Italy Cities Art Guide Fall 2009

The following is a city-by-city guide to some of Italy's art exhibitions:

BOLZANO - Museo Archeologico dell'Alto Adige: Iceman joined by more than 60 mummies from Ancient Egypt, Asia, South America and Oceania; until October 25.

BRESCIA - Museo di Santa Giulia: Inca, Origins and Mysteries of the Civilisation of Gold; 250 artefacts, December 4-June 27.

CALDAROLA (MACERATA) - Palazzo dei Cardinali Pallotta: reassembled collection of 17th-century cardinal; 60 works by artists including Caravaggio, Guercino, Guido Reni, Mattia Preti, Carlo Maratta, Annibale Carracci, Ludovico Carracci and Elisabetta Sirani; until November 12.

FERRARA - Palazzo dei Diamanti: Boldini In The Paris Of The Impressionists; show on Ferrara-born artist's 'beau monde' portraiture years from 1871 to 1886; until January 10.

FLORENCE - Palazzo Pitti, Limonaia: From Petra to Sharwak, 20 years of Florence University digs at famed ancient cities in Jordan; until October 11.

- Medici Chapels: show on life and times of Ferdinand I de' Medici, powerful third grand duke of Tuscany (1549-1609), marking 400th anniversary of his death; until November 1.

GRADARA - Rocca: Stolen Kisses; show in castle where Dante's doomed lovers kissed; 18th-century paintings of Paolo and Francesca, Romeo and Juliet, Lancelot and Guinevere and first version of Francesco Hayez's 'The Kiss'; plus videos of Italian movie kisses; until November 2.

MAMIANO DI TRAVERSETOLO (PARMA) - Fondazione Magnani Rocca: Futurism, From Boccioni To Aeropittura: centred around Gino Severini's 1915 masterpiece La Danzeuse, over 100 paintings from 1920s and '30s by Boccioni, Balla, Severini, Sironi, Soffici, Russolo, Depero, Prampolini as well as sculpture, Futurist books, clothes, advertising, ending with 'aeropittura' of flying by Dottori, Crali, Fillia; until December 8.

MANTUA - Palazzo Ducale: 15 installations by Stefano Arienti; until January 6.

MARSALA - Convento del Carmine: Monochrome; 70 works from post-war Italy to the 1970s by artists including Alberto Burri, Lucio Fontana and Mimmo Rotella; until October 18.

MATERA - Palazzo Lanfranchi: Splendours of the Hidden Baroque; 100 works by Baroque painters in southern Italy including Luca Giordano; until November 1.

MILAN - Palazzo Reale: 250 paintings from influential 19th-century Scapigliatura movement; until November 22.

- same venue: Robert Wilson's 'Voom Portraits', celebrities like Mikhail Baryshnikov, Johnny Depp, Robert Downey, Salma Hayek, Isabelle Huppert, Jeanne Moreau, Brad Pitt and Princess Caroline of Monaco; but also ordinary people and animals; until October 4.

- same venue: 20 Monet water lily works from Musee' Marmottan in Paris; until September 27.

- same venue: 36 years of cartoons by political satirist Giorgio Forattini; until September 27.

MONTECATINI TERME - Polo Espositivo Terme Tamerici: 19th century masters including Giovanni Fattori, Silvestro Lega, Telemaco Signorini and Cristiano Banti; until January 19.

NAPLES - Palazzo Reale: Futurism, 100 Years, 100 Manifestos; manifestos, posters, short films by Marinetti and others ranging from painting to sculpture, architecture and music; show first seen at Rome's MACRO earlier this year, now with Neapolitan Futurism added; until November 3.

- MADRE: Francesco Clemente; 110 works by the New York-based Italian contemporary artist; until October 12.

NUORO - Museo Man: Fabrizio De Andre', multimedia and interactive show on Genoese singer-songwriter; until October 4.

PADUA - Palazzo Zabarella: Telemaco Signorini, show comparing 'macchiaioli' master with contemporaries like Degas, Van Gogh and Courbet; until January 31.

PARMA - Futurismo! celebrating the movement's centenary is running at Parma's Magnani Rocca Foundation until December 8.

PIACENZA - Fondazione Ricci Oddi: 19th-Century Tuscan Painting, macchiaioli and beyond, 40 works including Fattori, Signorini, Boldini, De Nittis, Nomellini, Corcos; until May 2.

PORDENONE - Civici Musei d'Arte and Spazi Espositivi Provinciali: tribute to Harry Bertoia (1915-1978), artist and designer best known for 'Diamond' Knoll chair, who left native Friuli at 15; until September 28.

PRATO - Museo del Tessuto: The Style of the Czar; 130 imperial silks and paintings that went from Italy to Ancient Muscovy and later Russian courts between 14th and 18th centuries; loaned by major Italian and Russian galleries including, for the first time, the Hermitage Textile Collection; until January 10.

ROME - Colosseum: 'Divus Vespasanius', celebration of Emperor Vespasian, general who took throne from Nero in 69 AD and transformed Rome, founding Flavian dynasty who built Colosseum; until January 10.

- Various sites including Forum, Piazza Barberini: 'La Ruta de la Paz', monumental bronze and marble works by Costa Rican sculptor Jorge Jimenez Deredia; exhibition outlined at Palazzo delle Esposizioni; until November 30.

- Museo Nazionale d'Arte Orientale Giuseppe Tucci: Murals of India, 50 photographs by Benoy K. Belh; until October 10.

- MACRO modern art gallery: Latest New York trends including Street Punk, Wild Figuration and New Abstraction; until November 1.

TRENTO - Palazzo delle Albere: Hayez, Prati, Bezzi, Segantini and other 19th-century Trento painters; until November 22.

VENICE - Biennale: 53th and biggest-ever edition of world's oldest arts festival; 90 artists at 77 national pavilions, including Joan Jonas, Lygia Pape, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Xu Tan, Thomas Saraceno, Nikhil Chopra and Anawana Haloba; until November 22.

VERONA - Juliet's House: Marc Quinn sculptures and installations including famous Flowers cycle and solid gold Siren inspired by Kate Moss; until September 27.

VIGEVANO - Castello Visconteo: Leonardo da Vinci's output during his time in Lombardy; 'virtual codex' on flying, botany, mathematics, weaponry, astronomy, engineering and architecture; until April 5.

- same venue: art and artefacts showing powerful Milan Sforza dynasty, particularly Leonardo's best-known patron, Ludovico Sforza; until January 31.

Chysler Fiat Marriage = Fiat Cars to Chysler Dealer Near You?

Last week, Chrysler and Fiat announced they signed a memorandum of understanding,, a non-binding agreement in which Fiat would receive a 35% stake in Chrysler, and could eventually raise its ownership stake to 55%. In return, Chrysler would have access to Fiat's small-car technologies. Each company would also have access to each other's plants and dealer networks. Fiat would also benefit by having access to Chrysler's dealership operations, which includes systems for tracking warranty work.

The deal between Chrysler LLC and Fiat SpA could lead to seven new cars for the North American market. The news comes after the leadership teams of the two automakers, which included Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne, held an informal meeting in Auburn Hills over the weekend.

Of the seven vehicles, three would be Fiat or Alfa Romeo, a person familiar with the deal said. Those vehicles would be based on four Fiat platforms, ranging from the smallest, the so-called A or microcar platform, to the midsize D-segment, and reskinned for the US market. Fiat's highly fuel-efficient powertrain technology would also be shared with Chrysler. For Chrysler, which is essentially valueless, it allows Jeep to enter markets such as Brazil and Italy where Fiat already has dealerships.

Ultimately, Fiat's small-vehicle platforms could help Chrysler compete in the small-car segment, in which Fiat specializes, and in the midsize segment, where Chrysler has struggled to compete against the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord. The Fiat 500, a hot re-introduction of one of Fiat's most popular post-war vehicles, will surely enter the United States market and one or two of Chrysler's factories will be retooled to build the Fiat 500. Comau will re-tool Chrysler's factories and Magneti Marelli will sell more of its car parts, thus strengthening its business.

Fiat has little lose by the agreement, and much to gain, while Nardelli could use some intellectual and operations power to bail out Chrysler's inept management. If things go well we'll see Fiat's on the road by 2011, and if not then Chrysler will slide into bankruptcy and Fiat will pick the prized assets for a song. Either way, Fiat is well-positioned for its re-entry into the United States of America's markets.

After the jump video of 2009 Alfa Romeo Spider.

After the jump video of the new 2009 Fiat 500.

For more video of Italy visit WebVisionItaly.com