Italy at Work. The 1951 exhibit that launched the "New Italian Renaissance"

In the aftermath of WWII, the American view of Italians was related to contrasting associations: crime, war, and poverty on the one hand, or the Renaissance and the Grand Tour on the other. Expositions played a key role in reverting the narrative on Italy and framing a new discourse on the newly established republic.

In 1951, the Museum of Modern Art of New York included Pinin Farina’s Cisitalia 202 GT (1947) in its Eight Automobiles exhibit, adding the car to its permanent collection. The same year, Gio Ponti inaugurated at the Brooklyn Museum the exposition Italy at Work. Her Renaissance in Design Today, which showcased contemporary products of Italian industry (e.g. ceramic works, glass, leather, fabrics, toys, furniture lights, and the Lambretta scooter). Over the following two years, the exhibit would travel to Chicago, Baltimore, San Francisco, Portland, Houston, Minneapolis, Saint Louis, Buffalo, Pittsburgh and Providence. Building on its reputation, the journalist Uguccione Ranieri di Sorbello started the bulletin The Italian Scene in 1953, a cultural publication which proposed a comprehensive narrative on Italy, promoted the country’s innovations, and systematically presented its contributions in culture, technology, & industry. This began what he called a “New Italian Renaissance.”

More on it in my #fridayacademy clip for the week. Here it is. Enjoy!

👉 https://youtube.com/shorts/qtZcBoBlaNk

#italianinnovators