Fantastico! Italian art of the 1920 – 1930s

Exhibition"Fantastico!" at the art Museum of Ateneum Museum explores the artistic movement known as "magical realism" that emerged in Italy at the end of the First world war. The works are characterized by a quiet and mysterious atmosphere, and a conflict between reality and dream world. Images of everyday life reveal the secret side of things. The exhibition presents masterpieces by such artists as Giorgio de Chirico, Carlo carrà, Felice Casorati, Antonio Dongs and Cagnaccio di San Pietro.

The art of magic realists at the same time realistic and far from reality. Works show us the world as it is, but at the same time with the imposition of new, fabulous layers. Many of the works like still frames from movies. We can imagine what happened a moment ago, and what will happen next. Magical realism is part of a broader interwar wave of realistic and classic of modernism in Europe and beyond.

The exhibition coincides with the release of the book in Finnish, Swedish and English under the name "Fantastico! Italian art of the 1920-ies and 1930-ies". It introduces the reader to the world of magical realism and explores the movement as one of the realistic phenomena in European visual arts in the interwar period. The book presents all the Italian artists represented in the exhibition.