Studio: international art (87.1924)

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TITLE-PAGE OF FIRST
NUMBER OF " XILOGRAFIA ”
BY FRANCESCO NONNI

FAENZA.—The revival of the art of
wood-engraving (which goes back in
the form of wood-cuts as far as 1400, and
had an immense commercial success in the
last century, before it was killed by cheaper
process) is one of the happiest signs of art
progress in this century. I have before me
now the catalogue of the first exhibition,
in 1920, of the Society of Wood-Engravers ;
but it is worth recalling that the Italians
under the initiative of AdolfoDeKarolis and
others, were pioneers in this movement, a
Already in 1903 the first wood-engrav-
ings appeared in “ Leonardo,” followed in
1904 by* ‘ Hermes, ”a review which lived only
one year : but on July 30th, 1912, appeared
under the direction of Ettore Cozzani and
Franco Oliva “ L’Eroica,” which has sur-
vived now for twelve years, and whose
eighty-first number, now in my hands,
contains, beside prose and verse, admirable
wood-engravings by such artists as Mor-
biducci Cozzani, Viani, Aristide Sartorio
and Domenico Ricci. There is also a new
publication, “ Xilografia,” which has just
come into my hands. Xilografia, as many
among my readers will know, is the Italian
name for this art of wood-engraving ; and
the Director of this review, Sig. Francesco

Nonni, is an artist whose work in sculpture
and ceramics is of original merit, though
I confine myself here to his art as an
engraver. The title-page of this first num-
ber of “ Xilografia ” is itself a delightful
piece of design and spacing, and makes a
strong appeal to the sympathy of the
public, telling them that “ it would wish to
bring together all the best Italian ‘ Xilo-
grafi/ ” and that “ if it finds favour it hopes
to become more beautiful and more
worthy of its art.” The artists who appear
in this number are Baccarini, Ugonia, and
Alfredo Morini, and with them the artist
I have mentioned, Francesco Nonni. The
title-page is, I believe by his hand, and his
group of figures in Settecento is admirable
in the massing of the black and white, and
the decorative detail of the sedan chair,
while Morini concludes the volume with a
strong plate of La Fontana. This number,
interesting in itself, shows that the move-
ment commenced by De Karolis, Cozzani,
Mantelli and others has taken strong roots
in Italy, and has promise for the future, a

S. B.

“SETTECENTO.” WOODCUT
BY FRANCESCO NONNI
(“Xilografia,” No. 1)

293