La leggenda dell’artista attraverso le pagine dei rotocalchi: "Epoca" (1950-1958)

Authors

  • Viviana Triscari Università degli Studi di Catania

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.62336/unibg.eac.35.563

Keywords:

Epoca, iconography, artist, phototestuality, scopic regimes

Abstract

This paper aims to investigate a particular form of the text-image relationship at work within the landscape of post World War II periodical publishing: that is, the one aimed at the representation of visual artists (especially painters) through which a certain “iconography” of them evolves and spreads. The analysis will be conducted by perusing the issues of the magazine Epoca published between 1950 and 1958, among whose contributors art critic Raffaele Carrieri stands out. This iconography proves to be partly aimed at maintaining some of the topoi that since the Renaissance had contributed to make the artist a model of eccentricity, but it also expresses a need to “tame” his image in order to make it accessible to the new type of audience the magazine was addressing. Photography plays a leading role in this process of construction of the post-war collective imaginary, so this essay will attempt to investigate both its relationship with the written text that accompanies it and to relate it to the previous tradition on the subject, considering the impact caused by the encounter with the new scopic regime produced by mass culture.

Author Biography

Viviana Triscari, Università degli Studi di Catania

Viviana Triscari obtained a PhD in Interpretation Sciences at the University of Catania with a thesis entitled Oltre i confini dell’immagine. Arte, vita e scrittura nel ‘doppiotalento’ di Alberto Martini. She currently holds a research grant within the PNRR Living Cabiria project entitled Modelli letterari e fonti iconografiche in Cabiria di Giovanni Pastrone (1914). Her main interests concern the different possibilities of relationship between word and image (ekphrasis, illustration, iconotextuality) with particular attention towards the autobiographical writings of artists, self-portraiture practices and the forms of interaction between fiction, non-fiction and images in some contemporary literary authors. Her first monograph entitled Artista. Per una morfologia della'autorappresentazione (Duetredue) is currently being printed. She is part of the editorial board of Arabeschi. Rivista internazionale di studi su letteratura e visualità.

Published

21-07-2025

How to Cite

Triscari, V. (2025). La leggenda dell’artista attraverso le pagine dei rotocalchi: "Epoca" (1950-1958). Elephant & Castle, (35), 58–73. https://doi.org/10.62336/unibg.eac.35.563