From September 27, 2025 to February 22, 2026, Palazzo de’ Rossi in Pistoia hosts In Visita | Giacomo Balla, the fourth edition of the exhibition series dedicated to masters of modern and contemporary art. The project, promoted by Fondazione Pistoia Musei and Fondazione Caript, brings together for the first time three rare works by Balla that capture his fascination with the sea.
The centerpiece is Velmare (1919), on loan from the Credem Collection of Reggio Emilia, shown alongside two versions of Ballucecolormare (c. 1924), one from Fondazione Caript and one from a private collection. Together, these works trace a crucial period in Balla’s artistic career, when between Viareggio and Rome he developed a new futurist language dedicated to nature. His dynamic lines and bold color schemes transform waves, sails, and sea breezes into abstract modules, a refined decorative language that conveys both the movement of the elements and the artist’s emotional response to them .
This phase reached international recognition in 1925 at the Exposition internationale des arts décoratifs et industriels modernes in Paris, where Balla presented large-scale decorative works such as Mare velivolato. The paintings on view in Pistoia, with their interplay of sharp outlines and luminous color fields, echo that same spirit of innovation, straddling fine art and design .
The three canvases also highlight Balla’s interest in the applied arts. The Ballucecolormare works, executed on tapestry-like fabric, suggest decorative panels possibly intended for interiors such as the Hotel Albion in Viareggio. In the Fondazione Caript version, painted on a rare “panama” fabric, flat fields of color are enriched with delicate lace-like details that evoke sea foam .
The exhibition is curated by Monica Preti and Annamaria Iacuzzi with the contribution of Elena Gigli, one of the leading experts on Balla. It also invites dialogue with the local artistic context: the early futurist experiments of Tuscan painter Mario Nannini, active in nearby Florence and Montecatini, resonate with Balla’s research despite the two never meeting directly .
Visitors will also find a rich public program including lectures, concerts, and family workshops on the theme of the sea. Highlights include a conference-performance on Balla’s scenography for Stravinsky’s Feu d’artifice (created for the Ballets Russes in 1917), guided tours with the curators, and creative activities for children that explore how waves can be reimagined through paper and color .
A bilingual catalogue published by Gli Ori accompanies the show, offering essays and newly commissioned research on Balla’s marine works .
In Visita | Giacomo Balla is not only an opportunity to see rare masterpieces reunited but also a lens into the dialogue between Italian Futurism and the decorative arts of the 1920s—a century after Balla’s works captivated the Parisian avant-garde.
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Eirini Lavrentiadou is an actress and singer, born in Thessaloniki in 1992. She lives in Florence, where she trained at the city’s Theatre Academy and the Fiesole School of Music. She has performed in classical Greek and European plays, worked with international directors and companies, and appeared in concerts ranging from opera to jazz. She contributes to Florence Daily News as a writer.
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