niccolò Piccinni” – Bari, Society of Homeland History for Puglia, Puglia Institute for the History of Anti-Fascism and Contemporary Italy, Institute for the History of the Italian Risorgimento – Bari Provincial Committee.
