More than a century after the only monographic exhibition ever dedicated to him, Milan once again shines a spotlight on Giuseppe Pellizza da Volpedo, author of the iconic Quarto Stato and a central figure in Italian Divisionism. A cultured and rigorous painter, Pellizza combined technical experimentation with civic engagement: from his naturalistic beginnings he moved toward a luminous weave of points and strokes, capable of transforming the crowd into an epic, collective subject. The exhibition, conceived by the Galleria d’Arte Moderna and curated by Aurora Scotti and Paola Zatti, places the masterpiece in dialogue with a selection of works that illuminate its genesis - studies, series, and paintings in which social themes become moral vision and optical construction. The project reaffirms Pellizza’s role in the history of late 19th and early 20th-century art, and the enduring value of Quarto Stato as a symbol of Italian modernity, today part of Milan’s civic collections.
