Renato Miracco in born in Naples (Italy) October the 15th, 1953 and is a scholar, art critic, and curator from Naples, Italy. He was born into a family of Arbereshe people, and he is the great-grandson of the Garibaldinian soldier Demetrio Baffa and a cousin of the Italian writer and former fashion editor Demetrio Baffa Trasci Amalfitani. He previously served as the Cultural Attaché of the Italian Embassy in Washington, and he is a former member of the Board of Guarantors for the Italian Academy at Columbia University. Miracco has curated numerous important exhibitions on Italian art worldwide and has published widely. From 2019 to 2024 he is serving as Guest Curator at the Phillips Collection in Washington DC, the first American Museum dedicated to modern and contemporary art. Currently, Miracco serves on the Board of IA&A (International Art & Artists Foundation) in Washington DC. Miracco was awarded the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic for Cultural Achievements in 2018. Now an American citizen, Miracco continues his prolific work in curation, art criticism, and cultural diplomacy endeavors.
Career highlights During his tenure as the Cultural Attaché of the Italian Embassy from 2009 to 2017, Miracco made significant contributions to cultural exchange and diplomacy through the arts, bridging Italy and the United States. In 2013, he organized a series of more than 300 events to celebrate and explore the impact of Italian culture in the United States. As Attaché, Miracco supervised all of the Italian Embassy's exhibitions, organized the Italy@150 program in partnership with over 80 museums across the United States, and helped organize a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Archaeology between the governments of Italy and the United States.
Miracco's influential prior positions include serving as Director of Chiara Fama for Cultural Affairs for the Italian Cultural Institute in New York (2007-2009), acting as an Advisor to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Italy, and organizing an exhibition at the Quirinale Palace in Rome for the President of Italy.
Miracco has lectured at Pratt Institute and other universities and institutions across the globe and has curated exhibitions at prestigious museums and collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Phillips Collection, the National Gallery of Art, the Morgan Library and Museum, the Estorick Collection, and the Tate Modern.
Miracco's notable curated exhibitions include "An Italian Impressionist in Paris: Guiseppe de Nittis" at the Phillips Collection, which was declared among the 10 best exhibitions in 2023 by the Washington Post.https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/art/2023/12/05/best-visual-art/ Since 2018, he has been the Curator of the Pinacoteca De Nittis in Barletta, Italy.https://washdiplomat.com/phillips-collection-welcomes-new-de-nittis-exhibition/ Additionally, Miracco is the Curator and Editor of the Catalogue SOLMI Ship of Fools, Venice Biennale 2024, Palazzo Dona dalle Rose from April 18 to July 2024.https://www.vargroup.com/News-and-Media/Comunicati-stampa/An-Immersive-Dystopian-Exhibition-by-Federico-Solmi
Miracco is a prolific author and critic known for publishing numerous exhibition catalogues and art books that highlight Italian and American art, Impressionism, and cultural heritage. His recent notable publication, Giuseppe De Nittis: La Donazione di Léontine Gruvelle De Nittis (2023), in both Italian and English, revisits De Nittis's connections with French artists like Manet, Degas, and Caillebotte, emphasizing his unique contributions to Impressionism and his innovative visual systems that closely intertwine images and narrative.
Exhibitions +Selected exhibition historyExhibitionInstitution or LocationYear(s)RoleBice Lazzari. I linguaggi del suo tempoGNAMC - Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Roma, Italy2026CuratorSOLMI Ship of FoolsVenice Biennale 20242024CuratorHenri de Toulouse Lautrec, L’altra realta’ nella Parigi di Fine Ottocento Palazzo Della Marra, Barletta, Italy 2024CuratorDe Nittis, La Strada da Napoli a Brindisi Editrice Rotas, Barletta, Italy 2023CuratorAn Italian Impressionist in Paris: Giuseppe De Nittis The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C. 2022-2023CuratorBice Lazzari Modernist Pioneer The Estorick Collection, London, UK 2022CuratorBice Lazzari: The Poetry of Mark-MakingThe Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.2018-2019CuratorRereading De Nittis, Today Pinacoteca De Nittis Palazzo della Marra, Barletta, Italy 2018CuratorSaving Art, Preserving HeritageEmbassy of Italy in Washington, D.C.2018CuratorWar &Art WWI-USA in Italy Destruction and Protection of Italian Cultural Heritage During World War I Secretary of Defense, Pentagon, Virginia2017-2019CuratorMassimiliano Gatti: The Day Memory DissolvedThe Italian Academy at Columbia University, New York2016CuratorAfro-Cuba: Mystery and Magic of Afro-Cuban SpiritualityThe OAS AMA | Art Museum of the Americas, Washington, D.C.2016CuratorLe Onde: Waves of Italian Influence (1914–1971)Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.2015-2016Curator & Gallery TalkGemme dell'impressionismo: dipinti della National Gallery of art di Washington Ara Pacis, Rome, Italy 2014Co-curatorNext Stop: ItalyThe Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.2013CuratorItalian Paper ExhibitionItalian Embassy in Washington, D.C.2013CuratorGiorgio de Chirico: Myth and ArchaeologyThe Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C. 2013CuratorPaolo Ventura: Selected WorksThe Italian Academy at Columbia University, New York2013CuratorCostantino NivolaItalian Embassy in Washington, D.C.2012CuratorPaintings from the Academia CarraraItalian Embassy in Washington, D.C.2011-12CuratorSpirit Into Shape: Contemporary Italian SculptureMeridian International Center, Washington, D.C.2011CuratorGiorgio Morandi, 1890-1964Museum of Modern Art of Bologna, Bologna, Italy2009CuratorGiorgio Morandi, 1890-1964 The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York2008CuratorRenato D’Agostin: MetropolisLeica Gallery, New York2008CuratorI lavoratori in cammino: da Pelizza da Volpedo a CeroliItalian Chamber of Deputies, Rome, Italy2007-2008CuratorThe Artworks collected by Arturo Toscanini New York Philharmonic Lincoln Center, New York 2007CuratorPiety and Pragmatism: Spiritualism in Futurist ArtThe Estorick Collection, London, UK2007CuratorFemale Italian and Russian Avant-Garde Art, 1910-1935Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia2007CuratorMirko Dalla Mitologia all’Archetipo 1937- 1957New York University, New York2007CuratorLucio Fontana At the roots of Spatialism New York University, New York; Italian Cultural Institute, LA 2006CuratorGiulio Aristide Sartorio 1860-1932 Chiostro del Bramante, Rome, Italy 2006CuratorIl Fregio di Giulio Aristide SartorioPalazzo Montecitorio, Rome, Italy2006CuratorBeyond Painting: Burri, Fontana, ManzoniTate Modern, London, UK2005-2006CuratorBice Lazzari: Abstract Emotion (L'emozione Astratta)Biennale Ca Pesaro, Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia, Venice, Italy 2005CuratorFuturist Skies: Italian AeropaintingThe Estorick Collection, London, UK2005CuratorItalian Still Life, 1910-1960Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Brazil, and Peru2005CuratorFederico Zandomeneghi: Impressionista VenezianoChiostro del Bramante, Rome, Italy2005CuratorSironi Monumentale Cartoni e studi 1931-1940 MART Rovereto2005-2024CuratorDe Nittis: Impressionista ItalianoChiostro del Bramante, Rome; Fondazione Mazzotta, Milan, Italy 2004CuratorI Tesori del Mare Museo Fattori, Livorno, Italy 2004Co-curatorIl Respiro dell Anima, Giorgio Morandi e la Natura Morta in Italia Europalia Bruges Groeningemuseum, Arentshuis, Bruges, Belgium 2003-2004CuratorFuturismo 1909-1926Museum of Ixelles, Ixelles, Belgium 2003-2004CuratorAerea cielos futuristasMuseo Municipal de Arte Contemporaneo, Madrid, Spain 2003CuratorItalian Art 1950-1970: Capolavori della Collezione FarnesinaIndia Museum Contemporary Art, New Delhi2003CuratorGiulio Aristide Sartorio Impressioni di Guerra 1917-1918 Palazzo Montecitorio, Deputy Chambers, Rome, Italy2002CuratorLight and Painting in Italy 1850-1914Fondazione Adriano Olivetti, Ivrea, Italy; Estorick Collection, London, UK; Museum of Modern Art Brussels, Brussels, Belgium 2002CuratorCarlo Carrá: Works on PaperThe Estorick Collection, London, UK2001-2002CuratorCarlo Carrá: 1900-1965: Las Mutaciones del EspirituBuenos Aires, Argentina; Santiago, Chile; Córdoba, Argentina 2001CuratorIl Ritratto Italiano Rome, Italy1998CuratorSironi: Il Lavoro e l'Arte Accademia Carrara, Bergamo, Italy 1997CuratorMario Sironi: el Trabajo y el ArteMexico City, Mexico; Buenos Aires, Argentina1996-1998Curator
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