Visioni apollinee. Order and beauty in the drawings and engravings of Enzo Bellini

An exhibition in the heart of the Tuscan-Romagnolo Apennines

From June 14 to September 6, 2026, the Vero Stoppioni Contemporary Art Gallery in Santa Sofia, in the heart of the Tuscan-Romagnolo Apennines in the province of Forlì-Cesena, hosts "Visioni apollinee. Order and beauty in the drawings and engravings of Enzo Bellini". The exhibition is promoted by the Municipality of Santa Sofia in collaboration with the National Park of the Casentinesi Forests and with the support of the Emilia-Romagna Region.

The poetic universe of Enzo Bellini

The exhibition focuses on a fundamental, yet more intimate and less known, aspect of the artist from Santa Sofia's work: the methodical and constant use of ink and etching techniques, which has accompanied Bellini since the second half of the 1960s, alongside his painting activity. The works on display tell of a world made of patient observation and love for the territory.

Fauna and flora of the Apennines

The protagonists of the compositions are the typical fauna and flora of the Tuscan-Romagnolo Apennines, a territory that Bellini knew deeply. Blackbirds, sparrows, herons, rabbits, dragonflies, wild roses, and sunflowers appear in the black and white etchings and ink drawings. The absence of color does not impoverish the images; on the contrary, it amplifies the expressive power of the line and guides the gaze towards the details and the authentic essence of the subjects represented.

The Vero Stoppioni Gallery

The exhibition venue is a place to be discovered in itself. Inaugurated in 1990 in an early 20th-century building, the Vero Stoppioni Contemporary Art Gallery houses the works collected from various editions of the Campigna Prize, established in 1955. The collection documents the main movements of Italian art from the post-war period onwards, from neorealism to informal art, from pop art to abstraction, with artists such as Mattia Moreni, Francesco Somaini, Fabrizio Plessi, and Sergio Vacchi.

An event of the Santa Sofia summer

With critical text curated by Lara Gaeta, "Visioni apollinee" is part of the cultural events of the summer in Santa Sofia and Emilia-Romagna, offering residents and visitors of the National Park of the Casentinesi Forests an opportunity to engage with the graphic work of one of the artists most closely linked to this corner of the Apennines. Admission is free.