Italian trip to the Estorick Collection

On Monday afternoon, 14 Lower and Upper Eighth Italianists set off on a trip to the only museum in the UK exclusively dedicated to modern Italian art, the Estorick Collection, in Islington.

They left school at the beginning of lunch, for a proper pranzo at a nearby Italian restaurant, ordering their meals and even talking amongst themselves in Italian the whole time. The meaning behind the name of the pasta shape strozzapreti caused a fervent discussion and the origins of this (slightly gruesome) name were revealed by Silvia, the Italian Language Assistant.

They then headed to the Estorick Collection, where they learnt about the history of the collection and how it came to be. The tour was interactive, asking the pupils about their impressions of the art that they were analysing and there was a constant dialogue between them and the curator, who engaged them fully in the explanations of the work. A highlight included a 3D representation of a Futurist head that could be analysed from every perspective. The Upper Eighth Italianists who have learnt about Fascism as part of their course were particularly interested in the work by Fascist artists within the collection, as well as a discussion of the Futurist Manifesto. After the tour, they then made use of the gift shop, purchasing Italian phrase books and books about the art, as well as postcards of their favourite paintings.

Many thanks to Erica Musa and Silvia Tanzini for accompanying the trip.