Luigi Serra (1846–1888). “I Wish I Had Another Life to Learn Colour”

From 6 November 2026 to 8 March 2027, the Museo Ottocento Bologna presents the major monographic exhibition Luigi Serra (1846–1888). “I Wish I Had Another Life to Learn Colour”. 180 Years after His Birth, curated by Francesca Sinigaglia. The exhibition features more than 100 works, including oil paintings, watercolours, drawings and documents, brought together in an accessible and innovative exhibition itinerary.
The exhibition, divided into ten thematic sections, has been organised in collaboration with prestigious museums and institutions including the Vatican Museums, GNAMC - National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rome, the Gallery of Modern Art in Florence, the Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna, Collegio Artistico Venturoli in Bologna, Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Bologna, MAMbo - Museo d’Arte Moderna di Bologna and the Academy of Fine Arts of Bologna, together with important private collections, including those of Serra’s testamentary heirs in Bologna and Naples. The exhibition will also offer the first-ever opportunity to view the complete corpus of 200 drawings and important paintings belonging to the collection of the Museo Ottocento Bologna, a fundamental testimony to the artist’s mastery of drawing and meticulous preparatory work, never previously exhibited.

Marking the 180th anniversary of the birth of the Bologna-born painter, the exhibition – the most extensive ever devoted to the artist – aims to rediscover and celebrate the life and artistic career of one of the most important Bolognese masters of the 19th century. Serra built a successful career at national level, working in some of the leading cultural centres of post-unification Italy, before his death at the age of just 42.

Despite the considerable critical and public success he achieved during his lifetime, Luigi Serra was constantly accompanied by a profound creative restlessness, summed up in his famous statement: “I wish I had another life to learn colour.” The artist continually reworked his subjects through a meticulous process of study, never considering himself fully satisfied with the result. Emblematic of this painful inner turmoil is the extraordinary and previously unseen Self-Portrait of Luigi Serra, March 1884, Studio Quattro Fontane 88 (Rome), held in the collection of the Museo Ottocento Bologna. The surface of the painting bears clear signs of damage: Serra himself tore it during a moment of acute artistic despair, and it was patiently restored by his friend, the sculptor Enrico Barbèri. This “violated” masterpiece will serve as a recurring thread throughout the exhibition, guiding visitors towards the discovery not only of the great master, but also of the man, with his doubts, sensitivity and vulnerabilities. Other masterpieces on display include celebrated historical paintings such as Annibale Bentivoglio prigioniero nel castello di Varano, concerta la fuga con certo Zanese parolaio (1870), from Collegio Venturoli, Le confidenze (1882), and Scena storica (a sketch for the large work commissioned from Luigi Serra by the Circolo Artistico di Bologna), from a private collection and usually not accessible to the public.

The exhibition follows Serra’s education and career chronologically, from his early years at Collegio Venturoli and the Academy of Fine Arts to his first recognition from the Società Protettrice di Belle Arti and the Pensionato Angiolini scholarship, which took him to Florence and Rome. Ample space is devoted to his Roman period and his relationship with Maison Goupil, the curtain and decorations for the Teatro Gentile in Fabriano, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2026, his years in Venice during the Pensione Triennale and his subsequent return to Rome, documented by works created for the Church of Santa Maria della Vittoria. One of the final sections explores his professional and personal relationship with painter Attilia Marini, from whose collection comes a group of previously unknown works. The exhibition concludes with the decorative cycle dedicated to Irnerius at Palazzo d’Accursio and a reconstruction of Serra’s posthumous legacy, including the acquisition of the Fondo Serra by institutions in Bologna, the Pinacoteca and the Museo Ottocento Bologna.

Alongside the exhibition, from January to March 2027, a series of public talks and in-depth events will be held at the headquarters of Confcommercio Ascom Bologna. The talks, with free admission, will feature art historians and specialists invited to explore the life and work of Luigi Serra.