Galleria d'Arte Moderna

Lonely Planet review

Moved from its abode inside the walls of Teatro Politeama, Palermo's Galleria d'Arte Moderna is located in a wonderfully restored old complex. The building's interior is sleek and very 'modern art', but the art itself is unfortunately not very heartstopping. Divided over three floors, the artwork is dedicated largely to Sicily and Palermo as its subjects, thus ruling out pieces that might be otherwise interesting and brightening to the collection.

The gallery's highlights are the paintings of Michele Catti (1855-1914), whose large canvases portray moody scenes of fin-de-siécle life in Palermo's streets. The Ultime foglie (Last Leaves; 1906) is a beautiful image of a wet Viale della Libertá on a late autumn day. Also interesting is the 1930s painting by Corrado Cagli (1910-76), on the 2nd floor, depicting Mussolini's programme of land irrigation around Rome; in the painting, Cagli combined an ancient wax-painting method and a modernist style. Il tram , painted by Mario Sironi (1885-1961) and Le nozze , by Massimo Campigli (1895-1971), are fun products of futurism.