Exhibitions: in Grosseto ‘The time of realism. Guttuso, Levi, Treccani and the Maremma artists’

Promoted by the Grosseto Cultura Foundation, the Municipality of Grosseto, the Province of Grosseto and the Department of Historical Sciences and Cultural Heritage of the University of Siena, with the contribution of the CR Firenze Foundation, with the patronage of the Tuscany Region and the collaboration of the Suzzara Prize Gallery Museum, Isgrec, the Luciano Bianciardi Foundation, the Maremma Digital Media Library, the Photography and Territory Association and the Gori Photo Archive, the exhibition reconstructs the cultural climate of the post-war period, when the Ribolla tragedy of 1954 brought the Maremma to the center of the national debate.

Curated by Luca Quattrocchi and Livia Spano, of the University of Siena, the exhibition compares the protagonists of Italian realism – from Renato Guttuso Carlo Levi, Ernesto Treccani, Giuseppe Zigaina, Aldo Natili – with the Maremma artists who, precisely in those years, began to deal with a language capable of describing the work, social conditions and life of the territory.

The exhibition itinerary is divided into three sections: one dedicated to the great interpreters of Italian realism, one to the Maremma artists and their progressive approach to social issues, and a third which broadens the gaze to photography and cinema, restoring the historical and human context of the post-war Maremma through images and documents.

Alongside the works, the project reconstructs the cultural and civil context in which these experiences were born, bringing back to the center a season in which art directly confronted work, social conditions and the transformations of the territory. The reference to the Ribolla tragedy and the ensuing debate allows us to read the Maremma no longer as a suburb, but as a place of cultural production and reflection, capable of dialogue with the protagonists of Italian realism.

The exhibition will be open to visitors from 15 May to 6 September 2026 at the Le Clarisse cultural center and at the Palazzo della Provincia, with different opening times depending on the season. Entrance is 5 euros (reduced 3 euros) for the Le Clarisse Polo and free for the Palazzo della Provincia.