Dictionary
Fronte Nuovo delle Arti

The Italian Neo-Realism originated from the artists' group "Fronte Nuovo delle Arti" (New Front of Artists"), which had a major impact on the development of art in post-war Italy. The "Fronte Nuovo delle Arti", founded in Venice in 1946, evolved from Renato Birolli's "Nuova Secessione Artistica Italiana". In 1946, the manifesto was signed by Renato Birolli, Bruno Cassinari, Renato Guttuso, Leoncillo Leonardi, Ennio Morlotti, Armando Pizzinato, Giuseppe Santomaso, Emilio Vedova and Alberto Viani, somewhat later the group was joined by Antonio Corpora, Pericle Fazzini, Nino Franchina and Giulio Turcato.
On an exhibition at the Milan "Galleria della Spiga" a year later, the group presented itself under the name of "Fronte Nuovo delle Arti" for the first time. Another show at the Venice Biennale followed in 1948.
The members of the "Fronte Nuovo delle Arti" were united by a common goal, that was the fundamental (and antifascist) renewal of Italian art. However, the artists of the "Fronte Nuovo delle Arti" were not following the same path to reach this ambitious goal, so that the group soon broke up. The painters who followed Realism, e.g. the group around Renato Guttuso, turned to Realismo, whereas the artists with an abstract approach soon founded the "Gruppo degli Otto"in 1952