Arles 2020 : Roberto Donetta [1865-1932] : La Complicité

Arles 2020 From day to day by Thierry Maindrault

In a very short time, just a few weeks ( because of the virus), the “Fondation Vincent Gogh Arles“, with the efficient curators Brice Curiger and Julia Marchand, gave us an improvised exhibition mainly around the photographic works of Roberto Donetta.

For all the visitors that I could meet, whether they are art professionals in various capacities, more or less committed amateurs or totally new and curious people, this unique set of photographs is really wonderful.

The preservation of the images and the prints presented have a quality that we would like to see in the profusion of contemporary digital press-buttons. The subjects treated in their diversity and their amplitude clearly bear witness to the realities of a page of humanity in a given place and at a given time. Roberto Donetta’s creativity and perfect knowledge of optical communication bring us a lot of emotions and thoughts with each of his images on display.

A lot of thanks to the “Museo d’Arte della Svizzera Italiana de Lugano” for the care they took in the conservation of this heritage treasure and for their loan to the city of Arles, with a perfect exhibition at the Vincent Van Gogh Arles Foundation.

In postscript, I want to mention the beautiful and historically important painting by Vincent Van Gogh which has been loaned and installed in a nice place among the works of Roberto Donetta. This association shows the perfect link between the transfer of representative painting to impressionist creation which is driven by the rise of photographic representation of Roberto Donetta and his colleagues.

Fondation Vincent Van Gogh Arles

35ter rue du Docteur Fanton

13200 Arles

exhibition until September 13, 2020

10 am to 06 pm