LA DOMENICA DEL CORRIERE

“La Domenica del Corriere”
Italian Illustrators of History, News and Customs

Exhibition Curated by Giovanna Ginex and Renato Miracco

With over 100,000 pages, the Drawings and Graphical Documents Section of “Il Corriere della Sera” housed at the Corriere della Sera Foundation is the most important collection of original materials of periodical publications in Italy, and at the same time represents an invaluable historical record of Italian illustrations.

“La Domenica del Corriere” was founded in 1899 as an illustrated weekly supplement of the Milan daily “Corriere della Sera” and was one of the most successful popular periodicals of the nineteen hundreds. Its popularity was mostly due to the cover pages that were illustrated with drawings from the week’s general news and political scene, according to a practice that had proved highly successful with international publications from the third quarter of the nineteenth century.

The selection of drawings represented in this exhibition provide an insight into Italian illustrations through the works of six artists chosen from the over 350 artists who worked for the newspaper during its ninety years of activity.

The plates provide a journey through the nineteen hundreds, providing examples of the news events that characterized Italian journalism in general during this period: war, sports, crime, gossip, entertainment and customs. These were the subjects depicted in the first issues by Achille Beltrame, who was to illustrate the publication until 1944.

The challenge consisted in adapting the indisputable artistic talents of the illustrator to the requisites of journalistic reporting, and above all to the printing techniques available at the time. The preparation of the original ink drawings in black and white ensured a better result in the successive colour printing phases made on the basis of the tones indicated by the tempera-coloured background that the artist himself painted on separated plates.

When: The month-long exhibit runs from April 11 to May 9, 2008 and is free of charge and open to the public weekdays, Monday to Friday, from 10am to 4pm

Where: The Italian Cultural Institute of New York
686 Park Avenue between 68th and 69th Streets.
212-879-4242 or online at www.iicnewyork.esteri.it/IIC_Newyork

Who: Dr. Renato Miracco, Director & Curator; Italian Cultural Institute NY
Prof. Piergaetano Marchetti, Chairman of RCS MediaGroup