Giulia Andreani
Pour elles toutes (Myrninerest)
2024

MASI Lugano. Collezione Cantone Ticino. Purchase 2024

Pour elles toutes (Myrninerest) by Giulia Andreani, exhibited at the last Venice Biennale, was purchased by MASI for the Canton of Ticino Collection in 2024.

Andreani – a contemporary Italian artist who works in Paris – dedicated the painting to Madge Gill (1882-1961), a self-taught British artist who was active from the 1920s and became a leading figure of Art Brut.

It depicts Gill engrossed in her creative process, drawing on a rolled-up sheet of paper, surrounded by women at work sewing, embroidering and crafting shoes.

The scene was recreated by Andreani with the aid of archive photographs. It encapsulates the central themes of her art, namely the exploration of the role of women, women’s work and the continuous dialogue between past and present.

The hallmark of Andreani’s painting is her use of monochrome and Payne’s grey. This choice of colour not only evokes the look of archive photographs but becomes a powerful narrative tool that connects memory and the present, giving her works a timeless atmosphere.

Her ability to translate complex stories using a refined and conceptual pictorial language is fully expressed in this tribute to Gill. The work is not simply a portrait of her, but rather a layered reflection on creative resilience and the value of women’s work. The depiction of women engaged in manual activities establishes a parallel between the past and the present, emphasizing how the collective dimension and work have been and remain means of emancipation.

Andreani’s tribute stands out for its ability to intertwine seemingly distant worlds: her rigorous monochromatic pictorial style dialogues with the intricate visionary complexity of Gill’s work, creating a narrative that goes beyond mere celebration of the individual.

Pour elles toutes (Myrninerest) is a work that not only renders justice to the memory of Madge Gill but also invites us to reflect on how stories of women’s work, resistance and creativity continue to resonate in the present day.