Monet, Van Gogh, Picasso and Kandinsky in Udine: 84 masterpieces tell the story of the birth of modern art at the Casa Cavazzini Museum
Some exhibitions tell the story of an era. Others span several, stitching them together into a single, mesmerizing visual tapestry. «Impressionism and modernity. Monet, Van Gogh, Picasso, Kandinsky, Magritte. Masterpieces from the Kunst Museum Winterthur» undoubtedly belongs to the second category. From 30 January to 30 August 2026, Casa Cavazzini (Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Udine) welcomes 84 works which mark the transition from the beating heart of Impressionism to the dizzying thresholds of modernity, crossing the fractures and revolutions that rewrote the grammar of European art between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
The exhibition itinerary, produced by the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region with PromoTurismoFVG, the Municipality of Udine and MondoMostre, bears the signature of David Schmidhauserchief curator of the Kunst Museum in Winterthur and authentic custodian of one of the most precious nuclei of European art. At his side Vania Gransinigh, head of the Civic Museums of Udine. Schmidhauser has built an itinerary that does not limit himself to exhibiting, but intertwines languages and visions: from Monet to Pissarro, from Post-Impressionism to Cubism up to Surrealism, tracing the trajectories that lead to the radical abstraction of Mondrian and the organic forms of Arp. A close dialogue between vision, matter and thought that transforms Udine into a temporary capital of world art. Let’s see together how the curator came to conceive an exhibition so original and extraordinary in its beauty and variety.
This exhibition brings together some of the biggest names in modern art. From a curatorial point of view, what is the main narrative you wanted to construct for the public of Udine?
What we wanted to create was a journey through the history of modern art as it developed in the years around 1900. Visitors can walk among masterpieces from each period and can discover simply by observing how all these new and radical ideas took shape, how they left the previous ones behind and how they searched for new ideas and artistic solutions.
Why is the period between Impressionism and World War II still so central to understanding contemporary art and visual culture today?
Because one of the most radical transformations in the history of painting occurred between the 19th and 20th centuries. With Impressionism, artists began to focus more and more on the question of how something was painted, and the subject itself – the what – took a backseat. This was the basis for the emergence of all other movements such as Cubism.
And abstraction, in turn, forms the basis of our current understanding of art: it means that the technically perfect representation of the world is no longer necessary if we want to interact creatively with the big questions of life. This is where modernity was born.
How did you select the works for this exhibition? What criteria guided your choices?
The exhibition presents masterpieces from our collection at the Kunstmuseum Winterthur. We really tried to select only the most extraordinary ones to create a real exhibition-event. But of course there were also limitations. We had to adapt to the spatial situation of Casa Cavazini, because we tried to design each room as a chapter in its own right. And finally there were also practical obstacles, such as the fact that some works were too fragile to travel.
Many visitors are very familiar with artists such as Monet, Van Gogh and Picasso. Is there an artist present in the exhibition who in your opinion deserves to be rediscovered by a wider audience?
Certain! Above all, the (few) women present in the exhibition deserve to be rediscovered: Sophie Taeuber-Arp and Clara Friedrich-Jezler, both for the organic abstraction movement. Great artists!
Today we live in an era dominated by digital images and artificial intelligence. What can art still teach us about how we look at reality?
That’s a good question! I believe that precisely because we live in a digital and artificial world, art has even greater meaning. It sharpens our awareness, teaches us to look carefully and connects the visual to thought and feeling. These are all values that we need even more today.
What do you hope visitors take away with them, emotionally and intellectually, after visiting this exhibition?
I just hope they like it. Each visitor has a different experience and I hope it is a joyful or reflective experience. As an art historian, I of course also hope that the exhibition can give an idea of how modernity was formed and how it developed in that period. But really the most important thing is that people have fun and find inspiration.
From your experience as a curator, has the role of museums changed in recent years? Are they temples of contemplation or social and political spaces today?
Partly yes, partly no. Of course, the world is turning faster and faster and museums are trying not to be left behind. So big names, big capitals and super events and special exhibitions are everywhere. But on the other hand, museums are still where people go to see art. They go there to look, to see, to hear, to be stimulated, entertained and entertained. This hasn’t changed and I hope it doesn’t change.
