"Fernanda, Fernandissima!" - Wittgens alla prova della modernità

Authors: Erica Bernardi and Giuseppina Di Gangi
with an introductory essay by James M. Bradburne

Publisher: Skira
Year of publication: 2023
Language: Italian
Format: 15 x 21cm Pages: 176
Binding: Paperback Colour Illustrations: 16

How did Fernanda Wittgens imagine a modern Milan?
Starting in 1945, after her prison experience, it became clear to Wittgens that art and the museum could be two valuable tools in her hands to redeem society from the horrors of war.
He therefore implements a cultural policy aimed at recovering the time lost due to the conflict: he proceeded to add to the collections of the Pinacoteca di Brera where they had stopped, i.e. those of the beloved 19th century; he collaborated with the most important Lombard collectors to promote modern Italian art abroad (Jucker, Jesi, Mattioli, Vitali), and thus secured rich and prestigious donations destined to expand the 20th century gallery; promotes Milan as the city of modern art, not only in Italy but also in Europe, given its privileged position, and does so through an intelligent and enterprising exhibition activity, which sees it score one success after another in the setting of the Palazzo Reale. 
Starting with the Picasso exhibition in 1953, which with the arrival of Guernica, in the Sala delle Cariatidi, represents one of the high points of its cultural policy.
Fernanda Wittgens also applied her idea of modernity in the reconstruction and refurbishment of the Pinacoteca di Brera, finding a perfect balance between measured and functional forms of the layout, architectural monumentality of the exhibition spaces and educational initiatives capable of rekindling a dialogue between art and the citizen, concretely contributing to the radical renewal of the museum concept on a national and international level.From a museum point of view, she is also a pioneer and promoter of a modern vision of the museum, in which aesthetic culture and social role must coexist.