Villa San Michele Opens “Marchesa Casati Installation”
Villa San Michele Opens “Marchesa Casati Installation”A new permanent exhibition dedicated to Luisa Casati Stampa (1881–1957) opens in the garden pavilion at Villa San Michele August 21 at 7:00 p.m. Curated by Nils Harning and Anna Bergman Jurell, with a video installation by Kaos Produzioni.
The exhibition traces Marchesa Casati’s life—from young heiress and international it-girl to visionary muse and enduring dark-lady icon. It highlights both her influence on early twentieth-century fashion and the creative resonance she continues to inspire across all the arts.
“Luisa Casati Stampa is one of many creative women from the early 1900s who deserve both attention and reflection,” says Kristina Kappelin, Director of Villa San Michele. “Today she would probably be considered a performance artist, à la Marina Abramović. By shining a light on her, we also focus on a time when Capri attracted cultural figures of every kind who were drawn to a life of complete creative and personal freedom.”
Swedish curators and set designers Nils Harning and Anna Bergman Jurell symbolically bring the Marchesa back to Villa San Michele, her Capri residence in the 1920s. The exhibition is built around nine large ceramic dolls depicting Luisa Casati in some of her most iconic outfits—among them the Fountain Dress and the Queen of the Night. Edward Shepp has created the sound which strengthens the feeling of entering into the enchanting, magical and partly frightening world of the Marchesa. A video installation by Kaos Produzioni, created with performer Sara Lupoli, offers an artistic meditation on the Casati myth.
At the center of the room stands a metal table with a green stone top and an illuminated sphinx at its base—the only object Casati left behind at Villa San Michele. Images printed on glass of famous portraits and photographs by Giovanni Boldini, Kees van Dongen, Augustus John, and Man Ray adorn the pavilion’s glass façade. Facsimiles of telegrams and letters between Casati and her lover, the Italian writer Gabriele D’Annunzio, reveal her ties to the Villa and to the cultural life of the period. The installation also includes an excerpt from John Galliano’s 1998 Dior runway show, inspired by Casati’s indelible image.
“Marchesa Casati Installation should be seen as a work in progress—permanent yet evolving over time. We want to offer museum visitors a new experience while honoring one of the most original women ever to live at Villa San Michele,” says Kristina Kappelin.
Where: Villa San Michele (Capri)
When: Opening Thursday, 21 August, 7:00 p.m.
Exhibition: “Marchesa Casati Installation” (permanent)
Villa San Michele wishes to express its gratitude to:
The Casati Archives for collaboration and access to photographic material
Il Vittoriale degli Italiani for access to the correspondence between the Marchesa Casati och Gabriele d'Annunzio
Dior, for the opportunity to show parts of John Galliano's haute couture collection of spring/summer 1998, entirely inspired by Marchesa Casati
Perfume producers Mona di Orio and Mavive Profumi and Studio Lisa Bengtsson for contributions to the exhibit
Conni and Birgitta Jonsson for making the project possible