Palazzo Zabarella is preparing to welcome an extraordinary exhibition that brings 65 masterpieces from the LaM of Lille to Italy. The exhibition “Modigliani Picasso and the Voices of Modernity” will open to the public on 16 October 2025 and will remain visible until 25 January 2026, a period in which you can immerse yourself in the atmosphere of the most famous avant-gardes of the twentieth century.
A collection born from passion
The history of the LaM museum is rooted in the passion of two exceptional collectors: Roger Dutilleul and his nephew Jean Masurel. Dutilleul, a textile industrialist from northern France who lived between 1872 and 1956, began collecting works of art in 1904 and continued for over fifty years. Gallerist Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler described him as a “deeply likeable and estimable man in the tradition of great art lovers.”
Dutilleul had an instinctive approach to painting. He said he had “no creed” or “a priori dogma” about art. His philosophy was simple: “The most important thing is that the painting looks at you.” He was among the first supporters of cubist art, fascinated by the works of Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso, and also followed Fernand Léger’s “Tubism” with interest.
Jean Masurel, Dutilleul’s nephew, inherited this passion. In the 1920s, while studying in Paris, he began to form his own collection following his uncle’s tastes but also opening up to abstract painting and local artists from northern France. When Dutilleul died, he bequeathed most of his works to him. Masurel considered himself only the “guardian” of this heritage and in 1983 he decided to donate it to the community, creating the museum of Villeneuve d’Ascq, in the metropolitan area of Lille.
This #Autumn2025 an unmissable event for lovers of twentieth century art arrives at #PalazzoZabarella in Padua!…
Posted by Palazzo Zabarella on Wednesday, October 15, 2025
From modern art to art brut
The museum was further enriched in 1999 with an exceptional donation: over 3,500 works of art brut from the L’Aracine association. This term was coined in 1945 by the artist Jean Dubuffet to define works created by marginalized people, self-taught, or created in psychiatric hospitals. A spontaneous, instinctive art that expresses poetry and spirituality through alternative ways.
Today the LaM houses over 8,500 works and represents the first French museum to bring together modern, contemporary and brut art, making it the leading French expert on 20th and 21st century art.
The protagonists of the exhibition
You will be able to admire works by 30 avant-garde artists, among which five paintings by Pablo Picasso stand out, including “Fish and Bottles” from 1909 and “Woman with a Hat” from 1942, alongside masterpieces by Georges Braque such as “La Roche-Guyon” from 1909 and “The Sacred Heart of Montmartre” from 1910.
Another highlight are the six works by Amedeo Modigliani, the heart of the exhibition, with famous portraits such as that of Moïse Kisling, “Boy with red hair”, “Seated nude with shirt” and “Maternity”. The exhibition itinerary, curated by Jeanne-Bathilde Lacourt, is divided into six sections that explore cubism, the “Tubism” of Fernand Léger (present with six paintings), and the avant-garde of the first and second post-war period with Joan Miró, André Lanskoy, Alexander Calder and Eugène Leroy.
Part of the exhibition is dedicated to “naïve” artists such as Séraphine de Senlis and Augustin Lesage, capable of expressing spontaneous and visionary poetry. The exhibition ends with the actual art brut: granite sculptures by Antoine Rabany and wooden sculptures by Auguste Forestier, alongside Jean Dubuffet’s “Philosophical Bread”.
A dialogue with an international flavor
The exhibition represents a new chapter in the dialogue that the Bano Foundation has started with international museum institutions, after the collaborations with the Brooklyn Museum in New York and the Grenoble museum. A unique opportunity for Italy, given that we will be able to admire a very precious collection that very rarely leaves France and which tells, through extraordinary works, the evolution of twentieth-century art.
Useful information
When: from 16 October 2025 to 25 January 2026
Where: Palazzo Zabarella, Padua
Opening hours: Sunday to Thursday 10:00/19:00, Friday and Saturday 10:00/20:00 (last entry always 45 minutes before closing)
Tickets: can be purchased on ticketlandia.com
Official website: zabardella.it
