International studio (59.1916)

Italian Graphic Art

Modern Italian graphic
ART-
The Exhibition of the works by the
Associazione Italiana Acquafortisti e Incisori of
Milan that was recently held in London at the Suffolk
Street Galleries was the result of a happy inspiration
on the part of the President and members of the
Royal Society of British Artists of paying a com-
pliment to our high-spirited Ally. The collection,
which was under the auspices of the Italian Govern-
ment, offered an admirable opportunity to view a
representative show of contemporary Italian Art.
The works, some 200 in number, were well dis-
played, completely filling the main gallery and
entrance hall. An examination, from the point of
view of a colleague in Art, filled me with much
satisfaction at finding that Italian graphic Art is in
a state of virile existence. While the rather large
etched plate and an extensive use of printer’s inking
to get effect were much in evidence, the subtler
qualities of style and expression inherited from the
noble period of Italian tradition were not absent.
The clou of the exhibition was to be found in
the woodcuts, among which were many printed in
colour. Those of Adolfo de Karolis revealed an
exceedingly high level of imaginative design. He

was represented by a number of wood-engravings,
notably of allegorical subjects, like La Patriot
Madre and The Holy Army. Our presentation of
the tranquil La Sera with its sense of the heavy
atmosphere and the flopping sail well expresses a
warm Venetian summer evening. Antonio Moroni,
an able artist, has done a number of Ex Libris
prints. The Seven Vices, of which a reproduction
is given, shows a goddess seated on a hydra; she
holds a gold cup in her left hand. Great judg-
ment is shown in the choice the artist has made of
the lines and strokes in this drawing, every one
of which is indispensable to the mise-en-scene.
Allegoria, with its Olympian Gods and Goddesses,
flowers and fruit, was equally rich in effect. His
La Morte has the power of design and tragic
feeling of a William Blake or a Legros.
Other woodcuts included Nobile Maremma by
G. Guarnieri, a curious portrait-head on a back-
ground of sky, the cloud-forms suggesting a
Gorgonian monster’s features ; Ettore di Giorgio’s
The Tramps and The Wandering Jews, delicate
monochrome prints treated with sympathetic feeling
for the subjects; the clever cuts by G. Barbieri,
especially the Lrritardartari and Boboli Gardens,
Florence ; and M. Disertori’s illustrations to “ The
Decameron.”


“la patria madre”
204

WOODCUT BY ADOLFO DE KAROLIS