HOME / Master/ Piero Castiglioni Works / Italy | Bergamo | Carrara Academy | Cezanne, Renoir. Paul Guillame Collection

The lighting of the works of Cezanne and Renoir

Each work has its own dedicated lighting body

The works exhibited at the Carrara Academy

Another shot of the rooms with the works exhibited and illuminated

Another room with the works inside the Carrara Academy in Bergamo

Italy | Bergamo | Carrara Academy | Cezanne, Renoir. Paul Guillame Collection

The Paul Cézanne and Pierre-Auguste Renoir exhibition at the Carrara Academy in Bergamo sees the collaboration of architect Luigi Caccia Dominioni with lighting designer Piero Castiglioni. The exhibition highlights the role of the two artists by comparing them and proposing them as two of the ‘founding fathers’ of modernity. The first room offers a comparison between a still life by Cézanne and one by Picasso from the cubist period, and between Renoir’s female figures and Matisse’s Women on a Sofa. The second part of the tour dedicates two rooms to each of the two artists, displaying the works in chronological order; still lifes and landscapes for Cézanne, soft female figures and bouquets of flowers for Renoir. All the works on display come from the collection of Paul Guillaume (now owned by the Musée de l’Orangerie in Paris), a collector and art dealer who was a point of reference for artistic life in Paris in the early 20th century. Museums lighting design for a temporary exhibition the lighting designer has to deal with the architect, the curator of the exhibition and the exhibition concept. For this installation, the walls are covered with a fabric called “Velvet Railway”, a customised lighting fixture called “Leggio” is designed with a titanium rod and a concrete base equipped with a compartment for electrical components, which guarantees homogeneous illumination of the works with an excellent colour rendition that allows for an unadulterated reading of the quality of the colours. All in compliance with regulations and the requirements of good conservation of the works. The exhibition route has as its soundtrack a suite by Debussy (considered among the greatest exponents of “musical impressionism”) “Suite Bergamasque”. The lighting design plays an important role because it contributes to visual comfort by eliminating unpleasant situations. With careful lighting design, undesirable problems such as non-uniformity of illuminance on the exhibits, shadows cast, and ‘smearing’ of light on the exhibition surfaces are avoided.

Collaborations:
Luigi Caccia Dominioni Architects

Photo Courtesy:
Piero Castiglioni

Year:
2005

Other Projects

Orsay Museum where architecture became a big lighting device, the reflections of light bulbs with walls and ceilings create a uniform light without shadows. Groups of projectors in Grassi Palace recall a small football field. Here was born a new type of lighting device. Reflector lamps and articulated support gives life at the "Cestello". Spasa na Krovi is a perfection of Mantova project. Light beams aggregation allow the device size reduction and the dispersion light control.