English
Even though its name is Villa Romana it is located in Florence, in the Via Senese 68 to be exact. Its founders are German. It is one of the oldest artistic sites for modern art in Italy founded with the intention to create an independent center directly financed by the artists where all sorts of artistic expression where accepted and appreciated. In relation to this the Premio Villa Romana was created which represents a critical alternative to prizes handed out by state academies which are known to be more conservative and less interested in promoting new ideas.
The project was launched in 1905 when the German painter Max Klinger invested stocks of a group of rich friends in the construction of a house in Florence which was meant to be an art workshop. The house has 40 rooms and about 15 000m² space. One of the main investors was Eduard Arnhold from Berlin, who shortly before purchased the Villa Böckling in Fiesole (province of Florence) who 5 years later founded the Academy of German Artists at the Villa Massimo in Rome. Other sponsors were Adolph vom Rath (president of the Deutsche Bank) and Erich Schulz-Schomburgk (who managed the branch in Lipsia).
Although the Villa Romana represents itself as an independent, self-managed project to protest against the artistic academicism in Italy and the slow bureaucracy that often times hinders modern developments, it is obvious that it wouldn’t have been possible without the donations of the German elite and the support of the big German banks. However, it should be mentioned that the history of the Villa Romana is related to many great modern artists, including Georg Kolbe, Max Beckmann, Käthe Kollwitz, Ernst Barlach und Max Pechstein. During fascism was the Villa “obligated” to hand out prizes to propaganda artists, although the director Hans Purrmann was able to preserve a place for the artists who were against the dictatorship at least until 1944 when the Villa was confiscated by the Allies.
Thanks to an initiative started by the old people and the German president of the time Theodor Heuss the Villa Romana re-opened in 1954. Since then winners of the prize included Georg Baselitz, Anna Oppermann, Markus Lüpertz, Christiane Möbus, Michael Buthe and Katharina Grosse. The Villa celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2005 with a big retrospective at the Neues Museum in Weimar.
menschauser
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