Exhibiting the art of the Fascist period. Chronicles and history / "The ’30s. The arts in Italy beyond Fascism". Historiographical reflections on the success of art exhibitions in the interwar period

Journal title ITALIA CONTEMPORANEA
Author/s Luca Quattrocchi, Ilaria Schiaffini
Publishing Year 2015 Issue 2015/279
Language Italian Pages 27 P. 529-555 File size 184 KB
DOI 10.3280/IC2015-279007
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The author analyzes the ways in which Italian exhibitions have presented the art of the Fascist period, from the 1960s to the present. This is a thorny topic, from a political and ideological, even more than from a historical and artistic point of view. The essay examines the most important exhibitions, such as the trail-blazing "Arte moderna in Italia, 1915-1935" (Florence, 1967), the grandiose exhibition "Gli Annitrenta" (Milan, 1982), up to the more recent "Anni ’30. Arti in Italia oltre il fascismo" (Florence, 2012-2013), and "Novecento. Arte e vita in Italia tra le due guerre" (Forli, 2013). In the light of the controversial critical reception that surrounded them, the author analyzes the curatorial choices that were made, how the material was displayed, their historical contribution, and the information equipment that was used, which are crucial components of any kind of exhibition, but even more so of those dealing with the relationship between art and dictatorship.

The essay examines the recent success of exhibitions on the interwar period and focuses in particular on the one curated in 2012 by Antonello Negri and his colleagues in Florence, titled "The ’30s. The Arts in Italy Beyond Fascism". Topics such as historical revisionism and the relationship between arts and dictatorship are critically addressed and discussed from a historiographical point of view, taking into consideration the main results achieved by Italian and international studies in the last decades.

Keywords: Art, Fascism, exhibitions, critique, exhibitions display, Italy, arts, Fascism, dictatorship, revisionism, Exhibitions of Italian art between the Two World Wars

Luca Quattrocchi, Ilaria Schiaffini, Esporre l’arte dell’era fascista. Cronache e storia / "Anni ’30. Arti in Italia oltre il fascismo" Note storiografiche attorno al successo delle mostre sull’arte tra le due guerre in "ITALIA CONTEMPORANEA" 279/2015, pp 529-555, DOI: 10.3280/IC2015-279007