Leonor Fini and Milena Pavlović Barilli, italiennes de Paris at the Quadriennale d'arte in Rome (1931-1939): «accese creatrici d’intense e misteriose figure»

Abstract

At the first four Quadriennali d’arte in Rome, held during the Ventennio and orchestrated by Cipriano Efisio Oppo, there were several female participants with artistic profiles that are still unexplored. Among these artists, Leonor Fini and Milena Pavlović Barilli stand out, distinguished in the context for their international openness. Respectively for Fini at the first (1931) and second (1935) editions, for Pavlović Barilli at the second and third (1939), their presence at the Quadriennale is set at a moment of closeness with the group of Italians in Paris, where both of them resided in those years. The article proposes to outline specific aspects related to their participation in the Roman exhibition, tracing works exhibited and recovering part of the critical debate, intending to contribute to the renewed interest in the presence of the two artists in Italy.