Those “Dialogues” never broken involving art, territory, and community
Welcome to our Insights Longform, monthly in-depth content created to help us understand what’s happening around us and take on the challenges ahead. Today, we embark on a journey through art history and the tale of a community as we explore the exhibition “Dialoghi. Longoni, Balla, Miró e altri maestri dal Museo del Territorio Biellese” curated by the Artistic Direction of Banca Patrimoni Sella & C. and the City of Biella–Department of Culture- Museo Del Territorio (Museum of the Territory of Biella), and supported by the Sella Group. The exhibition is hosted at the Palazzone in Biella, within the exhibition spaces of Banca Patrimoni Sella & C., located at Via dei Seminari 3. Entry is free, with opening hours from Thursday to Sunday, 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Schools and groups may book a visit by sending an email to: info@palazzonebiella.it . Enjoy your reading.
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When it comes to art, space and time are more than just conventions. They mean much more. They help us navigate complexity, guiding us towards understanding who we are. Let’s begin with space because some masterpieces truly travel the world. For example, a painting portraying a typical Milanese scene may arrive in Biella, fly to New York for an exhibition, and then, eventually, come back home to Biella, as part of the Museo del Territorio collection since 1952, thanks to a donation by Bruno Blotto Baldo, the then mayor of the city. Now these works are hosted at the Palazzone (about which we’ll discuss further shortly). And then there’s time - spanning over a vast period. It addresses aspecific historical moment - particularly the transition between the19th and 20th centuries - but also still resonating in contemporary times.
The accusating art
This and much more is Reflections of a Hungry Man, an oil on canvas painting by Emilio Longoni dating back to 1893. Inside the renowned Biffi café in Milan, an historic place of Corso Magenta, an elegantly dressed couple engages in conversation over a rich meal, unaware they’re being spied by a young man outside with a furtive gaze. He’s cold and hungry; they’re warm and well-fed. It’s a powerful snapshot of the social conscience that is central to Longoni’s (Barlassina, 1859 – Milan, 1932) art. The fourth of twelve children, son of a blacksmith and a seamstress, Longoni channeled both his mind and heart into portraying social realities. Reflections of a Hungry Man—now housed at the Palazzone—has been selected as the centerpiece of a collective exhibition focused on people and communities.
Let’s take a moment to admire on this pastel-hued canvas with its dark tones— mirroring the time it represents. There’s a distinction between the inside and the outside. Before and after. The rich and the poor. A time of deep contradiction, captured in an iconic work that represents a fresco of injustice, embodying the spirit of times, giving voice to social protest.
In the late 19th century, industrial hubs were not only economic centers but also battlegrounds for intense workers’ struggles and severe marginalization. Between 1887 and 1897, Longoni developed a personal iconography portraying exploitation, poverty, and class struggle among the Milan working class.
Longoni was part of the Divisionist movement, alongside Giuseppe Pellizza da Volpedo (The Fourth Estate, 1901) and Angelo Morbelli (Christmas of the Left-Behind, 1903). His protagonists are marginalized and isolated individuals —represented with a distinctively innovative Italian, technique.
Reflections of a Hungry Man marks the pinnacle of Longoni’s social engagement—and brought him significant trouble. On the same day in 1894 that the painting was displayed at the Castello Sforzesco, a reproduction of it in the socialist paper Lotta di Classe triggered an immediate seizure of the publication and police investigation over Longoni himself, accused of “inciting class hatred.”
As art historians point out, this new form of expression trascended the sentimentality and pathos of 19th-century genre paintings. It tackled the harsh social conditions of the poor, sparking public outrage by emphasizing the indifference of the privileged classes towards the growing inequality brought by uncontrolled modernization.
The Palazzone's collection
This Longoni masterpiece alongside many others, are now hosted at the Palazzone in Biella, within the exhibition spaces of Banca Patrimoni Sella & C. located at Via dei Seminari 3. The exhibition Dialoghi. Longoni, Balla, Miró e altri maestri gathers works from the Museo del Territorio Biellese, currently closed to undergo major renovation. Let’s first explore the "where" before discussing the "what".
The Palazzone stands out as a unique architectural presence in the urban landscape of Biella, which was previously featured in the Archivio Notes column on Sella Insights. Built in the 1830s by the city’s Major Seminary, it was originally intended as a student residence—though this purpose was short-lived. In 1866, the State took over the building and leased it for many years. One notable tenant among the others was Gaudenzio Sella & C., which in 1898 established the Palazzone as the headquarters of what would later become Banca Sella.
The bank purchased the building in 1920, and various Sella Group companies operated there throughout the 20th century. A significant change occurred in 2007when the Palazzone was vacated for structural consolidation work. The ground floor exhibition halls opened to the public for the first time in 2023 showcasing an exhibition in partnership with the University of Turin, dedicated to poet and intellectual Edoardo Sanguineti.
Now let’s focus on the content. This exhibition features a remarkable selection of works from the Museum’s collection, temporarily relocated due to its restoration. Dialoghi—“Dialogues”—represent the, two core components of the Museum’s collection engaged in a dialogue between the archaeology and art history.
“The dialogue is both the guiding thread and main focus of the exhibition, explored in all its facets,” says Daniela Magnetti, Artistic Director of Banca Patrimoni Sella & C. “There is a dialogue between the two halves of the collection: paintings and archaeological artifacts engage in a mutual reflection of shapes, colors, and meanings, as well as suggestions and interpretations. Public and private, ancient and modern spaces, and even the artworks and visitors are all dialoguing.” This exhibition w not only celebrates the Biella cultural heritage but also builds a bridge with international art. “Dialoghi is a narrative made up of different artistic codes, eras, and styles. It rose from the desire to promote and enhance the cultural wealth of the Museo del Territorio Biellese,” explains Magnetti. “The chance to reinterpret the collections in a new, more flexible and free space has allowed for an innovative exhibition building meaningful connections between regions, histories, and the people.”
Close and distant—constant contrasts giving way to conversation and reflections. The archaeological artifacts selected for the show tell us about the stories of nearby peoples through findings from the Biella own sites, but also about distant cultures, with a wide-ranging collection of objects from different origins. You’ll find items from the necropolises of Cerrione and Biella, giving evidence of the Celtic civilization blending with the Roman culture. Local and international art meet here. The exhibition begins with 17th and 18th century works—from Giambattista Crosato and Bartolomeo Guidobono to the Venetian school represented by the Galliari brothers, internationally renowned scenographers whose origins are in Biella. It continues to the 19th century with works from the Piedmontese landscape tradition—Antonio Fontanesi, Marco Calderini, Giovanni Giani, Giovanni Piumati—and a major selection of works by Lorenzo Delleani, born in Pollone and celebrated across the region. Then come the early 20th-century avant-gardes: Max Ernst, René Magritte, Paul Klee, Marc Chagall, Joan Miró, Giacomo Balla, and Lucio Fontana.
Dialogues, indeed—among artistic codes, styles, and eras. “The narrative unfolds through a chronological path going through art history and its key moments, while engaging with archaeological relics from distant places and times,” says Magnetti. “From 17th and 18th-century works, to a rich 19th-century section including Delleani, ending with the historic avant-gardes of the early 20th century.” Each of the four exhibition rooms represents the dialogue theme through specific interactions: a Roman bronze mirror engages with the crystal of the vain enchantress Armida; Calderini’s laundry scenes mirror an Andean infant’s shirt; an Etruscan jug meets Longoni’s Hungry Man in a clash of themes and social contrasts; Klee’s facial lines resonate terracotta statuettes of Roman deities. Ultimately, archaeology and painting come together in a showcase connecting the museum’s dual identity, blending expressive languages across eras and styles. It’s a celebration of a rich cultural heritage and its bond with the territory. As Maurizio Sella, President of the Sella Group, said at the opening: “Italy is one of the most beautiful countries in the world, and attention to beauty is profoundly important.”
