Historical graphic design

Ercolano e Pompei. Visioni di una scoperta / Herculaneum and Pompeii. Visions of a Discovery

edited by Pietro Giovanni Guzzo, Maria Rosaria Esposito and Nicoletta Ossanna Cavadini

Éditions d'Art Albert Skira, Geneva, 2018, 2018

bilingual Italian-English

24 x 24 cm cm, pp. 390

ISBN 9788857238623

CHF 38.- / Euro 38

The 280th anniversary of the discovery of Herculaneum and the 270th anniversary of the discovery of Pompeii are celebrated with a completely original approach by exploring the media and the methods with which the discoveries of the two sites were communicated – initially sporadically and occasionally, then increasingly consistently – through the visionary expressions of those who immediately intuited the implications of the discoveries and sought to promote the progress of excavations and research into them. From the end of the eighteenth century to the beginning of the twentieth century, from J.J. Winckelmann to Karl Weber, from François Mazois to William Gell, from Giovanni Battista to Francesco Piranesi, from Luigi Rossini to Pietro Bianchi, there were a great number of designers, engravers and lovers of antiquity, up to the Alinari brothers. Here we can see the enthusiasm for the excavations and the precious archaeological finds and the will to transmit the knowledge of the discoveries through letters, preparatory drawings, commentaries, etchings and the precious copper matrices from which the prints were taken, as well as lithographs and early daguerreotypes, all accompanied by some relevant archaeological relics.

J.J. Winckelmann (1717-1768). Monumenti antichi inediti. Storia di un’opera illustrata. History of an Illustrated Work

edited by Stefano Ferrari and Nicoletta Ossanna Cavadini

Skira, Geneva-Milan, 2017

bilingual Italian-English

24 x 24 cm, pp. 352

ISBN 9788857236872

CHF 36.- / Euro 36

To mark the 300th anniversary of the birth of Johann Joachim Winckelmann (1717-68) – one of the finest scholars of classical culture, theorist and the father of the discipline of art history – the catalogue and exhibition explore his penultimate printed work titled “Monumenti antichi inediti”.

To date the work has been little studied, because it was considered incomplete, yet it is fundamental to understanding the world of classical antiquity. For the first time the author significantly inserted no fewer than 208 illustrations of the ancient “monuments”, describing them in an absolutely innovative vision that combined descriptions and depictions (all published in the catalogue). The catalogue presents both the first edition of 1767, the Neapolitan reprint of 1820-23 and the Roman edition of 1821 with Stefano Raffei’s addenda, as well as the preparatory manuscripts, twenty matrices, fourteen proof prints, portraits of Winckelmann, paintings and archaeological relics, together with a documentary section.

Though his premature death prevented Winckelmann from completing his work, its principal continuers, from Seroux d’Agincourt to Leopoldo Cicognara, Luigi Rossini and Giovanni Volpato, considered the “Monumenti antichi” a true model for the divulgation of art history.

Imago Urbis. La memoria del luogo attraverso la cartografia dal Rinascimento al Romanticismo / The memory of place in cartography from the Renaissance to Romanticism

edited by Cesare de Seta, Nicoletta Ossanna Cavadini (with essays by the editors and Roberto Borri, Giovanna Mori, Raffaele Ruggiero, Daniela Stroffolino, with a documentary appendix; fully illustrated and with a selection of texts from treatises of the 16th and 17th century)

Silvana Editoriale, Cinisello Balsamo, 2016

bilingual Italian-English

24 x 24 cm, pp. 256

ISBN 9788836633128

CHF 36.- / Euro 36

The exhibition presents a broad selection of geographic maps – preparatory drawings, watercolours, woodcuts, wood engravings and etchings, and lithographs – as well as plans and views of cities that became common in the fifteenth century through the invention of the press. However, it was the techniques of lithography and photolithography during the nineteenth century that allowed a wider range of solutions, leading to the enthralling and unexpected virtuosity of the bird’s eye view drawing. This journey to favoured destinations – Rome, Florence, Naples, Milan, Paris, Vienna, Geneva, Zurich, Basel, Berlin, London and St. Petersburg – is enriched with plans and perspective views that depict in greater detail the transformations, changes and new developments in major European cities.

Salvator Rosa 1615-1673 incisore / Engraver. Trasformazioni tra alchimia, arte e poesia / Transformations between alchemy, art and poetry

edited by Werner Oechslin, Nicoletta Ossanna Cavadini (with essays by the editors and Claudio Bonvecchio and a documentary appendix; fully illustrated)

Silvana Editoriale, Cinisello Balsamo, 2015

bilingual Italian-English

24 x 24 cm, pp. 196

CHF 32.- / Euro 32

Known primarily as painter, poet and philosopher, to mark the four hundredth anniversary of his birth, Salvator Rosa as engraver (1615-73) is presented through his preparatory drawings, refined copper matrices and the prints made from them.

The catalogue also examines the critical reception of Salvator Rosa in northern Europe (Germany and England) through the dissemination of his hieratic prints with their unusual iconography and his famous satires published posthumously.

Complex, chaotic and extremely gifted, the great Baroque master expressed his enduring curiosity and spirit of wonder in stoical, mythological and philosophical paintings that touch on esoteric, alchemical and magical themes as well as the musical and poetic.

Luigi Rossini 1790-1857. Incisore / Engraver. Il viaggio segreto / The Secret Journey

edited by Maria Antonella Fusco, Nicoletta Ossanna Cavadini (with essays by Raffaella Castagnola, Maria Antonella Fusco, Giovanna Scaloni, Rita Bernini, Giulia De Marchi, Antonella Imolesi Pozzi, Nicoletta Ossanna Cavadini, with a preface by Carlo Bertelli and a list of works edited by Sabrina Cerea)

Silvana Editoriale, Cinisello Balsamo, 2014

bilingual Italian-English

24 x 24 cm, pp. 240

ISBN 9788836628278

CHF 38.- / Euro 32

Luigi Rossini (1790-1857), a master of the art of engraving, is recognised by critics as the last great illustrator of the wonders of Rome after Giuseppe Vasi and Giovanni Battista Piranesi and before the advent of photography.

The cousin of the composer Gioachino Rossini, a friend and colleague of the sculptor Adamo Tadolini, Rossini worked for his whole life with Bartolomeo Pinelli, enjoying the esteem and protection of Antonio Canova and Vincenzo Camuccini.

The catalogue contains a broad selection of his output – watercoloured drawings preparatory to the engravings, copper matrices, sketches and prints – revealing his passion for art and archaeology.

Capolavori a Chiasso. I maestri dell’arte grafica dal XVI al XX secolo / Masterpieces in Chiasso. Masters of graphic art from the 16th to the 20th centuries

edited by Ginevra Mariani, Antonella Renzitti, Nicoletta Ossanna Cavadini (with an introduction by Maria Antonella Fusco, Istituto Nazionale per la Grafica,Rome)

Silvana Editoriale, Cinisello Balsamo, 2013

bilingual Italian-English

24 x 24 cm, pp. 144

ISBN 9788836626052

CHF 34.- / Euro 28

The volume presents a significant selection of matrices, many accompanied by the prints made from them, kept in the Istituto Nazionale per la Grafica in Rome. They document Italian engravings from the 16th   century to today’s works by famous artists, including Marcantonio Raimondi, Federico Barocci, Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione, Salvator Rosa, Giuseppe Vasi, Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Giovanni Volpato, Carlo Carrà, Giorgio Morandi, Giuseppe Capogrossi and Carla Accardi.

Tiepolo nero. Opera grafica e matrici incise

edited by Lionello Puppi, Nicoletta Ossanna Cavadini (with essays by Werner Oechslin, Lionello Puppi, Gino Benzoni, Enrico Lucchese, Nicoletta Ossanna Cavadini, Giuliana Ericani, Lorenza Resciniti, Camillo Tonini, Rita Bernini, Giuseppe Trassari Filippetto, Massimo Favilla, Ruggero Rugolo )

Mazzotta, Milan, 2012

Italian

24 x 22 cm, pp. 208

ISBN 9788820219833

CHF 36.- / Euro 30

The volume investigates the watercoloured engravings by the famous Venetian painter Tiepolo, including “Tiepolo Nero”, a rich collection of images whose conception and aesthetic-executive quality are a landmark in the history of modern graphic art.

The publication contains contributions from leading experts on the subject and provides full documentation of the materials exhibited during the exhibition at the m.a.x. museo in Chiasso.

Giovanni Battista Piranesi. Opera grafica

edited by Luigi Ficacci, Nicoletta Ossanna Cavadini (with essays by Luigi Ficacci, Augusta Monferini, Ginevra Mariani and Nicoletta Ossanna Cavadini)

Mazzotta, Milan, 2011

Italian

24 x 22 cm, pp. 132

ISBN 9788820219673

CHF 38.- / Euro 28

The volume devoted to Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720-1778) belongs to the strand of historical graphic design. With his graphic work Piranesi sanctioned the epochal transition the between Ancient Regime and the spirit of modernity, making him the bearer of that cultural renewal introduced by the rising world of Enlightenment ideas. The illustrations represent a section of Piranesi’s immense output, some sixty engravings, and five important matrices that clearly represent his radical innovations directed at the values ​​of utopia and modernity. Piranesi’s visionary power, expressed in the etchings and clearly demonstrated by the essays in the catalogue, exerts a strong fascination and emotional appeal over the younger generations, as well as the most sensitive art-lovers.