“Lola was not keen on expressing the angst typical of the post-war era,” Federica Parretti explains, referring to the 2019 show in Monzuno. “She never experimented with Abstractionism, but this did not mean she was indifferent to European trends. Her painting reflects their nuances. This said, there is nothing drastic in Lola’s art. It does not protest the status quo, it embraces it. In real life, change is inevitable but often gradual. So it was for her paintings. Capturing simplicity on canvas was quest enough… the purple of artichoke flowers or perfumed lavender in Provence-style ceramic. That is what made her restless.”

 

The exhibition ‘Lola Costa: An artist on the pathway of the gods’ runs from September 14, 2019 to September 29 at the Mario Marri Library in Monzuno, near Bologna. Organized by Il Palmerino Cultural Association, with the Municipality of Monzuno and AWA, it features some 25 works by adoptive Florentine artist Lola Costa (1903 –2006), who had moved to Tuscany from her native England in the early 1920s. As its title suggests, the show represents a continuing dialog ‘along the pathway of the gods’, the ancient Roman footpath in the Apennines leading from Florence to Bologna. The show was created by as a ‘response’ to its sister exhibition at Il Palmerino Cultural Association, in 2018, featuring Monzuno native Lea Colliva.

 

The two painters and poets did not know each other personally—yet their artistic fellowship is evident in the themes, genres and art movements they explore. Art critic Mario Cancelli describes Lola Costa’s Monzuno show as follows: “I appreciate the artist’s sensibility. She is an artist who, over time, maintained her personality, yet she was not stagnant, proving capable of altering her style and being receptive to the movements of her time. Her rapid brush strokes recall De Pisis, but I also see an English aura in her painting that bring to mind the early works of Sutherland. Costa is an elegant painter, with finesse and an expert eye with nature.”

 

Project partners & sponsors

Municipality of Monzuno

Emil Banca

Advancing Women Artists

Cultural Association Il Palmerino 

Municipality of Fiesole