Broken. The power of the fragment

From 25 September to 24 January, Palazzo Strozzi is hosting the exhibition ‘Broken. The Power of the Fragment’.

The unusual theme of the fragment – in the history of sculpture, from archaeology to contemporary art, through its many meanings – is at the heart of this exhibition. A fragment is to be understood not so much as a ‘remnant’ of a larger entity, but rather as an art object endowed with its own meaning: whether it is a historical artefact (‘wounded’ by vandalism, iconoclasm, natural disasters or revolutions), or a deliberate artistic choice with strong expressive potential, as in the case of contemporary art.

Over eighty works and artefactsfrom the world’s leading museums (the National Gallery of Art in Washington, the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the Louvre in Paris, the British Museum in London, and the Museo Nacional de Antropología in Mexico City) take visitors on a journey from the Egyptian, Etruscan and Greco-Roman worlds to contemporary art, featuring major figures such as Giovanni Pisano, Michelangelo and Auguste Rodin, right through to Louise Bourgeois, Francesco Vezzoli and Danh Vo. To mark the occasion, the Dutch-Belgian artist Mark Manders has created a site-specific installation for the courtyard.

‘Broken. The Power of the Fragment’ is organised by the Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, and the National Gallery of Art, Washington. For further information, please see the event details.