March 21, 2016
Maserati joins forces with Royal Academy of Arts
Italian automaker Maserati is partnering with the Royal Academy of Arts to celebrate a pivotal moment in Venetian art.
The brand is supporting the museum’s exhibit “In the Age of Giogione,” which focuses on Italian art at the start of the 16th century. For Maserati, this sponsorship is an opportunity to highlight the art and style at the core of its own brand.
Art history
The exhibit focuses on the first decade of the 1500s. Giorgione was highly influential, being the first painter to ascend during this period, but the details of his life are largely a mystery.
Masterpieces by Giorgione will be displayed next to works by Giovanni Bellini, Titian and others. Paintings will include landscapes, portraiture and religious subject matter, all of which will highlight the Venetian Renaissance artists’ use of color and their romanticized view of beauty.
The exhibit opened March 12 and will run through June 5.
"This is a fantastic partnership for the Royal Academy of Arts," said Christopher Le Brun, president of the Royal Academy of Arts, in a statement. "It is a rarity for the Royal Academy to work with automotive brands, and to have the iconic manufacturer Maserati onboard working so closely with an exhibition is very exciting.”
Giorgione's Il Tramanto
Taking on its role as sponsor, Maserati will host an exclusive event on April 2 for Friends of the RA. The event will showcase Italian elegance, combining art, food and jazz.
Guests will be able to tour the exhibit during a private view, and VIP ticket holders will have a chance to hear about the period in Italian art from an art historian over aperitivo and cocktails in a private lounge.
Art is in Maserati’s blood, making this partnership a natural fit.
“We are absolutely delighted to be partnering with the Royal Academy of Arts,” said Peter Denton, region manager for Maserati North Europe, in a brand statement. “Art has always been at the heart of the Maserati brand; one of the founding Maserati brothers, Mario, was an artist by trade and it was he who chose the iconic Trident symbol as the Maserati emblem you see on our cars today.
“Over 100 years since then, it’s fantastic to be merging the worlds of Italian art and car design together.”
The automaker has struck up other partnerships designed to highlight its focus on style.
Maserati reached out to New York department store Bergdorf Goodman’s consumers through a fall 2014 men’s fashion collaboration.
The retailer shot a series of editorial images for its September magazine in Modena, Italy, where the car brand’s factory and headquarters are located. Making the comparison between automobile and apparel design helped to reinforce Maserati’s place as an “icon of style” (see story).
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