A MASTERPIECE IN PERUGIA

VAN GOGH AND THE ITALIANS IN PARIS

L’Arlésienne in the context of female portraits in the second half of the nineteenth century

exhibition curated and catalogue edited by Costantino D’Orazio and Aurora Roscini Vitali

2 JULY – 27 SEPTEMBER 2026

Perugia, Galleria Nazionale dell’Umbria

The Galleria Nazionale dell’Umbria in Perugia has received an extraordinary loan from the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea in Rome: L’Arlésienne by Vincent van Gogh.

In 2024 the museum in Perugia opened a cycle of dossier-exhibitions which begin from an in-depth analysis of a “masterpiece”, in other words an iconic artwork of the utmost importance signed by one of the leading figures in the history of nineteenth and twentieth century art. The first two initiatives of the cycle – one devoted to the The Three Ages of Woman by Gustav Klimt and the other dedicated to Reclining Nude by Amedeo Modigliani – have enabled the guest work to be presented with an exclusive focus, backed up by  detailed information panels and a display layout designed to enhance visitors’ experience.  They also provide a chance to find out more about the artists, offering visitors clear and precise insights into their expressive choices.

As in previous cases, this exhibition is intended to encourage visitors to gain a better understanding of the “masterpiece”. It therefore includes a preliminary section that illustrates the specific historical and critical context. Furthermore, the use of an immersive environment shows, through video projections, key aspects of the formal, technical and cultural world of the artist.

The painting depicts Madame Ginoux, the owner of the Café de la Gare in Arles, one of the favourite subjects of Van Gogh who produced a series of portraits of her. The painting in GNAMC belongs to the phase following the artist’s voluntary admission to the psychiatric hospital of Saint-Rémy-de-Provence during the stay that lasted from May 1889 to May of the following year, a few weeks prior to his death. Using a drawing by Gauguin – which remained in his possession after his friend’s precipitous escape – Van Gogh painted a work full of personal meanings, biographical and mental associations, emotion and a sense of catharsis. As has been underlined by art critics, Vincent Van Gogh used the portrait as an exercise in self-exploration which could occasionally prove exhausting.

In order to accompany visitors in their discovery of the work, the exhibition features a large group of paintings from the Museo dell’Ottocento di Pescara Fondazione Di Persio – Pallotta, documenting the transformations in female portraiture during the second half of the nineteenth century and broadening the perspective of the analysis by looking at works by Italian artists active in Paris during Impressionism and the period related to Van Gogh. With a broad view that makes no pretension to be comprehensive, works by some of the leading figures in Italian painting will be displayed: Gioacchino Toma, Saverio Altamura, Silvestro Lega, Antonio Mancini, Mosè Bianchi and Niccolò Cannicci. Alongside L’Arlésienne, the three Italiens de Paris – Giuseppe De Nittis, Federico Zandomeneghi and Giovanni Boldini – will tell the story of the female portrait in Paris during the Belle Époque. The project has been made possible by the well-established and fruitful collaboration between the Galleria Nazionale dell’Umbria and the Foundation in Pescara which has generously contributed to the exhibition through the loan of sixteen works.

The juxtaposed works displayed alongside the Portrait of Madame Ginoux set in motion a fascinating dialogue between different poetics which, regardless of the significant differences, were profoundly affected by the contact between Realism and Impressionism in Paris. The selected portraits do not just address the issue of bourgeois society but also provide insights into the melancholy, intimacy and inner complexity of women from all social backgrounds.

The catalogue, printed by Moebius, is further enriched by essays by the two curators,  Costantino D’Orazio – just appointed Director General of Contemporary Creativity by the Alessandro Giuli, the Italian Minister of Culture – who explores the specific theme of Van Gogh’s masterpiece, and Aurora Roscini Vitali, who offers an overall view of the entire theme of the exhibition and the real and imagined relationship between Italian artists and Paris, which at the time was the undisputed world capital of art. There is also a lengthy essay by Alessandra Migliorati, lecturer in the History of Contemporary Art at the University of Perugia, devoted to the evolution of female portraiture during the second half of the nineteenth century.