For Guido Strazza's 100th birthday, a folder of engravings and an exhibition

On the occasion of the 100th birthday of Guido Strazza, Italian painter and engraver whose work spanned the entire 20th century and part of this century, who was born in Santa Fiora on December 21, 1922, theCentral Institute for Graphics in Rome is paying tribute to him by printing a folder of engravings taken from a selection of the master’s original plates in the Institute’s collections. The folder will be unveiled on Friday, December 16, 2022, at 6 p.m., in the presence of the artist.

This will be followed by the opening of the exhibition Strazza/Cento, curated by Luisa De Marinis, Ilaria Fiumi Sermattei and Giorgio Marini, and set up in the rooms of the Palazzo della Calcografia, in which the matrices and sheets produced for the portfolio will be on display, along with a selection of about60 etchings made by Strazza between 1974 and 2015, including sheets and artist’s books, some dating back to the period of his teaching at the Calcografia Nazionale. A rich variety of techniques, including etching, aquatint, black manner, drypoint burin, often mixed, connect with the themes of gesture and sign dear to him, such as Dutch Horizons, Quadrangular Plots, Signs of Rome, to illustrate the artist’s graphic production preserved in the Institute’s collections.

The print project is the brainchild of Director Maura Picciau with the dual aim of honoring the figure of Strazza and enhancing the substantial fund he donated to the Institute in 2003 and 2015, consisting of more than 1,300 works including prints and matrices: “It is an act of respect and admiration due to honor with shared gestures those who for long existences have given the community suggestions, gestures, thoughts. This was Guido Strazza in Italian art for seven decades: so many owe him so much. The Central Institute for Graphics owes him so much, and largely thanks him.” A precious box collects the folder: the six engravings by Strazza and the poem A la Mano, by Andalusian poet Rafael Alberti. The texts in the folder were composed by hand with original Narcissus movable typefaces.

Accompanying the images, in addition to the introduction by the Director, are critical texts by Carlo Bertelli, historical Director of the Graphic Design Institute in the 1970s, and Claudio Zambianchi, professor at Sapienza University of Rome. Alberti, Bertelli and Zambianchi: three important figures in Guido Strazza’s artistic universe, fellow travelers in the long journey, technical and poetic, he made in the world of engraving. The creation of the folder was curated by Luisa De Marinis and Giorgio Marini, art historians at the Institute, with printers Fabio Ascenzi and Matteo Maria Borsoi.

The exhibition will remain on view until Feb. 26, 2023 in the Exhibition Rooms of the Palazzo della Calcografia at Via della Stamperia 6 in Rome. Opening hours: Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Closed Mondays and Dec. 25, open Monday, Dec. 26, 2022, and Monday, Jan. 2, 2023. Free admission. For information: www.grafica.beniculturali.it

For Guido Strazza's 100th birthday, a folder of engravings and an exhibition

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