Figura (Jul 2021)
Massimo Campigli
Abstract
Frequently defined by critics as an artist of “archaic” production, the naturalized Italian German Massimo Campigli (1895-1971), sought to enhance this idea to the point of overflowing it, associating it with his own personality throughout his artistic trajectory. The sense of “archaic”, “ancient” or “Etruscan” was in constant change or being incorporated into other definitions over the years for the artist, but it served him, at first, as a powerful tool of insertion in the Parisian artistic milieu and in the projection of his name under the Fascist Regime, while, in the second post-war period, it was used as a way to move away from productions associated with the Regime. To approach these issues, we will discuss Campigli’s production within his critical fortune, autobiographical writings and the artistic context in which he was operating.
