2003 Archivi | Fondazione AIDA

Beni Montresor: the homage in New York

In 2003 in New York Fondazione Aida pays homage to a great artist from Veneto who has been able, with his art, to cross geographical, ideal and cultural borders: Beni Montresor.

The artist has worked in Italy, but has also received many honours in England, France and the United States. He finally chose New York as his artistic and professional home.

The exhibitions

From 19 June to 16 September 2003 two exhibitions were held in America together with Titivillus Mostre Editoria.

“Dal colore alla luce” was held at the Lincoln Center and “Casa di fiori, casa di stelle” at the Italian Cultural Institute in New York.

The latter consists of 61 paintings and 21 illustrated books representing the drawings the artist made for some editions of fairy tales by Perrault, Andersen and the Brothers Grimm.

Also, there are many original drawings from the picture books that Montresor has written for the most important American publishers.

The partners

The initiative is also patronized by the Ministry for Italians Worldwide, the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) and the collaboration of the Veneto Region and the Municipality of Bussolengo (artist Beni Montresor’s birthplace).

Also participating in the project: Verona Tuttintorno, Consorzio di promozione turistica and Stone Italiana, also receiving the interest of MiBACT and IMAIE.

The show

“Casa di Fiori, casa di stelle” is also a play written and directed by Lorenzo Bassotto. It is a narration of six fairy tales chosen from the countless stories told or illustrated by Beni Montresor.

The world of fairy tales

With The World of Fairy Tales, we retraced the fantastic world of Emanuele Luzzati through the exhibition of the master’s original drawings and sketches, including some works created for the Arena Foundation in Verona.

We also addressed various aspects of Luzzatti’s work. A section is dedicated to animated films made with Giulio Gianini: The Rossiniana Trilogy, Pulcinella, The Italian in Algiers, The Gazzaladra and The Magic Flute inspired by Mozart’s opera. Through a documentary we highlighted the work that the artist has done for television broadcasts produced by RAI and Swiss Television. Nourished is also the section that testifies to the artist’s dedication to the characters of the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm. We have also dedicated a part of the exhibition to the tables created for the Editions of the Olivetti Company. A further tribute was dedicated to one of the most famous and beloved characters of children’s literature: Pinocchio.

In The world of fairy tales we have exhibited many works that testify to the work that Emanuele Luzzati left at the theater:

the shadow theater of the Gioco Vita company
the works on many characters of popular culture such as Pulcinella
collaborations with internationally renowned writers such as Italo Calvino

Luzzati has also created the scenography of Pierino e il lupo for our foundation.

Collateral to the exhibition, but closely linked to it, the Fairy Tales exhibition took place. The illustrated books of Emanuele Luzzati. It is a collection of books illustrated by Luzzati. A particular focus is on the collaboration between the master and Gianni Rodari (Long Tales with a Smile and The Long and Short Nursery Rhymes).

Partner

The event conceived and organized by our foundation in collaboration with the Municipality of Verona, Skoda Octavia 4X4, UniCredit Banca and Titivillus Mostre Publishing, with Porto Antico di Genova S.p.A. and Museo Luzzati in Porta Siberia which made Luzzati’s works available. Under the patronage of the newspaper, the Arena and the Teatro della Tosse.