Fortuny e Wagner. Il wa­gne­rismo nelle arti visive in Italia

[Autom. eng. transl.] This book and the exhibition of which it is an expression are the result of a long research work around a theme that had never been the object of targeted studies or specific exhibition events: the influence, at an iconographic and aesthetic level, that Richard Wagner and the phenomenon of "wagnerism" exercised on the visual arts in Italy between the end of the nineteenth century and the first decades of the twentieth century. Characters and events of Wagner's musical dramas are widely used in paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints of those years, in Italy as in the rest of Europe. An absolute protagonist role, in this area, belongs to Mariano Fortuny, author of a "Wagnerian cycle" including dozens of paintings and engravings, presented here for the first time in full. At the center of attention are therefore the works of Fortuny (a Spaniard who chose to become Venetian), compared to those of other Italian artists of the time, who were inspired by Wagner or the symbolist and mysterious atmospheres evoked by his music: Balestrieri , Viazzi, Prati, Palanti, Previati, de Maria, Martini, Wildt ... And with a view to an overall study of visual communication, not even illustration, posters, caricatures and even postcards and figurines are left out Liebig. To complete the iconographic itinerary of the book, and to attest to the influence of the Wagnerian imagination on contemporary artists, there is also a selection of works by important international authors such as Brossa, Kiefer, Tàpies and Bill Viola. The book, in addition to documenting all the works featured in the exhibition at the Fortuny Museum in Venice, is an in-depth tool that investigates the phenomenon of Italian wagnerism in the visual arts, literature, music and culture in general. A CD is also enclosed, produced by Sony Classical, which contains the unpublished recording of pieces from Wagner's works transcribed by Italian composers of the late nineteenth century.