The Venice Biennale
History of the Venice Biennale
From the post-war period to the reforms of 1973 (1948-1973)
1948
The International Art Exhibition reappeared - the first following the war and the fall of fascism - with a major exhibition of a recapitulatory nature. The Secretary general, art historian Rodolfo Pallucchini, started with the Impressionists (proposed by Roberto Longhi) and many protagonists of contemporary art (Chagall, Klee, Braque, Delvaux, Ensor, Magritte). A retrospective of Picasso's work was presented by Guttuso. Pallucchini invited Peggy Guggenheim to exhibit her famous New York collection, which subsequently found a home at Ca' Venier dei Leoni and became one of the cultural treasures of modern Venice. Film festival: Gran Premio Internazionale to Laurence Olivier's Hamlet.
1948-54
Under Pallucchini, the Art Exhibitions became an observatory on contemporary art and avant-garde work. Awards were given to Braque (1948), Matisse (1950), Dufy (1952), Ernst and Arp (1954). In 1950, the US pavilion presented works by Pollock, Gorky and, for the first time, De Kooning (in 1954 he returned with 27 paintings). Alexander Calder, in 1952, was the first major American artist to win the Gran Premio di Scultura.
1949
The Arena at the Lido was enlarged and given its definitive arrangement. The Leone di San Marco, later renamed the Leone d'oro (Golden Lion) was created for the first time and awarded to Manon by Henri-George Clouzot.
1951
The government nominated the new Board of directors, the first since the war. Mostra del Cinema: Golden Lion to Rashomon by Akira Kurosawa, which revealed Japanese cinema to the West for the first time. The Premio Volpi was renewed, and from the following year was once more called the Coppa Volpi. The first winners were Jean Gabin and Vivien Leigh. At the International Festival of Contemporary Music, Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress was given its world premiere.
