530 likes | 649 Views
Fascism and the Arts in Italy , 1922-1943. Institute of the Theory of Literature, Theatre and Audio-Visual Arts University of Lodz , Poland , 26.11.2010 Marja Härmänmaa, University of Helsinki, Finland. What Fascism ?. No ideological program Different ideological elements
E N D
Fascism and the Arts in Italy, 1922-1943 Institute of the Theory of Literature, Theatre and Audio-Visual Arts University of Lodz, Poland, 26.11.2010 Marja Härmänmaa, University of Helsinki, Finland
WhatFascism? • No ideologicalprogram • Differentideologicalelements • Middleclass • Nationalists • Radicalelements (Futurism) • Fascismi= ”stockexchange” • Change in the 20 years Mussolini was in power
The chronology of Fascism • 1922-1924 democracy • 1925-1935 dictatorhip • 1936-1943 totalitarianism • 1943-1945 republic of Salò
1. Democracy (1922-1925) • Parliamentarism • 1921 PNF wasfounded • 1922 march on Rome • 1922 Mussolini primeministre • 1924 murder of Giacomo Matteotti
2. Dictatorship(1925- 1929/1936) • Otherpoliticalpartiessuppressed • All the power to Fascism and to Mussolini • 1925 Mussolini proclaims the beginning of dictatorship • 1929 Lateranpact • 1935 ItalyattacksEthiopia • 1936 Empire
3. Totalitarianism(1929/1936-1943) • The ”fascistization” of people and itsfullyintegration in the State • 1936 Rome-Berlin– axis • 1938 antisemitistlaws • 1939 Italyoccupies Albania • 1939 ”pact of steel” • 1940 Italyjoins the WWII • 1943 Mussolini deposedfrompower
4. The Republic of Salò (1943-1945) • 1943 the republic of Salò is founded • Germaninitiative • 1945 the partisansexecuteMussolinin • 1946 the republic of Italy is founded
The QuestionaboutArts • Organization of the culturalpolicystartedwhen Mussolini becameprimeminister • Questionabout the ”officialFascistart” rosewhen the dictatorshipwasproclaimed • In order to getpower in the artistic life, differentpersonswantedFascism to have an officialart
An opinion of a FuturistartcriticMinoSomenzi, proclaimed in 1932 and in 1934 • A totalitarian state “concentrated on the capacities and will of one single person” must be completed with “an artistic dictatorship.” If Fascism wants to control all aspects of the citizen’s life, it must leave its fingerprints on the arts, too.
Mussolini’sanswer in 1923 • ”It is farfrom me to encouragesomethingthatcouldbecalled the official art. Artbelongs to the sphere of individualism. The State hasonlyoneduty: itmustnotsabotageart, itmustcreatehumanconditions to the artists, encouragethemartistically and nationally. […] I finditimportant to announcethat the government of which I have the honour to beprimeminister is a faithfulfriend of arts and artists.”
The FascistArtPolicy • Never a strictartpolicy • Never an officialFascistart • No artisticcurrentwasnevercondemned • the ”degeneratedart” in NaziGermany • ”Anyart made in the FascistItaly, wasFascist” • Artistic life wassupposed to bevaried
Art as a Mean of Political Propaganda • Differentartisticcurrents: • avant-garde, modernism, classicism, fascistrealism… • A function to representdifferentsides of the FascistItaly • Theirpopularity and position in the artistic life was the consequence of what the Fascistswanted to emphasize in a certainhistoricalmoment
Organization of ArtPolicy • 1922-1935 Ministry of Education • 1925 Congress of Fascist Culture, in Bologna • 1926 Artists’ tradeunions • 1930 Biennial of VeniceunderState’scontrol • 1930 Quadriennial of Rome • 1936 Ministry of Popular Culture (MinCulPop)
The Main currents of the Artistic Life • Conservatives • Nationalists • UgoOjetti • ”Opportunists” • Giuseppe Bottai • Margherita Grassini Sarfatti • Modernists • Rationalists • Futurism
The Neo-Classicism of the end XIX century • 1861 the foundation of the kingdom of Italy • ”national style” • Nationalists
The Palace of Justice in Rome(1888-1910), GuglielmoCalderini
The monument of the kingVittorioEmanuelenII (1911), PioPiacentini et al.
Margherita Grassini Sarfatti (1883-1961) • Jewishintellectual and artcritic • Mussolini’sloverduring the 1920s • Il Duce’sghostwriter • Wanted to become the leader of the artistic life
Il Novecento (of Sarfatti) • 1922-1932 • ”Modernclassicism”: modernization of the national artistic tradition • Heterogeneous group • AchilleFuni (1890-1972) • Mario Sironi (1885-1961)
Rationalism: 1926-1932 • 1926 Gruppo 7 • Mies van der Rohe, Walter Gropius, funktionalism • Aim: bring the Italian architecture on the international level • In order to give an image of Italy as a modern, efficient country
The Exhibition of the 10th Anniversary of FascistRevolution (Rome, 1932). AdalbertoLibera, Mario De Renzi
Mario De Renzi, AdalbertoLibera, Terragni, Sironi, Prampolini et al., Room U
The Railway station in Florence: S. Maria Novella. Giovanni Michelucci et al. (1932-34)
Giuseppe Terragni: House of the FascistParty, Como (1932-1936)
FascistRealism • Roberto Farinacci, Cremona (1893-1945) • The educationalmeaning of arts • Simple and easy to understand • Motivesfrom the Fascistpolitics: • Glorofication of the countryside • Sports and the youth • 1932 in Biennial of Venice • 1939-1941 PremioCremona
LucianoRicchetti: “In ascolto”(Listening to Mussolini’s speach, 1938-1939)
Return to ”Rome”: secondhalf of the 1930s • Extremerightmovementsarefounded in Europe • The study of the antiquitybecomespopular in Europe • The AncientRomeexcellentpublicity for Fascism’saggressiveforeignpolicy • The need to emphasize the legacybetween the ancientRome and the contemporaryItaly
The ”romanità” in the culturalpolicy • The position of Latin was strengthened at school • The study of the Antiquity was supported • Carmine Gallone: Scipio Africanus, (The conqueror of Africa, 1937) • “Romanità” in the arts
Mario Sironi: Justice between Law and Force (1936). Palace of Justice in Milan
Marcello Piacentini (1881-1960): The Rectorate of the University of Rome (1932-1935)
The Universal Exhibition of Rome, E42 • Also to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Fascistrevolution • And to presentachievements of Fascism • The variety of artistic and architecturalstyles • Marcello Piacentini
Palazzo della civiltà – The Palace of the Italian Civilization
AdolfoWildt: Dux (1924). Exhibited in the Biennial of Venice in 1924