The post-war era and the present
From Fontana’s cuts and Arte Povera to design, architecture and biennials, Italy has been one of the centres of contemporary art.
After the Second World War much of Italy lay in ruins. The Republic was established in 1946, and the country was rebuilt with American aid. In art there was a fierce debate between those who wanted a realist, political art, often close to the Communist Party, and those who sought abstraction and new materials. Lucio Fontana slashed and pierced his canvases, and Alberto Burri made pictures from sackcloth, plastic and burnt wood, marked by the experience of the war.
During the economic miracle of the 1950s and 1960s Italy became famous for its design, its cars, its furniture and its films. Milan became the centre of design and fashion. Piero Manzoni challenged the very idea of art with tins said to contain his own excrement. Towards the end of the 1960s Arte Povera emerged, an art of simple materials such as earth, stone, wood and live animals, and it became one of the most influential movements of the post-war period.
After 1980 painting enjoyed a revival through the Transavanguardia, and Italian architects such as Renzo Piano and Aldo Rossi became famous worldwide. Today Italy is both a country full of historic treasures and a stage for contemporary art, with the Venice Biennale, private foundations and new museums. Artists such as Maurizio Cattelan have become international celebrities through humour and provocation. At the same time, the question of how to care for and display the country’s vast cultural heritage is ever present.