Enjoy a private preview of Bellissima:

Italy and High Fashion 1945 – 1968 and a unique cocktail, dinner and dancing experience celebrating the 30th anniversary of the museum’s modernist-designed building by Edward Larrabee Barnes.

Bellissima: Italy and High Fashion 1945 – 1968, on view at NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale from February 7 to June 5, 2016, will feature over 230 vintage garments and accessories, alongside paintings and films. Presented by Bulgari with additional support provided by the Consulate General of Italy in Miami, Italian Trade Commission, Vontobel Swiss Wealth Advisors AG, Funding Arts Broward and Conde Nast. The exhibition is a project by the Maxxi: National Museum of the XXI Arts in Rome and is curated by Maria Luisa Frisa, Anna Mattirolo and Stefano Tonchi.

Gala Chair is Stefano Tonchi, Editor-in-Chief, W Magazine. Honorary Chairs are David Horvitz & Francie Bishop Good and Stanley & Pearl Goodman.

Dress code is black-tie for gentlemen and “la dolce vita” attire for ladies.

Giving levels for the gala: Presenting Sponsorship $100,000; Sponsorships $50,000; Co-Chairs $25,000; Dual Patron/Corporate Tickets $5,000; and Individual Patron Tickets $2,500. Proceeds from the event will benefit NSU Art Museum’s exhibition and education programs.

For additional information, call Victoria Robinson at 954-262-0296, email at VRobinson@MOAFL.org, or visit www.NSUArtMuseum.org/Gala.

About NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale

Founded in 1958, NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale is a premier destination for exhibitions and programs encompassing all facets of civilization’s visual history. Located midway between Miami and Palm Beach in downtown Fort Lauderdale’s arts and entertainment district, the Art Museum’s distinctive 83,000 square-foot modernist building, which opened in 1986, was designed by renowned architect Edward Larrabee Barnes and contains over 25,000 square feet of exhibition space, the 256-seat Horvitz auditorium, museum store and cafe. In 2008, the Art Museum became part of Nova Southeastern University, one of the largest private, not-for-profit research universities in the United States.

About Bellissima: Italy and High Fashion 1945-1968

On view at NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale February 7 – June 5, 2016
This exhibition, organized by MAXXI, Rome, underscores NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale’s special focus on the years following World War II, and explores the fertile period that saw the rapid rise of Italian high fashion. In an effort to restore and stabilize the Italian post-World War II economy, the United States infused essential support to revitalize the Italian fashion industry. Italian designers helped reactivate textiles and silk factories and provided jobs for skilled craftsman. Drawing on a rich artistic and cultural history that was part of their everyday life, designers such as Valentino and Pucci and ateliers of Ferragamo and Gucci produced luxury creations that were also comfortable and practical. During this time, the relationship between art and fashion was fluid, with the two disciplines reflecting the working environment of artists and designers. The exhibition encompasses the time period during the rise of Italian cinema – Federico Fellini, Luchino Visconti, and Michelangelo Antonioni – and international styles of artists such as Luciano Fontana, whose slashed canvases inspired designer Mila Schön. The popularization of these designs and the social upheaval of the late 1960s led to the rise of Italian-designed casual ready-to-wear fashion to satisfy a mass market.

For more information, visit www.NSUArtMuseum.org or call 954-262-0296.