The National Gallery of Modern Art (Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna) underwent a recent facelift, challenging gallery conventions. From their logo update, to their early 1900s-influenced WiFi lounge, to the handcrafted bookstore, the 6-month long probe into the spatial redesign was celebrated in June, and welcomes its inaugurating exhibit Time is Out of Joint. The title, derived from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, alludes to the elasticity of the concept of time, a time that is not linear, but stratified.

Time is Out of Joint - Galleria Nazionale Roma — Antonio Canova
Ercole e Lica

Director Cristiana Collu in collaboration with Saretto Cincinelli has astutely curated the exhibition, pulling works from the gallery’s permanent collection and adding pieces to create a dynamic between form, technique and style. For any art enthusiast, it’s hard to overlook the attention to conceptual and aesthetic detail as certain arrangements transmit a confronting intersection: Monet‘s Water Lillies (1926) hangs across Luca Rento’s Ninfee digital animation (2004), Piet Mondrian’s Grande Composizione A (1920) above Pino Pascali’s floor installation 32 Mq. di Mare circa (1967), and Gabriele Basilico’s photography collection Roma (2010) adjacent to Federico Cortese’s Ruderi di un mondo che fu (1890) are just a few examples of how time transitions are more objectively apparent.

As the time travel continues, another recurring theme is that of masculine and feminine evolution as human subjects reflect a range of interpretations in their delineation over time. One example is where viewers confront, in one room, the female power of Giorgio de Chirico‘s Bagnante Corcate (1932), together with Giulio Aristride Sartorio’s La Gorgone e gli eroi (1895), Hans Bellmre’s La Poupee (1934), Amedeo Modigliani’s Nudo sdraiato (1916), and Ignacio Zuloago’s Irena (1910), leading up to the adjacent sala with Cleopatra.

Laden with works by Giorgio de Chirico, Pino Pescali, Mario Sironi, and Lucio Fontana, the collection sees some new additions offering a range of focuses: Berlinde De Bruyckere’s aggressive installation We Are Flesh, and the pristine room of over 30 classical busts and sculpted ornaments, are some examples.

The collection speaks for itself, and for those who have already visited the museum, there remains a lot in store. For anyone seeking to feast their eyes upon a Degas, Pollack, Warhol, Kandinskij, Klimt , Cezanne or a Van Gogh, consider this your opportunity.