Oro e Oriente

Exhibition at the Tommasini Spa building, marking the centenary of the opening of the Lorenzo Berzieri Spa. Salsomaggiore May 26 – September 24, 2023

Exhibition catalog edited by Maurizia Bonatti Bacchini and Valerio Terraroli

On May 27, 1923, the “Lorenzo Berzieri” spa was inaugurated, and the slogan coined for the occasion read “The Most Beautiful Spa in the World.” The exhibition and its richly illustrated catalog intend to tell the story of the uniqueness of the Berzieri spa establishment, but also of the inventions of the multifaceted artist Galileo Chini for the salons of the Grand Hotel des Thermes and for Villa Fonio, in which a distinct oriental taste is combined with Italian Art Deco features.

The exhibition, sponsored by the City of Salsomaggiore, aims to reconstruct through about 150 works the history of the monumental project and to tell the story of the symbols and allegories enclosed in the sumptuous spa palace, which was conceived as a sanctuary of the salso-bromo-iodine water: an extraordinary example of the richest and most sumptuous Art Deco taste, but also a temple laden with symbols that introduce the evocative and enveloping rituals of the spa cure.