The Artist And The Book In Twentieth Century Italy

The power exercised by the mother on the son in Mediterranean cultures has been amply studied. Italy is a special case in the Modern Era and the phenomenon of Mammismo italiano is indeed well known. Scholars have traced this obsession with the mother figure to the Catholic cult of the Virgin Mary, but in fact, it is more ancient. What has not been adequately addressed however, is how Mammismo italiano has been manifested in complex ways in various modern artistic forms. Portrait of the Artist and His Mother in Twentieth-Century Italian Culture focuses on case studies of five prominent creative personalities, representing different, sometimes overlapping artistic genres (Luigi Pirandello, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Dino Buzzati, Carlo Levi, Federico Fellini). The author examines how the mother-son relationship not only affected, but actually shaped their work. Although the analysis uses mainly a psychological and psychoanalytical critical approach, the belief of the author, substantiated by historians, anthropologists and sociologists, is that historical and cultural conditions contributed to and reinforced the Italian character. This book concludes with an analysis of some examples of Italian film comedies, such as Fellini's and Monicelli's where mammismo/vitellonismo is treated with a lighter tone and a pointed self irony.

An introduction to 15th century Italian painting and the social history behind it, arguing that the two are interlinked and that the conditions of the time helped fashion distinctive elements in the painter's style.

Italian Drawing of the 20th Century brings together works from the Ramo Collection, the only collection in the world exclusively dedicated to drawing in Italy during the 20th century, from the great masters to lesser-known figures. The collection--and this book--presents drawing in Italy as a fundamental part of 20th-century art history. Including a wide range of techniques on paper (from watercolor to collage, crayon to felt-tip pen), this volume presents drawing as the skeleton of 20th-century art because it represents the first visualization of an idea. As an essential early step in art making, drawing is an expressive means shared by artists in working in different mediums, opening up to realization in a wide range of art practices. Italian Drawing of the 20th Century presents a specific national history for this unique, wide-ranging medium of creative thought. Among the artists featured are Balla, Baruchello, Boccioni, Crippa, de Chirico, Depero, Fabro, Fontana, Kounellis, Licini, Manzoni, Melotti, Morandi, Munari, Penone, Pistoletto, Rama, Rosso, Rotella and Severini.

Portrait of the Artist and His Mother in Twentieth-Century Italian Culture examines how the strong mother-son relationship not only affected, but actually shaped the work of Italian artists as different as Pirandello, Carlo Levi, Buzzati, Pasolini, Fellini, concluding on with a look at mammismo/vitellonismo in some Italian film comedies.