Suchergebnisse

L'articolo esamina il ruolo di Gabriele Mucchi (1899-2002) nel contesto delle relazioni culturali tra Italia e Repubblica democratica tedesca nel corso degli anni Cinquanta, quindi prima del reciproco riconoscimento giuridico e della stipula di accordi bilaterali tra i due Stati. Pittore realista e militante comunista, Mucchi fu una figura chiave nel dibattito artistico della DDR, all'interno del quale il "Realismo" italiano costituì un contributo determinante al processo di autodeterminazione di un'arte tedesca e socialista. L'artista fu oggetto di una crescente attenzione da parte delle istituzioni culturali della DDR, che nel 1956 lo invitarono a ricoprire la cattedra di pittura presso la Scuola d'arte di Berlino Est, città dove avrebbe continuato a risiedere, alternandosi con l'Italia, anche in seguito alla caduta del Muro. Sulla base di documenti d'archivio inediti e di uno spoglio della stampa, l'articolo mette in luce le premesse e gli esordi della sua poliedrica attività nella DDR in ambito formativo, critico ed espositivo, analizzando al tempo stesso il suo particolare status come esempio di cooperazione tra Europa occidentale e orientale, e quindi come caso studio della Guerra fredda culturale. ; The essay deals with the role played by Gabriele Mucchi (1899-2002) in the context of the cultural relations between Italy and the German Democratic Republic in the 1950s, thus before the two States established diplomatic ties and bilateral agreements. A realist painter and communist activist, Mucchi was a key figure in the artistic debate of the GDR, where Italian "Realismo" played a key-role within the process of self-determination of a German and socialist art. Following a growing interest towards his work, the GDR authorities invited him as guest professor to the Art Academy in East Berlin, where he took up residence and lived throughout his life, albeit alternating with Italy. On the basis of unpublished archive sources and press reviews, the article highlights the premises and the early stages of Mucchi's art writing, teaching and exhibiting activity in East Germany, shedding light on his status as an example of cross-border partnership across divided Europe and as a significant case study for the Cultural Cold War.

The article deals with the critical reception of Italian artist Renato Guttuso in Socialist Europe from the late Forties up to the early Sixties. A Communist activist and an outstanding personality of cultural diplomacy in post-war Europe, Guttuso enjoyed a wide exposure in Central and Eastern Europe, where his artwork circulated both within itinerant exhibitions and as reproductions in the press. A further reason for his popularity was provided by his activity as an art critic and author of pamphlets against the hegemony of abstract art in the West. In the Fifties, Guttuso's paintings were presented as the work of a "Western realist", thus playing a crucial role in the art debates of each host nations, but also ending up adapted to the State promoted cultural policies. In Central-eastern Europe, and more specifically in Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary, the artist was greeted as an alternative to Soviet socialist realism, while in the German Democratic Republic as a master of anti-fascism, thus providing common ground for a shared critical discourse on interwar regimes, both in Italy and in Germany. Only starting from the late Fifties, Guttuso gained popularity in the Soviet Union as a neo-realist painter, thus echoing Italian popular cinema, which provided the critical framework for the reception and the popularization of his art. His first solo exhibition in the Soviet Union was planned and promoted in 1961 as a key event in the new cultural agenda between Italy and the USSR, paving the way for his popularity in the homeland of real existing socialism