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La Superba: Genoa and The Wolfsoniana

November 20, 2025–July 19, 2026
The Wolfsonian–FIU @ 1001 Washington Avenue

Genoa—home to The Wolfsoniana, The Wolfsonian's sister institution in Italy—is an ancient port city with a distinct character. Known as "La Superba" (the superb), Genoa and its Riviera have long drawn artists and writers from around the world, not to mention museum founder Mitchell "Micky" Wolfson, Jr. Through paintings, travel posters, books, and decorative arts from our collection, this installation provides a picture of Genoa as a mercantile and financial center in the first half of the 20th century.

Organized in celebration of The Wolfsoniana's 20th anniversary and the enduring connection between Italy and the United States.

 

Place:
6th Floor
Curator:
Silvia Barisione
Credit:
La Superba is organized by The Wolfsonian–FIU. We thank The Wolfsoniana–Palazzo Ducale Fondazione per la Cultura, Genoa, and the contributors to The Wolfsonian–Wolfsoniana Collaboration Fund for their support.

 

Learn More About The Wolfsoniana

The Wolfsoniana collection was gifted by founder Micky Wolfson to Palazzo Duale Fondazione per la Cultura, the main cultural center of the city and once residence of the Doge, the elected head of the Republic of Genoa. Opened to the public in Nervi in 2005, the institution—or what Wolfson calls a "documentarum," as it documents our recent past—hosts the majority of Wolfson's Italian collection.

Object Highlights

A travel poster reading “Genova e la Riviera Italiana,” showing a view of a harbor with ships, city buildings, and a seaside promenade lined with palm trees and flowering plants

Poster, Genova e la Riviera Italiana [Genoa and the Italian Riviera], 1931
Aurelio Craffonara (Italian, 1875–1945), designer
ENIT (Ente Nazionale Italiano per il Turismo), Rome, publisher
Barabino & Graeve, Genoa, printer
Offset lithograph
39 1/2 x 27 1/2 in (100.3 x 69.9 cm)
The Wolfsonian–FIU, The Mitchell Wolfson, Jr. Collection, XX1990.3172

A framed painting showing a harbor with numerous docked and anchored boats, several red-hulled steamships, and buildings and cliffs in the background

Painting, The Old Harbor, Genoa – Morning, 1909
John MacWhirter (Scottish, 1839–1911)
Genoa
Oil on canvas
46 x 62 x 4 1/2 in (116.8 x 157.5 x 11.4 cm)
The Wolfsonian–FIU, The Mitchell Wolfson, Jr. Collection of Decorative and Propaganda Arts, Promised Gift, ITC2004.6.29

A framed greyscale painting depicting a shirtless man carrying another limp, shirtless man, with a group of figures standing below and workers on an overhead scaffold in the background

Painting, La pietá umana [Human Piety], 1946
Alberto Helios Gagliardo (Italian, 1893–1987)
Genoa
Oil on canvas
76 1/2 x 59 1/4 in (34.2 x 50.5 cm)
The Wolfsonian–FIU, The Mitchell Wolfson, Jr. Collection, XX1989.128

A wooden Art Nouveau writing desk with a drop-front surface, featuring painted floral panels of white roses and an etched scene of figures on the lower back panel

 

Desk for a lady, 1901
Alberto Issel (Italian, 1848–1926), designer
Alberto Issel Workshop, Genoa, manufacturer
Oak, silver electroplate on electro-formed copper and wrought brass, velveteen, embossed and gilded leather, almond shells, paint
52 1/4 x 32 1/2 x 19 1/2 in (132.7 x 82.6 x 49.5 cm)
The Wolfsonian–FIU, The Mitchell Wolfson, Jr. Collection, 88.32.11.16.1

Banner image: Poster, Genova e la Riviera Italiana [Genoa and the Italian Riviera], 1931. Aurelio Craffonara, designer. ENIT (Ente Nazionale Italiano per il Turismo), Rome, publisher. Barabino & Graeve, Genoa, printer. The Wolfsonian–FIU, The Mitchell Wolfson, Jr. Collection, XX1990.3172.