The Thirties were marked by profound changes, but also by important continuity with the previous decade, with regard to the cultural and artistic practices. The new phase opened expressing the effort of the Italian State to support the visual arts through the organization of exibitions of high level, financial contributions, awards and purchases, especially the creation of institutions involved to the conservation of materials left by artists. To promote this policy, at odds with the old liberal government, was the enactment of a series of laws aimed at regulating the exhibitions' system: at the same time, the culture was on the first place of the intervention of the Fascist State, with obvious propaganda purposes. Neverthless, a spontaneous creative dynamism was firmed, despite the criticism of a gradual emergence of more radical and modern experiences within the exhibitions organized into the trade-union of the regime. The loss of union consent was accentuated when the new Minister of National Education, Giuseppe Bottai, started an intense action in favor of the development of contempoirary art, providing substantial support to young artists who have distinguished themselves in the unions' exhibitions. More concretely Bottai policy was in the visual arts for the benefit reserved to the Bergamo Prize, focused on painting free subjects, in contrast to Cremona Prize, which favored the subjects of Fascist propaganda, such as "agrarianism", and the issues of epic lanuage of Fascism that the regime was trying to support. The four editions of the Prize Bergamo would eventually open the door to the discussions which, faced with the need to represent the womb of the tragedy of war, proposed manifestation of highly expressive, with references to Cubism, Fauvism and the chromatic Van Gogh's dissonance. Bottai, who had started with the most advanced propositions of young artists, ha d also inspired the magazine "The Arts", with the intervention of offering the maximum opening to the issues of contemporary recruiting young artits, considered the new masters of Italian art. Bottai, therefore, is still a big step in the evolution of policy of the arts in Our Country.
Casalino Pierluigi, 6th October, 2013