The exhibition Dal nulla al sogno. Dada e Surrealismo from the Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum Collection is hosted by the Fondazione Ferrero in Alba (CN). Curated by Marco Vallora, it was thought following both the surrealist and dada diktat.

The exhibition starts in the video room with the projection of a short film suitable for children and adults, which allows the visitors to understand better the two artistic movements, followed by nine sections including highly valuable objects and paintings, allowing us an in-depth analysis of such Masters as Dalì and Magritte, thanks to an harmonious and chronological display. The niches full of objects culminating with the nightmares by Magritte need to be seen as a clear margin between Dada nihilism and the Surrealist proactive verve: chance, ugliness, dream, unconscious and the relation with ancient art, as well as the link between art and ideals.

Thanks to the Boijmans Van Beuningen di Rotterdam, the vast majority of the works exhibited at the Fondazione has reached Italy for the first time as part of the usual biennial art event at the Fondazione. The works lent by the Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum, also include three different versions of the Boîtes (“boxes”) by Marcel Duchamp. Starting from the 30s Duchamp stopped working as an artists, becoming a simple chess player and, inside these boxes, he placed all his scandalous work, in order to have his personal ‘portfolio’ at hand, without having to be part of a museum.

The intent of the exhibition itself is to take the visitor aback and to be ironic, without forgetting the Dada spirit, which partially denies art itself, the diktat and the importance of the painter as an absolute and enlightened master. For this reason we cannot help but to admire Man Ray’s, Arp’s and Picabia’s works, by immersing ourselves in that Parisian environment where they could freely express their verve. It is no chance the words ‘nothing’ and ‘dream’ are linked together, as dreams are born from nothing and can move towards such works as Tanguy’s and Cornell’s, for example. Magritte’s pipes o the categorical refusals by Man Ray can live together on the walls of the Fondazione.

For those who are curious to deepen their knowledge of the Collections hosted inside the Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum in Rotterdam; the bequests by Frans Boijmans and Daniël George van Beuningen include various masterpieces by Bosch, Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Dalí and Dutch design. Visiting the Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum means starting a voyage of discovery in art history, having The Dream at the ready.