L’editoria d’arte tra Banche e Musei

Abstract

It is hard to imagine an art history without the smell of paper and ink typical of an art book. An art book is a beautiful volume finely bound, with an impact cover, full of images and photographs of the highest quality and with texts of prestigious names. This is not the right occasion to analyze its fascinating history, but in a cross-cultural perspective it is impossible not to consider the incursion that the art publishing sector has encountered since the second half of the twentieth century: the publisher understands the extraordinary importance of an art exhibition by handling the catalog, the image and managing the bookshop; collaborates with the banks creating new collections and the banker himself become an editor. So the art book market is no longer just a cultural issue. It is now an economic matter and it must be legally protected and guaranteed. The essay intends to investigate the birth and evolution of these transversal relationships that link the publishing market of art with the world of finance and museums: from the earliest, insightful entrepreneurial intuitions of Giorgio Fantoni, fortunately driven by Electa to Skira and well in advance of the following Ronchey Law (1993); up to the humanist commitment of Raffaele Mattioli during his years at the Banca Commerciale Italiana, years before the Amato Law (1990). A particular focus will be dedicated to banking publishing, a phenomenon unique in the world because it is exquisitely Italian.