![]() Hungarian art is represented by 21 painters and 24 self-portraits. The Uffizi Gallery in Florence holds the oldest, largest and most famous collection of self-portraits in the world: artworks by great artists of Europe and beyond, from Raphael to the present. By mostly using unpublished archival sources (ASAC), I aim to restore some ‘historical density’, to borrow Lawrence Alloway’s terminology, to the curatorial and strategic history of the early Venice Biennale. I analyse in particular Fradeletto’s choice of artists, the decoration of the room and the critical perspective provided in the catalogue to see how the Sala conveyed more than meets the eye. This paper focuses the ‘Sala del Ritratto Moderno’ (or 'Room of Modern Portraiture') both as an exhibition strategy and an act of curation. Contrary to earlier Biennali in which sections were organised by nationality, in 1903 the rules of the game were slightly changed: in addition to regional sections as well as ‘international’ sections, the General Secretary Antonio Fradeletto decided to have one star show centring on modern portraiture whilst allowing Italian decorative arts for the first time. This paper focuses on the early edition of 1903. The Venice Biennale provides many an interesting, and sometimes contradictory array of issues linked to the history of exhibitions, curating, and the importance of display. Yet, on the basis of unpublished archival documentation and of the digital reconstruction of these rooms, this paper argues that the “Mostra dei Quarant’anni” is crucial for our understanding of the history of the Biennale and of the cultural policies of the fascist state. As the “Mostra” took place in the gap year between two Biennales and received little support from governmental institutions, it is generally overlooked in the literature on the period. Furthermore, the “Mostra” played a key role in re-defining the international role of Venice within fascist artistic organization. It thus represents an optimal case study to analyze renegotiations of the artistic canon. It included many artists that are still considered part of the modernist canon but most of them are now all but forgotten. The show reflected on the evolution of modern art and of the Biennale between 18, exemplifying the aesthetic criteria of Italian public collections at the time. Yet four rooms showed works by European artists who had exhibited in the Biennale, and were part of the collections of the Gallerie d’Arte Moderna in Rome and Venice. ![]() ![]() The “Mostra dei Quarant’anni” was mostly devoted to art from the Triveneto. In 1935 the Venice Biennale organized an atypical exhibition commemorating its 40th anniversary. ![]()
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