Who’s next?… Franz Sedlaceck

by Valentina Biondini, art and literature amateur

La biblioteca, 1939

What is the definition of irony for a calamity visionary as I have been defined? Dying? Or worse, disappearing mysteriously in one of the military campaigns conducted during what was, in fact, one of the bloodiest calamities in human history, the Second World War? But let’s go in order. My name is Franz Sedlacek and, rightly or wrongly, I was one of the main Austrian artists active between the two world wars.

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Who’s next?… Maria Blanchard

by Valentina Biondini, art and literature amateur

Woman with fan

My name is María Gutiérrez-Cueto y Blanchard, but you can simply call me Maria Blanchard and, although I am unknown to most, thanks to my talent I was one of the protagonists of the avant-garde.

I was born on March 6, 1881 in Santander in the north of Spain and my childhood was painful, in my body and spirit. In fact, I came into the world with a spinal malformation that forced me to walk with a cane since I was a child, which among my schoolmates earned me the unflattering nickname of bruja, that is witch. Read more

Who’s next?… Arturo Nathan

by Valentina Biondini, art and literature amateur

Solitudine, 1930

If you ask Who’s Next? I answer that my name is Arturo Nathan and I was an Italian painter of Jewish origin. For the themes I deal with in my painting I have been defined as “the solitary contemplator”, precisely because of the poignant way in which I was able to transpose the contemplation of the end of things onto the canvas. Here’s my story.. Read more

Who’s next?… Rosa Rosà

by Valentina Biondini, art and literature amateur

Illustrazione da “Le mille e una notte”

The column “Who’s Next?” is renewed, not in substance, but in form. In fact, we will continue to write about unjustly forgotten protagonists of Italian art, culture and literature, but we will do it from another angle, that is, by narrating their story in first person, through a sort of fictional story or memoir, this time dedicated to the eclectic Rosa Rosà, writer, illustrator and futurist painter active above all in the 10s and 20s of the 20th century.
So let her voice guide us…
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Who’s next?… Katy Castellucci

by Valentina Biondini, art and literature amateur

Autoritratto con compasso, 1950

Katy Castellucci’s name rings out loud in Who’s Next? and 20th century Italian art. In fact, she was one of the most significant artists of that heterogeneous group of painters active in Rome between the 20s and 40s of the 900s century that goes by the name of Scuola Romana. Painter, portraitist and weaver, she best represented this unconventional artistic current thanks to an extreme sensitivity and a multifaceted and original visual taste. Her shy and restless character is hidden behind the enchantment of her works, which greatly influenced the Italian art of that time. Read more