The Mayor

In these months leading up to the exhibition From Picasso to Van Gogh: Stories of Painting from Abstraction to Impressionism, we have had the opportunity to emphasize how this event of extraordinary cultural significance marks a new and important chapter in the relationship between our city and one of its most illustrious sons: Marco Goldin.

Goldin’s presence in Treviso represents a return full of meaning, a meeting between his curatorial vision and the cultural vocation of our city. The bond linking our community to him is profound, rooted in the city’s recent history and nurtured by a path that combines memorable exhibitions—such as those realized over the years at the Casa dei Carraresi and at Santa Caterina—with a new and exciting shared journey, driven by the common desire to make art a tool for growth, beauty, and reflection.

This new exhibition—bringing to Treviso extraordinary masterpieces from the prestigious American institution, the Toledo Museum of Art, by artists such as Monet, Modigliani, Picasso, Manet, and Van Gogh—fits within this tradition and reinvigorates it with renewed strength and ambition. It offers a fully immersive cultural experience, capable of traversing languages, eras, and geographies, placing the viewer at the center of a grand pictorial narrative that stretches from mid-to-late 20th-century American abstraction to French Impressionism.

A journey backward through art history, deliberately and cleverly outlined by Goldin: a narrative that opens with the vast and luminous expanses of Richard Diebenkorn’s Ocean Parks and concludes with Vincent van Gogh’s farewell to life in Wheat Fields with Reaper. Two extraordinary, iconic, and highly acclaimed works.

Treviso thus confirms itself as the guardian of its artistic heritage, while also playing an active role in the national and international cultural scene. The decision to host an exhibition of such significance, made possible also thanks to collaboration with prestigious institutions and partners, clearly expresses the vision that our Administration promotes: a city that invests in culture as a driver of development, as a lever for the productive sector and tourism, and, above all, as a language.

In this historical moment, we rediscover the importance of beauty and the need to give meaning back to collective experiences. Art has always offered a response to these questions: in an increasingly fast-paced and often fragmented world, it invites us to slow down, reflect, and dream.

In this context, From Picasso to Van Gogh is a gift to the City. Schools, families, tourists, and art enthusiasts are expected at the Museo Santa Caterina, which represents a remarkable opportunity for us to showcase Treviso as a vibrant center of high-quality cultural offerings, just months ahead of an event that further projects us onto the international stage, with Treviso as a strategic hub: the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics.

I would like to thank Marco Goldin for the passion and expertise with which he has built this exhibition: his contribution is vision, emotion, and is the ability to engage and tell a story. I also sincerely thank the President of the Veneto Region, Luca Zaia, who believed in this project with us, and the Councillor for Culture, Maria Teresa De Gregorio, the staff of the Civic Museums, all those who have worked with dedication behind the scenes, and of course the public and private partners who have shared this ambitious vision with us.

We want Treviso to continue being a place where beauty, art, and the power of a culture capable of reaching everyone triumph every day. A place, but also an opportunity: for encounter, education, and above all, community.

I invite all enthusiasts to visit the exhibition at Santa Caterina and to grasp the profound meaning of this journey, which begins from our present and carries us into the emotions, stories, and peculiarities of each artist and each painting.

All of this in the name of beauty and in the name of Treviso.

Mario Conte
Mayor of Treviso

President of the Veneto Region

A great poet whom we feel at home with—both as a Venetian, due to his family origins, and as a man of letters, because he found inspiration for Sepolcri in the park of Villa Albrizzi on the outskirts of Treviso—Ugo Foscolo once said: “Art does not consist in representing new things, but in representing them with novelty.”

It is a statement that seems to illuminate the curatorial journey offered by the exhibition From Picasso to Van Gogh. Stories of Painting from Abstraction to Impressionism, which allows visitors to immerse themselves in a succession of masterpieces spanning from the mid-nineteenth century to the 1970s, all within the context of a fourteenth-century complex like Santa Caterina, with its medieval lines and the fifteenth- and sixteenth-century frescoes adorning its walls.

From the Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio come to the Marca region works by giants such as Manet, Monet, Degas, Cezanne, Renoir, Gauguin, Van Gogh, Matisse, Picasso, Modigliani, and Mondrian. These are names that embody various artistic movements—different from one another, yet all expressions of that singular form of communication that painting has always been, conveying a universal message of vision and interpretation of reality and the depiction of our world.

I wish to express my appreciation to the Municipal Administration, the curator, and all the organizers for this new and significant cultural event, which opens the doors of Veneto to international masterpieces of the highest prestige. It allows a wide audience to experience these works while simultaneously offering a moment of deep reflection capable of engaging art enthusiasts and sparking curiosity among newcomers or less experienced visitors.

In the past, seeing so many important works would have required a long journey that not everyone could undertake. I think of the growth opportunities this event offers. This exhibition marks the return of great art to Treviso and represents a new chapter in the exhibition landscape for all of Veneto—a land that has always shown great sensitivity toward art of every era, building on the legacy of our centuries-old artistic heritage.

Luca Zaia
President of the Veneto Region

Councillor for Culture and Tourism of the Municipality of Treviso

Conceived as a sensory and emotional journey backward through time, spanning Europe and America, this exhibition brings together around sixty masterpieces from the Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio, United States.

This is the curatorial project behind the prestigious exhibition From Picasso to Van Gogh: Stories of Painting from Abstraction to Impressionism, hosted by the City of Treviso thanks to its curator, Marco Goldin from Treviso.

An extraordinary selection of paintings from Picasso to Van Gogh, all masterpieces spanning from the second half of the 19th century to the first half of the 20th century, offering a true lesson in art history. The exhibition unfolds room by room within the splendid Santa Caterina museum, painting by painting, in a succession of numerous masterpieces so rich that it is difficult to name them all. The Municipal Administration is therefore delighted to present this new opportunity to engage with the finest painting, confident that the exhibition represents a source of spiritual and cultural enrichment for all who choose to step through the doors of the Santa Caterina Museum.

The realization of a cultural project of this magnitude has also been made possible thanks to the collaboration and essential support of numerous organizations that have chosen to invest in culture as a driver of social and civil growth, fostering a dialogue between tradition, creativity, and innovation. Their contribution reflects a forward-looking vision: the awareness that art is not merely a heritage to be preserved, but a living resource to be shared through a public-private partnership—not simple patronage, but a full cultural investment.

In our territory, in fact, the relationship between culture and business represents a strong bond, as these two aspects are defining features of our community: a substantial and precious cultural heritage, both tangible and intangible, which finds in the well-established entrepreneurial network an ideal partner.

This represents a great opportunity for the city, which is preparing to strengthen not only its role in the national tourism landscape but also to establish an important cultural reference point for the region, capable of attracting talent, tourism, and new resources—an important occasion to enrich the city’s cultural offerings.

Treviso is ready to experience a major event celebrating art, internationality, and culture.

To all the organizations that believed in this project, we extend our heartfelt thanks; their commitment to this exhibition allows visitors to experience a unique journey of wonder, discovery, and reflection.

A special thanks to Marco Goldin for the extraordinary sensitivity with which he has guided this journey.

Maria Teresa De Gregorio
Councillor for Culture and Tourism of the Municipality of Treviso

Director of Toledo Museum of Art

It is with great pride and sincere enthusiasm that the Toledo Museum of Art presents to the public in Treviso a selection of masterpieces from its renowned Impressionist collection. This exhibition represents a significant moment of cultural exchange between our institution, based in Ohio, and our partners in the Veneto region, where history, artistic tradition, and civic engagement continue to thrive.

For over a century, the Toledo Museum of Art has been dedicated to collecting and presenting modern art, creating one of the most important and extensive collections of its kind in the United States. From Monet’s water lilies and Degas’ intimate depictions of modern life, to Renoir’s luminous brushwork and Morisot’s quiet radicalism, the works on display testify to a crucial moment in art history, when perception, light, and experience rightfully emerged as subjects worthy of being painted.

Presented within the unique atmosphere and rich cultural fabric of the Veneto, these masterpieces on display in Treviso invite reflection on the enduring influence of Impressionism, while also resonating with the region’s deep creative tradition. Nearby Venice, a city frequented by some of the artists featured in the exhibition, inspired many of them to explore new ways of capturing the nuances of light, reflection, and atmosphere.

We extend our sincere gratitude to our Italian colleagues for their collaboration and to all those who contributed to making this exhibition possible. I would also like to thank the readers of this catalog: their interest affirms the spirit of inquiry and connection that lies at the heart of our museum’s mission.

Adam Levine
Edward Drummond and Florence Scott Libbey
President, Director and CEO
Toledo Museum of Art