(15 Oct 2015) LEAD IN
The best of Italian design - from chairs and lighting to pottery and posters - is being celebrated with a new exhibition in Rome.
Influences such as Art Nouveau and Futurism feature heavily in ' A Dolce Vita?'.
STORY-LINE
This design from the 1930s is bold, stunning yet simple. It's "Furniture and Two Chairs for the Home of Fiammetta Sarfatti" by Marcello Piacentini, and it sets the tone for "A Dolce Vita? From Liberty to Italian Design" .
The exhibition offers visitors an experience of the ideas that gave birth to modern Italian design, from the early 1900s to the beginning of World World II.
Here at the Palace of Exhibitions in central Rome you can journey into the artworks of Liberty (the name Art Nouveau took in Italy), Futurism, Rationalism and Metaphysical art styles, all of which went on to shape today's ingenious design solutions.
On display are chairs, desks, tables, porcelains, lamps, poster adverts, paintings, coffee sets and typewriters, among many other pieces.
Italian design continued to develop after the destruction of World War II, but its origins are firmly rooted in the 40 years that preceded it.
Beatrice Avanzi is a co-curator of the exhibition, together with Irene De Guttry, Maria Paola Maino and the creator Guy Cogeval.
Avanzi explains the historical context in which these pieces originated.
"During the period we're exploring in this exhibit, from 1900 to 1940, there's an attempt to rework Italy's great tradition that comes from our historical past, from the Renaissance, with new and modern forms. Italy had to keep up with the times because it was a young nation, it had just been united, and was looking for a language with which to identify itself," Avanzi says.
Dark and war-torn, the years explored here mark Italy's eventual descent into the abyss of Fascist dictatorship.
Against this violent backdrop stands the resourcefulness of a group of Italian artists , whose creative contributions seem unaffected by the historic currents battering their nation.
The exhibit pays homage to the extraordinary creativity of a group of Italian artists and designers whose talent blossomed while the world around them was going through dramatic changes: from Italy's involvement in World War I to leader Benito Mussolini's March on Rome, from the violent cancellation of Italy's democratic system and eventually Mussolini's pact with Nazi Germany.
Irene De Guttry says that the exhibit's reference to director Federico Fellini's movie "La Dolce Vita" poses an open question regarding art and history in Italy during this period.
"You have a question mark: 'Dolce Vita?'. Is it possible that during a historical period so troubled, so full of disasters, like the First World War and the Second World War, so many beautiful, precious, refined objects could come to life?" De Guttry says.
Artists enjoyed freedom of expression under Mussolini and his regime - which had a strong influence over so many other aspects of Italian life, but didn't interfere so severely with the creative communities.
Liberty (Italian art noveau) dominated the early 1900s with its elegant sinewy lines inspired by nature, and played a pivotal role in the creation of modern design.
Italian interior designer Carlo Bugatti's eccentric furniture pieces remain some of Liberty's finest examples; like his 1902 "Chair with Woman's face", a rare object with a face-like backrest; or Federico Tesio's sinuous double-piece "Desk and Chair", an 1898 refined interpretation on the Art Nouveau style.
The idea for the exhibition in Rome came from Guy Cogeval, from the Musee d'Orsay in Paris.
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