Giorgio Di Genova (23 October 1933 – 25 July 2023) was an Italian art historian, critic, and curator, mostly known for being the author of '' History of Italian Art of the Twentieth Century''.

Biography

Giorgio Di Genova was born in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

on 23 October 1933. He graduated in

History of Art The history of art focuses on objects made by humans for any number of spiritual, narrative, philosophical, symbolic, conceptual, documentary, decorative, and even functional and other purposes, but with a primary emphasis on its aesthetic vis ...

La Sapienza University of Rome The Sapienza University of Rome ( it, Sapienza – Università di Roma), also called simply Sapienza or the University of Rome, and formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", is a public research university located in Rome, Ita ...

with a dissertation on

Silvestro Lega Silvestro Lega (8 December 1826 – 21 September 1895) was an Italian Realism (art), realist painter. He was one of the leading artists of the Macchiaioli and was also involved with the Mazzini movement. Biography He was born in Modigliana, nea ...

. He then became a member of the

Italian Communist Party The Italian Communist Party ( it, Partito Comunista Italiano, PCI) was a communist political party in Italy. The PCI was founded as ''Communist Party of Italy'' on 21 January 1921 in Livorno by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party (PSI). ...

, only to leave after the

Hungarian Revolution of 1956 The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 10 November 1956; hu, 1956-os forradalom), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was a countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the Hunga ...

. In 1975 he founded the quarterly magazine ''Third Eye'', published by Bora in

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

, which he edited until 2006. In 1984 he was the curator of the Italian Pavilion at the 41st edition of the

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

, where he invited

Antonio Bueno Antonio Bueno (21 July 1918 – 26 September 1984) was an Italian painter of Spanish origin, who acquired Italian citizenship in 1970. He was born in Berlin while his journalist father was posted there by the newspaper ''ABC'' of Madrid. Life and ...

, Mario Padovan, and Novello Finotti to exhibit. In 1993 he was one of the organizers of the 12th

Rome Quadriennale The Rome Quadriennale (Italian: ''Quadriennale di Roma'', also called in English the ''Rome Quadrennial'') is a foundation for the promotion of contemporary Italian art. Its name derives from the four-yearly exhibitions it is required to host by ...

. In 1980 he was appointed Artistic Director of the National Biennial of Contemporary Art in the Province of

Rieti Rieti (; lat, Reate, Sabino: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Lazio, central Italy, with a population of 47,700. It is the administrative seat of the province of Rieti and see of the diocese of Rieti, as well as the modern capital of the Sabina re ...

. The first edition, ''Generation Twenties'', was followed by two more, ''Generazione Anni Dieci'' (1982) and ''Generazione Primo Decennio'' (1985). Disagreements over the direction of the biennial led to Di Genova's resignation in 1986. In 1990 he started working on a revised and expanded edition of his book '' History of Italian Art of the Twentieth Century'' (1981). In 1999 Di Genova was one of the founders of Museo MAGI '900 in Pieve di Cento near Bologna. Di Genova was also Artistic Director until his resignation in 2006. In 2008, he was appointed Artistic Director of the Lìmen International Art Prize by the Chamber of Commerce of

Vibo Valentia Vibo Valentia (; Monteleone before 1861; Monteleone di Calabria from 1861 to 1928; scn, label= Calabrian, Vibbu Valenzia or ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Calabria region of southern Italy, near the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the ca ...

Works

*''“Il Prometeo”. Scultura di Vittorio Amadio.'' Collezioni ed esposizioni temporanee ed itineranti - Sala Consiliare - Castel di Lama (Ascoli Piceno).La Sfinge.1997 Ascoli Piceno, Italy *''Enrico Accatino. La circolarità dello spirito.'' IGER, 1991, Roma, Italy *''Fiannacca. Storia e geografia delle belle arti e delle arti decorative. Artisti.'' Edizioni Bora, 1990, Bologna, Italy *''GAD. Gruppo Aniconismo Dialettico. W. Coccetta, A. Di Girolamo, Renzo Eusebi, G. Leto,'' La Sfinge, 1990, Ascoli Piceno, Italy *''Gruppo aniconismo dialettico, GAD. Con un omaggio a Pasquale Di Fabio,'' Edizioni De Luca, 1999, Roma, Italy *''Carlo Verdecchia, 1905 - 1984'' Storia e geografia delle belle arti e delle arti decorative. Artisti - Palazzo Ducale - Atri (Teramo), Edizioni De Luca, 1998, Roma, Italy *''History of Italian Art of the Twentieth Century'', Bologna, Bora, 1981, ISBN
IT \ ICCU \ CFI \ 0039104
* ''Marzio Banfi: The Scenes of the Unconscious (2000-2003)'', Bologna, Bora, 2003, * ''Idioms of Contemporary Sculpture 2'', Milan, Electa, 1989,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Di Genova, Giorgio 1933 births 2023 deaths Italian art historians Italian art critics Italian art curators Directors of museums in Italy Italian magazine editors Sapienza University of Rome alumni