Just a few weeks after the premature death of the art critic, professor and curator Luca Beatrice, Francesco Bonami remembers him and describes “La commedia dell’arte. Dietro le quinte del contemporaneo tra musei, mercato e provocazioni”, the essay that will be published posthumously by Marsilio Editori on 4 April 2025. On the same day, at 6.30 pm, the book will be presented in Venice, hosted by the Venice Biennale at Ca’ Giustinian with the participation of Andrea Bellini, Beatrice Buscaroli and Luigi Mascheroni. Then on 16 April, at 6 pm, Nicolas Ballario and Francesco Bonami will discuss the book at the Circolo dei Lettori in Turin

Luca Beatrice was the Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde of Italian art criticism.
In Beatrice Jekyll what came out was the sincerity of knowledge and in Hyde Beatrice what came out was the insincerity of political affiliation. An insincerity that never slipped into falsehood and hypocrisy. Using a term from his passion for football, I would say that Luca called himself “right-wing” simply because the “right” let him play however he wanted, in the role he liked most depending on the day and the opponent.
In his latest book La commedia dell’arte, Beatrice uses the Jekyll style more than the Hyde one. A radio commentary of the art world not as a hooligan but as a profound and surprisingly up-to-date expert, well beyond regulation time. Of course there is a pinch of Hyde, in part not to disappoint the faithful readers of his articles in Libero, and in part not to betray himself.
Luca was not a “do-gooder”, but he was good and certainly generous. That cocktail of kindness and generosity produced an honest style. He certainly does not agree with many of the directions that contemporary art has taken, but he does not ignore them and analyses them and tells us about them (which is the most important thing) in a very clear and almost innocent manner.
The greatest quality of Beatrice’s writing was that of never letting his own tastes take over his ideas. His are not opinions but a sort of discussion between his Hyde and his Jekyll. The Commedia that he lays out for us is funny and profound and this depth protects it from the risk of becoming a farce, a dimension the world of art sometimes enters precisely because the violence of taste gets the better of the naive beauty of ideas.

Francesco Bonami

BIO
Francesco Bonami is an internationally renowned critic and curator. Among his books: Lo potevo fare anch’io. Perché l’arte contemporanea è davvero arte (2007), Dopotutto non è brutto (2010), Si crede Picasso (2010), Maurizio Cattelan. Autobiografia non autorizzata (2011), L’arte nel cesso (2017) and, with Feltrinelli, Post (2019).

Luca Beatrice (1961-2025) taught History of Art at the Accademia Albertina, the IED in Turin and the IULM in Milan. In 2009, together with Beatrice Buscaroli, he curated the Italian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale and, since 2024, he has been president of the Quadriennale di Roma. An art critic, curator and essayist, he has collaborated with various magazines and newspapers, including il Giornale and Libero. His most recent books include Da che arte stai? 10 lezioni sul contemporaneo (2021). With Marsilio he has also published Le vite. Un racconto provinciale dell’arte italiana (2023).

Caption:

The cover of the book La commedia dell’arte. Dietro le quinte del contemporaneo tra musei, mercato e provocazioni by Luca Beatrice, Marsilio Editori, Venice 2025