Fire in the history of art, from Hieronymus Bosch to the present day
With Bruno Corà and Michele Casamonti
◇ 6 November 2025
As part of the exhibition Fire, the Boghossian Foundation invites Bruno Corà, President of the Alberto Burri Foundation, and Michele Casamonti, founder of the Tornabuoni Art gallery in Paris, to shed light on the use of fire by visual artists. As a central theme in the history of art, fire is also a living material employed by modern and contemporary artists.
The exhibition Fire, inaugurated at the end of September, explores the many dimensions of fire in modern and contemporary art, inviting visitors to a sensorial and visual experience of this vital and timeless element. Spanning over 65 years of artistic creation, the exhibition brings together renowned artists including Jiana Kim, Bill Viola, Wim Delvoye, and Barthélémy Toguo, whose works convey the power, fragility, and symbolism of fire.
Artists who use fire or its traces as a creative tool are highlighted, such as Jannis Kounellis and Claudio Parmiggiani. Major figures from influential artistic movements, such as arte povera in Italy, Nouveau Réalisme in France, and group ZERO in Germany, are represented in Fire. Among them are Alberto Burri, Yves Klein, Arman, Otto Piene, Jef Verheyen, and Piera Manzoni.
