From Canvas to Frame
Palazzo Viani Dugnani, via Ruga 44 Verbania
0323.557116
segreteria@museodelpaesaggio.it

The exhibition titled “From Canvas to Frame”, paying homage to our champions and the Tour de France, will open on April 27th at 11:00 AM at the custodian’s halls of Palazzo Viani Dugnani. On display will be portraits by Giuseppe Festino, airbrushed helmets by Stefano Barzaghi, and bicycles by Alberto Garagiola.
There are seven Italian winners of the Tour de France (Ottavio Bottecchia, Gino Bartali, Fausto Coppi, Gastone Nencini, Felice Gimondi, Marco Pantani, Vincenzo Nibali) and it is in their memory that this year, for the first time in its long history, the world’s greatest stage race begins in Italy. The Grand Départ of the 111th edition from the Bel Paese constitutes a historically significant event of absolute media prominence (not only for the world of sports) and will take place in a sumptuous setting in all the locations involved in remembering the greatest protagonists of Italian cycling.
An exceptional event in every sense, and Verbania wants to greet it with a unique and specific exhibition born from a project by the Verbania MillEventi association and RonchiComunicazione, and realized with the Museum of the Landscape and the Municipality of Verbania. Art, ingenuity, cutting-edge technology find expression in paintings, bicycles, and helmets, works of conception and realization of various kinds but united by the reference to the world of cycling.
Giuseppe Festino, one of the greatest Masters of illustration in our country, has specially created the official poster and the exhibited works for the event, in which the great champions explicitly recalled by the initial stages of the Tour (Fausto Coppi, Gino Bartali, Marco Pantani). Highly evocative portraits extremely effective in eliciting admiration, reviving the characters represented, and their epic achievements.
The racing bicycles express Alberto Garagiola’s journeys into the world of fantasy, becoming, like unique and non-replicable specimens, designer bikes. Signed specimens that amaze and inspire dreams, the result of an entrepreneurial gamble in which genius and a touch of madness have gone so far as to create specimens studded with diamonds, with a very long creative process involving technicians, chemists, designers, all committed to realizing the works of art born from the creativity of their designer.
And then there’s Stefano Barzaghi, who with the “BARZAdesign” brand combines fantasy with careful color research to achieve the originality of unique products. He was the first artist to bring the practice of aerographic customization into the world of cycling, already popular in motor sports, and for over 15 years, he has creatively designed personalized helmets for cycling elites. Unique pieces not only to be used in races but also to be exhibited as true works of art that represent the style, character, and determination of those who wear them and become an engaging source of emotion for admirers.
Sport, art, but also environment, and solidarity with a weekend that will serve as the epilogue to the exhibition. The CorriAmo x1 Sorriso Association proposes a green weekend on Saturday, June 29th, and Sunday, June 30th, with a cycling meeting between Verbania and Mottarone. On Saturday in Verbania Pallanza, in support of the “Together for Solidarity with a Smile” project, there will be a défilé of the 2025/26 collection of racing bicycles and an evening aperitif with music. Sunday will feature a tourist tour on two wheels in Baveno, along the roads of Lake Maggiore and the slopes of Mottarone with an aperitif at the summit. The CorriAmo x1 Sorriso Association was founded in 2010 by a small group of friends who share a passion for motors. Their objectives include engaging in solidarity projects and not forgetting the young Tommaso Onofri.