War & Art

de Renato Miracco, Marco Pizzo, Albert L. Jones

War and Art: USA in Italy' is the second instalment in a long term research project which started with 'War & Art: The Preservation of Italian Treasures'. This second volume underlines the importance of the entrance of the United States into the war from a number of different perspectives. This photographic exhibition includes images from the Museo del Risorgimento, the Museo della Battaglia Vittorio Veneto, the Museo Hemingway e della Grande Guerra, the archives of the Foggiani and U.S. 332nd Infantry Regiment WWI Centennial Committee, and is the result of a joint effort coordinated by the Embassy of Italy in Washington, D.C. The use of photographs to underscore the relationship between war and works of art was a domestic propaganda tool, and also provided detailed documentation of efforts made to try and stop these artworks from being damaged and even destroyed. Monuments were protected and wrapped with sacks of sand or seaweed, paintings were packed and sent to safer places, and mattresses placed in front of frescoes and sculptures. Italy preserved most of its artistic treasures and thus identity from ruthless annihilation. At the time, photographers and soldier-painters were extremely important in the figurative world: through their works - such as drawings, sketches and paintings, and in this case photos they captured the horrors of war and transformed them into evidence, as well into something unique: Art.