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Fascist Modernism in Italy Arts and Regimes

2023; American Association of Teachers of Italian; Volume: 100; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.5406/23256672.100.3.16

2325-6672

Zoe Jones,

Italian Fascism and Post-war Society

Benito Mussolini was a rarity among totalitarian dictators in that he did not mandate a specific kind of fascist art, but instead allowed the regime to embrace a plurality of styles and techniques. Perhaps because of this, the careers of many artists creating under the regime survived World War II. As Francesca Billiani's book Fascist Modernism in Italy Arts and Regimes demonstrates, this inherent contradiction between state art and individual freedom is one of the hallmarks of art under Italian fascism. This study is a fascinating look at how the arts under fascism advanced the project of totalitarianism and how the regime, in turn, supported experimentation and production. In this slim volume, Billiani adroitly leads us through a world of contradictory ideas and warring art movements. She rejects a chronological examination of art from the fascist period, building instead a solid theoretical framework which is then filled out with selected examples that represent iconic moments in artistic development. These case studies are fascinating but brief, often leaving me wanting more. While further investigation into these topics is outside the scope of this volume, I do hope that Billiani returns to them in future projects.In Billiani's study, art is seen as a system, a broad collection of aesthetic pursuits loosely held together by their service to the regime. She states that because the fascist support of the arts was often hyperlocal, officials could use seemingly oppositional styles in particular contexts and still be loyal to the idea of state art. The subjects of Billiani's interdisciplinary book range from the traditional high arts of painting, sculpture, and architecture to mass advertising, literature, exhibitions, and theater. These practices did not necessarily function as a unified whole but operated through the development of codes and symbols, connected to, but separate from, individual styles or movements. This allowed for the support of elite art as well as mass culture, all the while still communicating the values of the totalitarian government.Francesca Billiani's book is cleverly structured like a Greek comedy with a parode and five agons, which are then further divided into sections with headings borrowed from futurist plays. She creates a narrative across the agons that lead the reader through how so-called state art changed from the early days of the regime to the build-up to World War II. Agon 1 illuminates the first discussions on state art and the debate about how to define it. Instead of dictating a particular style, those involved in the arts sought to create an aesthetic that was diametrically opposed to that of liberal Italy. Initially, this settled on "diverse aesthetic practices converging towards realism" (16). However, what form this realism would take was up for debate, and Billiani clearly lays out the conflicting arguments of a number of artists and cultural critics, each vying for Mussolini's endorsement, something that never materialized. Agon 2 centers on public art and how it conveys messages to the masses, newly conceived of as the New Man/Woman. The cult of the Duce and the proliferation of his image is one of these projects. I was particularly interested in Billiani's short section on the Heads of Mussolini, sculptures of the Duce that start out as realistic portraits and morph into dynamic statements. This is one of the many times that I wished for more investigation. The cult of the Duce has been analyzed by other authors, but Billiani's particular take on the visual aspects of this discussion deserves further treatment. Other themes discussed with regard to public art are the many exhibitions held under the fascist regime and the accompanying concept of state patronage, as well as murals created for the moral instruction of the public. In agon 3, the author addresses architecture. Through architecture the regime could re-envision the urban space and create a landscape for the New Man/Woman. New buildings drew on a specific vocabulary that referenced the past but emphasized the supremacy of the Italian fascist future. Although official government architecture has been previously studied, especially Giuseppe Terragni's Casa del Fascio, Billiani spends a significant amount of time discussing the anthropological project of transforming ordinary Italians into fascist citizens. This was done in part by constructing new communities and types of domestic buildings that would contribute to what Billiani calls a "utopia of rationalist architecture" (151). Agon 4 centers on the avant-gardes, particularly on the debate between futurism (more aptly "futurisms" due to the fragmented nature of the movement after World War I) and abstracticism, and their efforts to participate in the fascist political agenda. Much of the discussion in this section focuses on the many manifestoes written by the artists and exhibitions where they presented their ideologies. Billiani asks how the aesthetic autonomy of these avant-gardes intersected with the fascist agenda and how they sought official approval from Mussolini.Futurism is a common thread throughout the book, appearing in each agon, so it is fitting that Billiani chose to use the movement to tie the book together in the last agon. The longevity of the movement and the participation of its practitioners in major debates and exhibitions makes futurism a natural through-line to the fascist era. In this section, Billiani concentrates on aerofuturism and how its practitioners responded to the fascist aesthetic and political project. Aeropainting and aerosculpture were natural adherents to state art because they depicted man dominating nature and advanced the fascist agenda of technological power. The public was already primed to see flying as a key example of New Man in large part because of Italo Balbo's transatlantic flights and futurism capitalized on this by creating paintings and sculptures devoted to the aeroplane and the aviator. Although this section includes very little discussion of the actual art objects, it does effectively wrap up all the themes discussed in the previous sections of the book.In conclusion, Fascist Modernism in Italy is an important addition to discussions on art and its relationship to totalitarian regimes. Billiani's interdisciplinary approach is refreshing and opens new windows of understanding between elite art and mass culture and their relationship to state art. She effectively argues, through careful research and clear writing, that it is impossible to reduce art under the fascist regime into simple categories; instead, the eclectic and autonomous nature of these arts made it possible for modernism to flourish under Mussolini's government.