Felice Casorati: unveiling the mystery behind his metaphysical stillness

Until June 29^th, 2025

Milan, Palazzo Reale

Forty years after his last exhibition in Milan, a retrospective dedicated to Felice Casorati (Novara, 1883 – Turin, 1963) a master of intimate painting, opened on February 15^th 2025. More than one hundred works unveil, behind their metaphysical stillness, a deep devotion to drawing and perfect lines.

As the curators observe, “this retrospective was conceived to transport visitors into Casorati’s poetic universe, inviting them to immerse themselves in his spaces—the interiors and the studio, the conceptual theater of his entire poetics. It leads them into the midst of his pensive and melancholic figures, reflective emblems of a participatory humanity and a profound existential philosophy. The rooms of the Palazzo Reale provide the perfect courtly setting to reconstruct the silent dimension emanating from the works themselves, composed of pauses, counterpoints, and voids.”

The exhibition follows the full chronology of Felice Casorati’s career, documenting the shifts in his sources of inspiration and stylistic evolution—from Verism to Symbolism, from Neoclassicism to Magic Realism, from his most expressionist phase influenced by Picasso’s distortions to his later return to Syntheticism and the flat, à plat compositions characteristic of his final works. Over a hundred works of art showcased across fourteen rooms, spanning Felice Casorati’s artistic journey from the early 20th century to the 1950s.

Women on a boat (Donne in barca) is one of Felice Casorati’s masterpieces, showcasing his refined use of color and form. In the foreground, a woman is nursing, while time seems suspended. The surrounding figures appear sculptural, immersed in carefully balanced compositions that evoke a sense of quiet contemplation.

In 1924, Casorati participated in “La Biennale di Venezia” with a solo exhibition, marking a significant moment of recognition and acclaim. Of the fourteen works displayed at the time, seven are now on view again at Palazzo Reale.

After years out of public view, the extraordinary painting  Annunciation (Annunciazione) from a private collection will once again be on display at the exhibition. Chosen by Casorati for the 1927 Italian art exhibitions at the Musée Rath in Geneva and later at the Kunsthaus in Zurich, the work now returns to public view.

In the rarefied stillness of an interior, Casorati creates an intimate scene where the divine emerges through secularity and symmetry, highlighting the natural light and the complex, enigmatic geometry of space. Presented for the first time in an anthological exhibition, this painting represents a pivotal moment in Casorati’s career.

Join an exclusive and private guided tour to learn more about Casorati. The exhibition takes place in the part of the Royal Palace once used by Napoleon I, beginning in the so-called Throne Room. Napoleon’s coronation in Milan Cathedral in 1805 marked the beginning of the Kingdom of Italy, and Palazzo Reale took on a new and important role as the center of Napoleon’s government and his Milanese residence.

For further information, please contact me.