Giorgio Morandi. Mark Rothko: Book Presentation
16 November 2026, at 5.00 p.m.
ACP - Palazzo Franchetti
RSVP: info@acp-palazzofranchetti.com
The Fondazione Calarota is happy to present, for the first time to the public, the book Giorgio Morandi. Mark Rothko. Born out of a project concieved by Franco Calarota, the volume explores the dialogue between two leading figures of twentieth-century painting: two distinct voices that are nevertheless surprisingly close, sharing a secret language of silence, waiting and inner resonance.
Entirely concieved and promoted by Fondazione Calarota and published by Dario Cimorelli Editore, the book will be presented in the magnificent setting of ACP - Palazzo Franchetti, the Fondazione Calarota's main exhibition venue, on Monday, 16 November, at 5.00 p.m.
The talk will feature the book's curators, Renato Miracco, art historian and critic, and Lorenzo Balbi, Director of Musei Civici di Verona and former Director of Museo Morandi, alongside Nico Stringa, Senior Researcher at Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Chiara Squarcina, Scientific Director of MUVE - Musei Civici di Venezia and Alessia Calarota, Vice President of ACP - Palazzo Franchetti by Fondazione Calarota.
This is an unprecedented comparison that brings Giorgio Morandi (1890-1964) and Mark Rothko (1903-1970) into dialogue: two undisputed protagonists of twentieth-century art who, although they probably never met, share a remarkable affinity. Despite their differences in geographical background, artistic training and painterly language, both artists pursued an exploration that transcends the visible dimension of painting, giving shape to a universe of light, silence and spirituality.
It is precisely this unespected affinity that provides the starting point of the volume, which brings together the theoretical and critcal reflections of the curators entrusted with the project, Renato Miracco and Lorenzo Balbi, who set out to investigate the reasons behind this dialogue, and its many nuances. The volume is further enriched by valuable contributions from Christopher Rothko and distingueshed scholars and art historians: Klaus Ottmann, indipendent curator, writer and translator, and Chief Curator Emeritus of the Phillips Collection in Washington, DC; Riccardo Venturi, historian and contemporary art critic; and Nico Stringa, art historian and Professor of Contemporary Art History at Ca' Foscari University of Venice. Completing the volume is an essay by Alessia Calarota, Vice-President of ACP - Palazzo Franchetti, who has long played an active role in the Foundation's exhibition programme.
Through a range of critical perspectives and a rich collection of illustrations, the book conveys the complexity of an ideal encounter between two artists who, despite following indipendent paths and working in profoundly different languages, both explored the evocative possibilities of painting, creating suspended and immaterial atmospheres and opening up a vision of a dimension that trasnscends the visible.
Attendance at the talk is free, subject to availability. Advance booking is recommanded at info@acp-palazzofranchetti.com