Art in the 19th and 20th century
While the eighteenth century was a lean years for Italian art, the next century was even worse, and Paris became the artistic capital of Europe. Perhaps the only outstanding Polish painter was Francesco Hayez (1791-1882). who continued the neoclassical trend in his historical paintings and chiseled portraits. The romantic movement sweeping all over Europe has had little effect on the Italian imagination, although the Italian landscape was to become a source of inspiration for many foreigners visiting the country.
Shortly after the middle of the century, a group of Italian painters working in Florence was organized under the name of macchiaioli, who set themselves more modern and more clearly defined goals. Their name derives from the Italian word meaning "spot", as they used strong color patches to define the form, in contrast to the then fashionable smoothed to high-gloss neoclassical paintings. The group's spiritual leader was Giovanni Fattori (1825-1908). who painted scenes from the life of the soldier (based on personal experiences from the wars of independence in the years 1848-9) and vast landscapes with bold brushstrokes and free composition. The group's chief theorist, Telemeco Signorini (1835-1901), later came under the influence of the painting of Corot and the Barbizonians; the group traveled to Paris where it was recognized as the fringe of the Impressionist circle.
These painters remain in the shadow of Amadeo Modigliani (1884-1920). the only Italian artist born in the last two centuries, which has found international recognition. Although he spent most of his adult life in Paris, his work has a distinctly Italian stamp on it, being rooted in the Renaissance and Mannerist tradition. The second important source of his expressive inspiration, of linear creativity was primitive African art. which was then appreciated for the first time in Europe. His oeuvre consists almost exclusively of the sensual, reclining, naked female figures and strongly outlined, psychologically in-depth portraits.
W 1909 In the year, an attempt was made to break the artistic monopoly of France, though. it's ironic, in Paris, a group of futurists glorified the dynamism of the modern world, including the key role, what the war was playing in him. Their method was similar to that used by the recently founded group of cubists, who sought to present the object from multiple angles at the same time, but futurists also wanted to show movement. Umberto Boccioni (1882-1916) he was the most enterprising member of the group, which practically ceased to exist after his death during the First World War, for which, according to its principles. he volunteered. The creativity of his former colleagues developed in various directions. Giacomo Balia (1871 -1958) he painted in various styles, starting with academism, and ending with abstraction. Gino Severini (1883-1966) he joined the Cubists when the latter increased their interest in color, but then he turned to mural and mosaic decorations, to return to the fancifulness characteristic of the futuristic phase of his work at the end of his life. Carlo Carro (1881-1966) completely departed from futuristic assumptions, wishing to revive the figurative art of the old Italian masters.
W 1917 Carró created the year with Giorgio de Chirico (1988-1987) the Pittur Metafisic group, which spoke out against the mechanical method of the Cubists, and also against futurists' love of modernity, desiring instead to awaken a longing for the ancient world. On this move. with the school in Ferrara, later influenced surrealism, and especially the tendency to place unexpected objects in images. De Chirico's metaphysical interiors show rooms littered with the fetishes of modern civilization; another element that runs through his paintings are bizarre, rigid architectural forms, though, just like Carra, later he turned to consciously archaic poetics.
To other twentieth-century Italian painters, who have gained an international reputation, belonged Giorgio Morandi (1890-1964), who was strongly influenced by de Chirico and specialized in poignant still lifes with a very precise drawing, often monochrome. Filippo de Pisis also remained indifferent to the metaphysical tradition. (1896-1956). His great output is highly experimental. often dealing with sensational and unexpected topics; is therefore characterized by a very uneven level. Dramatic themes were also taken up by the Sicilian Renato Guttoso (1912-87), this time with a political intention. His early works expressed opposition to fascism; w 1947 of the year he was a co-founder of the Fronte Nuom delle Arii group. who wanted to combine artistic and revolutionary activities. The main representative of the abstraction is Alberto Burri (ur. 1915), best known for his collages composed of waste and covered with a thick layer of red or black paint.
Contemporary Italian sculptors have managed to re-interpret the Italian artistic heritage more effectively than painters. Giacomo Manzu intended to revive the Italian religious tradition in his individualized works referring to Donatello, using a very shallow relief. His most famous work is the bronze door of St.. Peter with the theme of death - commission, which he received in 1949 one year after winning a very controversial competition. Marino Marini (1901-80) he specialized in another great subject of Italian art, Monument to the horse - examples of his works are exhibited in a museum dedicated exclusively to Marinien in Florence. In turn, portraits and female nudes by Emilio Greco (ur. 1913) they are a modernized version of Mannerism.