Arturo Umberto Samuele Schwarz (2 February 1924 – 23 June 2021) was an Italian scholar, art historian, poet, writer, lecturer, art consultant and curator of international art exhibitions. He lived in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, where he amassed a large collection of

Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 1920 Dada flourished in Pari ...

and

Surrealist art Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to ...

, including many works by personal friends such as

Marcel Duchamp Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp (, , ; 28 July 1887 – 2 October 1968) was a French painter, sculptor, chess player, and writer whose work is associated with Cubism, Dada, and conceptual art. Duchamp is commonly regarded, along with Pablo Picasso ...

, André Breton,

Man Ray Man Ray (born Emmanuel Radnitzky; August 27, 1890 – November 18, 1976) was an American visual artist who spent most of his career in Paris. He was a significant contributor to the Dada and Surrealist movements, although his ties to eac ...

, and Jean Arp.

Biography

Schwarz was born in

Alexandria, Egypt Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

from a German father and an Italian mother. In 1952 he relocated to Milan, where he opened an independent art publishing house. In 1961 Schwarz converted his place into a gallery, organising exhibitions of Dada and Surrealism artists. The gallery officially closed in 1975, and Schwarz started working as curator and writer, writing extensive publications on the work of Marcel Duchamp, as well as books and numerous essays on the

Kabbalah Kabbalah ( he, קַבָּלָה ''Qabbālā'', literally "reception, tradition") is an esoteric method, discipline and school of thought in Jewish mysticism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ( ''Məqūbbāl'' "receiver"). The defin ...

Tantrism Tantra (; sa, तन्त्र, lit=loom, weave, warp) are the esoteric traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism that developed on the Indian subcontinent from the middle of the 1st millennium CE onwards. The term ''tantra'', in the Indian ...

, alchemy, prehistoric and tribal art, and Asian art and philosophy. His 1977 book on Man Ray's works and life was the first to reveal Ray's real name (Emmanuel Radnitzky). A follower of

Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian ...

, Schwarz published ''

The Revolution Betrayed ''The Revolution Betrayed: What Is the Soviet Union and Where Is It Going?'' (russian: Преданная революция: Что такое СССР и куда он идет?) is a book published in 1937 by the exiled Soviet Bolshevik leader ...

'' with a note which criticized

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...

. In late 1990s he donated his 700-piece collection of Dada and Surrealist art to the Israel Museum in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

. On 6 March 1998, he was awarded the Diploma of First Class with gold medal for outstanding merits in the fields of culture and the arts by the President of Italian Republic

Oscar Luigi Scalfaro Oscar Luigi Scalfaro (; 9 September 1918 – 29 January 2012) was the president of Italy from 1992 to 1999. A member of Christian Democracy (DC), he became an independent politician after the DC's dissolution in 1992, and was close to the centr ...

, on the recommendation of the Minister of Cultural Heritage

Walter Veltroni Walter Veltroni (; born 3 July 1955) is an Italian writer, film director, journalist, and politician, who served as the first leader of the Democratic Party within the centre-left opposition, until his resignation on 17 February 2009. He serv ...

. In 2006 he won Italy's Premio Frascati for his collected works of poetry (1946–2007). In October 2009 Schwarz curated an exhibition of Dada and Surrealism, "Dada e surrealismo riscoperti" (Dada And Surrealism Rediscovered), at the Vittoriano Museum Complex in Rome. Schwarz died in Milan on 23 June 2021, at the age of 97.Arte: è morto Arturo Schwarz, il grande studioso e collezionista dei Surrealisti

Selected works

*''Marcel Duchamp: Sixty-six Creative Years; From the First Painting to the Last Drawing'', Gallery Schwarz (Milan, Italy), 1972. *''New York Dada: Duchamp, Man Ray, Picabia'', Prestel Verlag (Munich, Germany), 1973. *''Almanacco dada: Antologia letteraria-artistica, cronologia e repertorio delle riviste'', Feltrinelli (Milan, Italy), 1976. *''Man Ray: The Rigour of Imagination'', Rizzoli International (New York, NY), 1977. *''André Breton, Trotsky, et l'anarchie'', Union Generale d'Editions (Paris, France), 1977. *''The Complete Works of Marcel Duchamp'', H. N. Abrams (New York, NY), 1969, reprinted, Delano Greenidge (New York, NY), 1997. *''

Peter Halley Peter Halley (born 1953) is an American artist and a central figure in the Neo-Conceptualist movement of the 1980s. Known for his Day-Glo geometric paintings, Halley is also a writer, the former publisher of ''index Magazine'', and a teacher; he ...

: Utopia’s Diagrams'', Tema Celeste Editions and Gabrius Multimedia (Milan, Italy) 1998.

References

External links

*
Israel21c
"Arturo Schwartz - benefactor to art and Israel", Rick Radin, 20 April 2002 1924 births 2021 deaths People from Alexandria Italian art historians Italian art collectors Italian art curators Italian male poets Jewish art collectors Italian Trotskyists Dada Surrealism Italian art dealers {{Italy-art-historian-stub Egyptian Ashkenazi Jews Curators from Milan Egyptian emigrants to Italy 20th-century Italian Jews