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Association “Modern Artists of Reality”: Goals, Motivation, and Place in Postwar Italian Visual Arts

Association “Modern Artists of Reality”: Goals, Motivation, and Place in Postwar Italian Visual Arts

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Recieved: 06/09/2025

Accepted: 10/10/2025

Published: 01/30/2026

Keywords: “Modern artists of Reality”, post-war Italian visual art, figurative painting, abstract painting, reality, the art of ‘illusion of reality’, realism, surrealism, G. Shiltian, P. Annigoni, K. Bueno, A. Bueno, A. Serri, G. Acci, C. Guarienti

Available in the on-line version with: 30.01.2026

To cite this article

Lobodanov F.A. Association “Modern Artists of Reality”: Goals, Motivation, and Place in Postwar Italian Visual Arts. // Theory and History of Art. 2025. N 4, p.43-67 https://doi.org/10.55959/MSU2411-0795-2025-4-03.

Сreative Commons Atribiution - NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)
This work is licensed under a Сreative Commons Atribiution - NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)
N 4, 2025

Abstract

For the first time in Russian art criticism, this article examines the history of the creation and exhibition activities of the association of Italian painters “Modern Artists of Reality” (1947–1949), identifies the most striking features of their painting practice, and defines the creative individuality and identity of each participant in this group. The article analyses the Manifesto of the “Modern Artists of Reality” movement and its basic provisions, which allow us to determine the goals and motivations behind the association’ formation. It traces individual trajectories of each group member in adhering to the principles of the Manifesto, as well as their subsequent artistic careers as ‘artists of Reality’. Both movement-related documents and their artworks were used as materials for the study. The author employs a comprehensive interdisciplinary approach to outline the creative methods of the association’s participants. The conclusion addresses the reasons for the association’s dissolution and assesses the contribution of the ‘artists of Reality’ made to post-war Italian visual art. Moreover, the article discusses the contemporary demand for their artistic heritage and its actual reception in the early 21st-century art world.

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