Forms of the Modern is both a reinterpretation and re-installation in which works and spaces establish an organic relationship. The vast space of the Entrance hall on the ground floor is dedicated to the sculptural portrayal of the human form, with six large works that exemplify the double polarity, female and male, in different periods and languages. The exhibition continues on the second floor. Here the sculptures are arranged according to the guiding principle of formal study which, starting from linearity, gradually leads to a prevalence of the material.

In the large Hall, where the huge frieze by Artistide Sartorio with the Cycle of Life (240m² of paintings in 14 panels with 128 figures “larger than life” is permanently on display covering the entire length of the walls, characterized by a formal construction in which the line and assimilation of classical culture prevailed, the original painting sculpture of this work is placed in relation to a series of sculptures which, in their figurative plasticism, move from classical influences towards new syntheses. Therefore – from Rodin’s The Thinker (1880) and The Burghers of Calais (1886) to Bistolfi’s Resurrection (1904) and De Toffoli’s Nuvola [Cloud] (1955) – the transition of the contortion of the form to the elegance of a more modern linearism and the search for the simplification of the compositional fabric.

In the small hall there is now room for plastic studies on stylisation and dynamic rhythms; the form and line become less important, the work identifies itself with the shapeless material and the gestural sign, becoming an object of experimentation, it loses physiognomy while the conjugation between painting and sculpture is strived for. On display here are not only a Plurimo by Vedova (1964) but also works in copper and bronze by Kemeny, Milani, Calò as well as canvases by Gaspari and Plessi. The last small room pays homage to three great maestros: Medardo Rosso, Adolfo Wildt and Arturo Martini. The criterion for the selection of the famous masterpieces from the vast museum collections was that they shared an apparent muteness of their gaze: gazes that are invisible but able to create an amazing dialogue with their eyes closed between them along different lines.