Giulio Carlo Argan (17 May 1909 – 12 November 1992) was an Italian

art historian Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today, ...

critic A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as art, literature, music, cinema, theater, fashion, architecture, and food. Critics may also take as their subject social or gover ...

and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, ...

Biography

Argan was born in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

and studied in the

University of Turin The University of Turin (Italian language, Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Torino'', UNITO) is a public university, public research university in the city of Turin, in the Piedmont (Italy), Piedmont region of Italy. It is one of the List ...

, graduating in 1931. In 1928 he entered the

National Fascist Party The National Fascist Party ( it, Partito Nazionale Fascista, PNF) was a political party in Italy, created by Benito Mussolini as the political expression of Italian Fascism and as a reorganization of the previous Italian Fasces of Combat. The ...

. In the 1930 he worked for the National Antiquity and Arts Directorate, first in Turin and then in

Modena Modena (, , ; egl, label= Modenese, Mòdna ; ett, Mutna; la, Mutina) is a city and '' comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. A town, and seat o ...

and

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 ...

, where he collaborated to the creation of the

Istituto Superiore per la Conservazione ed il Restauro The ISCR (Istituto Superiore per la Conservazione ed il Restauro: High Institute for Conservation and Restoration - formerly Istituto Centrale di Restauro: "Central Institute of Restoration - ICR") is a body of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage ...

and directed the magazine ''Le Arti''. His career was boosted by the friendship of the Fascist leader

Cesare Maria De Vecchi Cesare Maria De Vecchi, 1st Conte di Val Cismon (14 November 1884 – 23 June 1959) was an Italian soldier, colonial administrator and Fascist politician. Biography De Vecchi was born in Casale Monferrato on 14 November 1884. After graduating ...

, then national Minister of Education. In 1938 he published a manual of art for high schools, while in the 1940s he collaborated to the magazine ''Primato'', founded and directed by

Giuseppe Bottai Giuseppe Bottai (3 September 1895 – 9 January 1959) was an Italian journalist, and member of the National Fascist Party of Benito Mussolini. Early life Born in Rome, Giuseppe was son of Luigi, a wine dealer with republican sympathies, and Elen ...

, another Fascist ''

gerarca During the Fascist rule in Italy, a ''gerarca'' ( it, member of a hierarchy, plural: ''gerarchi'') was a higher officer of the National Fascist Party (PNF). The highest ''gerarchi'', up to the Federal Secretary, were members of the National Counc ...

''. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, he taught in universities

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The city is noted for its ...

and, from 1959, in Rome. Argan co-founded the publishing house

Il Saggiatore ''The Assayer'' ( it, Il Saggiatore) was a book published in Rome by Galileo Galilei in October 1623 and is generally considered to be one of the pioneering works of the scientific method, first broaching the idea that the book of nature is to b ...

and he was a member of the Superior Council of Antiquities and Fine Arts (predecessor of the Ministry of Culture), in which he remained until 1974. In 1968 he published his most famous work, ''Storia dell'Arte Italiana'' (History of Italian Art). In 1973 he founded the Rome

ISIA Isia may refer to: * ''Isia'' (moth), a genus of moths in the subfamily Arctiinae * isiA, a photosynthetic protein * International Ski Instructors Association *Istituto Superiore per le Industrie Artistiche ISIA - Istituto Superiore per le Indust ...

, Italy's oldest institution in the field of

industrial design Industrial design is a process of design applied to physical products that are to be manufactured by mass production. It is the creative act of determining and defining a product's form and features, which takes place in advance of the manufactu ...

. He was the first

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...

mayor of Rome The mayor of Rome ( it, sindaco di Roma) is an elected politician who, along with the Rome City Council ( it, Assemblea Capitolina) of 48 members, is accountable for the strategic government of Rome. As Rome is a '' comune speciale'' since 2009 ...

, between 1976 and 1979. He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...

in 1992. He died in

Selected works

* ''Fra Angelico: Biographical and Critical Study'', The Taste of Our Time Vol. 10 (1955) Editions d'Art Albert Skira, Geneva, 127 pp. * ''Studi e note'' (1955) * ''Botticelli: Biographical and Critical Study'', The Taste of Our Time Vol. 19 (1957) Editions d'Art Albert Skira, Geneva, 147 pp. * ''Salvezza e caduta nell’arte moderna'' (1964) * ''Europe of the Capitals 1600-1700.'', Art, Ideas, History (1964) Editions d'Art Albert Skira, Geneva, 236 pp. * ''Progetto e destino'' (1965) * ''Storia dell'arte italiana'' (1968) * ''Storia dell’arte come storia della città'' (1983) * ''Da Hogarth a Picasso'' (1983) * ''Forma Naturae (Archetipi & C.) for

Antonio Papasso Antonio Papasso (born 1932) is an Italian painter and engraver. Biography Papasso was born in Florence in 1932, as the second son of Giovanni and Aldina Lollini. He has a sister, Giovanna. In 1939–1940, the family moved to Viareggio. Aft ...

(1983) * ''Classico Anticlassico'' (1984) * ''Immagine e persuasione'' (1986) * ''Progetto e oggetto'' (2003)

References

External links

Italian site about the life and works of Giulio Carlo Argan
1909 births 1992 deaths Writers from Turin Italian art historians Italian publishers (people) Mayors of Rome Italian Communist Party politicians 20th-century Italian politicians Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Members of the Royal Academy of Belgium 20th-century Italian historians Compasso d'Oro Award recipients {{Italy-art-historian-stub