Art of the State and Fascism

Abstract

The “Art of the state” concept in fascist era is ambiguous: checking philologically the different attempts of Margherita Sarfatti and Roberto Farinacci, it is possible to realize that Mussolini himself never tried to obtain this goal: on the contrary he always vanified the different endeavors in this sense. He and his art deputies (Oppo, Bottai, Piacentini) tried instead to accomplish a politic of “consent”, more pervasive and effective than authoritarian control on artistic expressions. A politic of free art expression, associated to a wide economic help for artists and a paternalistic “soft-power”, gave the dictator a strong consent without constraints, realizing a total different situation in aestethic mood if compared to similar dictatorships of that time.

Keywords

• arte di stato
• arte fascista
• margherita sarfatti
• cipriano efisio oppo