Pinacoteca Agnelli, Turn, Italy
October 29, 2026–April 3, 2027
For the next edition of Beyond the Collection at the Pinacoteca Angelli, Chris Ofili will present a new series of works in dialogue with Édouard Manet’s Portrait of Laure (La Négresse) (c. 1862), from the Permanent Collection of the museum.
The title Laure restores the name of the sitter in Manet’s portrait, whose identity was long-erased and reduced to the racial epithet “La Négresse”. Drawing on Denise Murrell’s groundbreaking research into the unattributed Black models depicted in French late-19 century to early-20th century paintings, Ofili invites us to recognize Laure as a fully realized individual, with a unique and irreducible life experience of her own.
In his paintings and drawings, Ofili combines personal experiences, diverse cultural references, and mythical and historical figures in vibrant chromatic compositions that bring abstract and figurative elements within the language of painting. At Pinacoteca, Manet’s painting will be shown alongside newly-commissioned works by Ofili, a large-scale new painting and series of watercolours.
An accompanying booklet will feature color images of all the artworks in the exhibition, as well as the iconographic constellation that inspired Ofili in his work, from 14th-century Italian frescoes to contemporary cinema. A new essay by Denise Murrell, curator at large for 19th- and 20th-century art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and curator of the 2018 pioneering exhibition Posing Modernity: The Black Model from Manet and Matisse to Today, will further contextualize Ofili’s project within current scholarship on the painting.
Established in 2022, Beyond the Collection is the project aimed at reactivating the museum’s Permanent Collection comprising 25 masterpieces ranging from the 18th century to the 20th including works by Canaletto, Matisse, Manet, Modigliani, and Picasso, among others. Through the involvement of contemporary artists or loans from other prestigious institutions, one or more works from the Permanent Collection become the focal point of new exhibition projects designed to reinterpret historical heritage through contemporary themes. The goal is to forge relationships that reflect both the presences and absences within the collection, bringing forgotten figures to light and developing narratives capable of challenging traditional readings of art history.
Laure. Chris Ofili & Édouard Manet is curated by Pietro Rigolo, Chief Curator, Pinacoteca Agnelli.
Launched in 2022, Beyond the Collection is a project designed to reactivate Pinacoteca Agnelli's permanent collection, through interventions by contemporary artists and specific loans from Italian and foreign institutions. Its aim is to create connections that reflect on both the presences and absences within this group of historic works, bringing forgotten or ignored stories to light, and questioning canonical interpretations of art history.
Learn more at Pinacoteca Agnelli.