Benito Mussolini, the founder and leader of the NFP—the national Italian right-wing fascist movement—was born and is entombed in his hometown, Dovia di Predappio. The locale continues to draw thousands of tourists annually, some of whom are neo-fascists celebrating the Duce’s reign from 1922–1943 (when Mussolini was stripped of his dictatorial powers).
Before Mussolini was a dictator, he was a journalist, publisher and novelist. Underpinning his political ideology, he was inspired by art born of the radically disruptive Futurist movement, which ardently supported the modern and bloody transfiguration of the state. The current show at Poster House New York (through Feb. 22) reveals Mussolini as smitten to the extreme with progressive artists who “created a broad-reaching culture that grew with and into the Futurist movement to claw into advertising, propaganda and the very heart of the nation he commanded,” as Poster House’s exhibition precis notes.
The 75 pieces from the Fondazione Massimo e Sonia Cirulli in Bologna, Italy, chronicle Mussolini’s regime, focusing on the critical marriage between political propaganda and art, and the alluring visual language—from logo to symbols to typefaces and illustration—used to brand the fascist leader. Here, the curator, photographic artist and author B.A. Van Sise primarily focuses on the intersection between language and the visual form.
It is fortuitous that this exhibition, based on an important private collection of more than 10,000 artworks, documents and artifacts dedicated to 20th-century Italian culture, mirrors the fears of a rise in authoritarianism and its impact on culture. But, any relation between today and 100 years prior was not intended as a statement. The exhibition reveals a fragile line drawn between the artist and ideologue, exploring how the choice to move away from Social and National Socialist realism helped define (and mask) the overarching goals of a fascist state—and its impact on the national psyche during and after the Italian fascists’ rise and fall.
As chief lender, the Fondazione’s goal is to promote 20th-century Italian art and visual culture through a multidisciplinary approach to the era. It also aims to create an international center for the study and dissemination of Italian creative culture, from the early 1900s to the 1970s, through the decorative arts, architectural design, industrial design, graphic design and illustration. These materials tell the story of modern Italian culture from a range of points of view. Among the masters of Italian art included in the collection are Giacomo Balla, Fortunato Depero, Lucio Fontana, Osvaldo Licini, Bruno Munari, Gio Ponti, Luigi Russolo and Mario Sironi, many of who practiced applied art, fine art and advertising in both the service of the fascist revolution and their own reputations.
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