L’arte della fabbrica tra idealità e pragmatismo nell’opera grafica di Guido Balsamo Stella

Much attention is given to the theme of the factories in the graphic work of Guido Balsamo Stella. He is considered among the first artists in Italy to reinterpret the anonymous and evocative scene of the industrial landscape of the early 20th century, and has left a rich repertoire of drawings and engravings in this regard. The current study is based on extensive documentary and iconographic research at the Istituto Centrale per la Grafica (National Institute of Graphics). The objective is to more fully identify this “narrative” aspect within the catalogue of works of Balsamo Stella; to better recognize its character in relation to both the contemporary Italian art scene, oriented to the representation of more traditional subjects, and to Balsamo Stella’s framework of international relations, particularly with Bohemia and Sweden, where the artist maintained professional relationships with interests in industrial districts. The portraits of factories of Balsamo Stella, clearly inspired by reflection on the mythical origins of industrial architecture, opened his personal research to new collaborations. The artist consolidated these relations between 1929 and 1932, the period of his direction of the Superior Institute for Industrial Arts in Monza, an innovative centre in the promotion of graphic arts and the rising field of industrial design.