'Il Borghese' and the visual arts in the Longanesi years (1950-1957)

Abstract

Scholarly studies on the role of the multifaceted figure of Longanesi in the field of illustrated publishing have privileged the experiences of Il Selvaggio (approximately 1924-1933) and Omnibus (1937-1939). Less investigated is his time at the head of Il Borghese, a magazine that Longanesi founded in 1950 and directed until his death with a policy of privileging artist graphics, starting from the cover. The contribution investigates the editorial choices regarding visual arts and the role played by the artists, first of all his friend Alberto Savinio, in the figuration of the periodical. A specific analysis will be dedicated to the iconographic and formal solutions of the covers of the 1950-1955 years, in which both graphic works by protagonists of the international artistic scene between the end of the Nineteenth century and the first half of the Twentieth century were published (Munch, Toulouse-Lautrec, Chagall), and those of contemporary illustrators and designers (Steinberg), alongside color photography.