At the MANN in Naples, Corto Maltese and its author, Hugo Pratt, paid tribute in an exhibition

A major exhibition dedicated to the world comics master Hugo Pratt (1927 - 1995) is underway at the National Archaeological Museum in Naples from April 25 to September 9, 2019. Entitled Corto Maltese. An Extraordinary Journey, the exhibition is organized by COMICON in synergy with Patrizia Zanotti of CONG and is part of the OBVIA (Out OfBoundaries Viral Art Dissemination) project of theUniversity of Naples Federico II for MANN.

Sponsored by the City of Naples and produced in collaboration with Rizzoli Lizard, the exhibition brings together about 100 pieces. Patrizia Zanotti, Managing Director of CONG SA, an illustrator who began working with Hugo Pratt when he was 17 and who is in charge of relations with publishers and follows all exhibitions dedicated to the artist, writes in the catalog dedicated to the exhibition, “From Venice to Malta, from Hong Kong to Escondida, from Buenos Aires to Naples, Hugo Pratt loved seaside cities because they are naturally open to the arrival of other people, other ships, other cultures. There was a strange and interesting coincidence that linked Buenos Aires to Naples in Hugo Pratt’s life. Buenos Aires was a key city for Hugo Pratt’s encounters, creative imagery and artistic growth, but when he was in Naples in 1987 for one of his exhibitions organized by the autonomous Mostra d’Oltremare at the same time the Napoli soccer team was celebrating its first Scudetto with the Argentinean Maradona as captain. In the posters near the stadium and the place where Pratt’s originals were being exhibited, images of Maradona and Corto Maltese alternated, and although they were two completely different images, there was a connection between them: Argentina, the overseas country that had formed one of the greatest soccer players in history and one of the greatest difumetto authors. And those popular characters were meeting right in Naples, the Overseas.”

Claudio Curcio, COMICON General Manager, says: “After celebrating last year the important milestone of the (first) 20 years of COMICON, with the 2019 edition of our Festival we wanted to start a new adventure, strong in the accumulated experience and proud of the work done so far. This is why we are particularly proud to finally be able to work with one of the greatest and most celebrated Italian comics authors, an author, Hugo Pratt, whom we had not yet had the opportunity to present to the public of COMICON and Naples and whose work had been missing in our city since the 1990s. This is an important and challenging project, in which we are all strongly involved and for which we thank CONG, which kindly granted the rights, and the National Archaeological Museum of Naples, which enthusiastically agreed to host the exhibition dedicated to Corto Maltese and his creator. An Extraordinary Journey, the one that will accompany visitors through more than four months of exhibition and will officially open the 21st edition of our Festival on April 24. We couldn’t hope for a better start to this new adventure, toward another twenty years of COMICON.”

The exhibition will be paired with the catalog Corto Maltese. An Extraordinary Journey, published by COMICON Edizioni: the volume will gather insights from experts in comics and Pratt’s work, who will investigate Corto Maltese’s relationship with the sea, women and travel. The catalog will analyze Pratt’s ties not only with his inspirational masters(among them, Milton Caniff and Will Gould), but also with the world of cinema; focus, again, on the artist’s biography, recounting his adventures around the world.

The exhibition is open daily at MANN (9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.), excluding Tuesday. Ticket price: 15 euros (full); 7.50 euros (reduced); 2 euros (18-25 years old). Unlimited access and included in the OpenMann subscription. Free admission on days included in the 2019 #IoVadoAlMuseo ministerial campaign: Sunday, May 12, 19, 26; Sunday, August 11, 18 and 25.

For all information you can visit the official MANN website.

Source: press release

At the MANN in Naples, Corto Maltese and its author, Hugo Pratt, paid tribute in an exhibition

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