Book Description

Italian printmakers were at the forefront of contemporary stylistic movements. They pioneered Futurism, Metaphysical Painting and Arte Povera. Morandi, De Chirico and Fontana are just some of the major artists in this medium who are discussed in this book.Independence in Italy in 1861 led to a remarkable revival of high quality printmaking. This catalogue discusses the Italians' engagement with naturalism, realism and symbolism as well as their relationships with other European artists. At the end of the nineteenth century the foundation of the Venice Biennale and a series of prominent international exhibitions had an enormous impact on the Italian work. They were influenced by French, German, Swiss, British and American printmaking.This fully illustrated catalogue is the first publication of its kind and draws from the collection recently founded by The British Museum, supplemented with works from the Estorick, Tate Modern and Victoria and Albert Museum. Included are 123 works by 45 artists, introduced by a general discussion of printmaking in Italy since the beginning of the nineteeenth century.