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Mimì Anna Laetitia Pecci Blunt: Her Soul in an Archive
August 3
Through December 17, 2023
The exhibition can be visited with the entrance ticket to the park. Opening days and hours:
– until 5 November every day from 10:30 am to 5:30 pm; on the weekends of July and August extraordinary opening of the park until 8:00 pm;
– from 6 November to 17 December opening on weekends and holidays from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm; on the dates of 2, 3, 8, 9, 10, 16 and 17 December Christmas opening from 10:00 am / 9:00 pm;
– extraordinary closures on Saturday 26 August, Sunday 17 September and Tuesday 26 September.
An exhibition celebrating the figure of a refined and extraordinary woman, an eclectic patron, who in her beloved summer residence hosted and brought to fame the most important names in art, theater and literature of the 20th century, from Salvador Dalì to Jean Cocteau and Alberto Moravia. From July 21 to December 17, on the occasion of the centenary of the Pecci Blunt family’s purchase of Villa Reale di Marlia, it is possible to visit the exhibition Mimì. Anna Laetitia Pecci Blunt: la sua anima in un archivio, curated by Roberta Martinelli, with historical research and texts by Simonetta Giurlani Pardini, installation design by Beatrice Speranza, and video portrait by Giulia Vannucci. Anna Laetitia Pecci Blunt left Marlia an archive created by herself, which is a true autobiography. Beginning with her birth certificate, newspaper clippings, photographs, letters, and dated and catalogued documents, Mimì is a protagonist of international social life and a patron committed to spreading new cultural trends and artistic avant-garde.
She created in her beloved home an artistic and intellectual circle where poets, artists and musicians such as Dalì, Cocteau, Valery, Poulenc and Claudel gathered, making this Lucchese villa the heart of the artistic world and at the same time a place of great inspiration and wonderful friendships. The exhibition is set in the Palazzina dell’Orologio, in the large kitchen on the ground floor that was the center of Mimì’s lively parties, and in the spaces on the first floor, with documents from Mimì’s life, such as her records, magazines, her rich ethnographic collection, and memorabilia that belonged to Pope Leo XIII.
An evocative installation placed in the former kitchen begins the exhibition with three light panels: the first highlights the main stages of Mimi’s life with portraits of her and her friends; the second presents part of her Vogue magazine collection and articles about her and her parties; and the third compares the influence of the culture and worldliness of the time, from the revolutionary Russian Ballets to Mimi’s spectacular parties.
The three panels act as backdrops to the focal point of the exhibition: the projection of the video portrait made by Giulia Vannucci.
The exhibition can be visited with the entrance ticket to the park. Opening days and hours:
– until 5 November every day from 10:30 am to 5:30 pm; on the weekends of July and August extraordinary opening of the park until 8:00 pm;
– from 6 November to 17 December opening on weekends and holidays from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm; on the dates of 2, 3, 8, 9, 10, 16 and 17 December Christmas opening from 10:00 am / 9:00 pm;
– extraordinary closures on Saturday 26 August, Sunday 17 September and Tuesday 26 September.
