Celebrating Segantini. Stamps and postcards of a timeless icon

The exhibition “Celebrating Segantini. Stamps and Postcards of a Timeless Icon,” from the collection of Roberto Armellini, was opened on 24 October.

It traces more than a century of celebrations that mainly Italy, Switzerland and Austria, but also several other countries in Europe and around the world have paid tribute to the great painter from Arco, from his death to almost the present day. Postcards, stamps (including some forgeries, widespread in the first part of the 20th century, and created to save on the cost of postage), philatelic cancellations, posters and promotional material in general, but also some Japanese phone cards and some matchboxes with reproductions of his paintings.

The exhibition will be open for visitors at Casa Collini, the educational space of the “Giovanni Segantini” Civic Gallery, until 16 November from Tuesday to Sunday (closed Monday) from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. with free admission.

"This collection is certainly of great value to philatelic enthusiasts,” said Giancarla Tognoni, head of the Culture Office and Civic Gallery, ”but it also makes us understand how Segantini had great international fame and entered mass culture, even by permeating everyday life with everyday objects such as matches. Segantini was beloved and very famous already in his lifetime, and in fact celebrations began immediately after his sudden and untimely death and continued throughout the following decades. The exhibition also reminds us how strong Segantini's connection was with his hometown, where he lived for only seven years, but which was the place of his childhood and where he lived with his mother, whom he would lose in 1865. This collection offers endless cues to remember Segantini's life and art, with a look back over a century.”