From the Grave

From Italy came the art of painting and many of the world's greatest painters. By the middle of the 19th Century, when the intricate casserole of Italian States was boiling into a solid whole, Italian painting had fallen to such low estate that Author Edmond About could justly say that Italy was "the grave of painting." Last week the Royal Italian Government, the College Art Association and the Italy American Society collaborated to bring to Manhattan's Rockefeller Center a loan Exhibition of 90 pictures by 29 young Italians intended to show how far from the grave Italian art had risen.

Walking up & down the lines of monumental canvases, critics felt that modern Italian painting had not yet shaken off its shroud. Artists included Giorgio ("Horses") de Chirico, whose work is more frequently identified with Paris than with Rome; Playwright Luigi Pirandello's son Fausto; and the pride of Bologna, Giorgio Morandi, who ponders life so deeply that in his 46 years he has produced less than 20 pictures, most of them still lifes of bottles, candlesticks, tea cups.

The canvases shown were a succession of hulking figures, mostly nude and vaguely classical, painted in the earthy browns, yellows and reds of early Italian frescoes. Best of the lot was Mario Tozzi's solidly painted Farmer's Dream, a portrait of a plump, prosperous and sleepy-eyed husbandman, seated at a country cafe table by a jug of wine.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.