Home >> Art in Need >> What can I help restore now? >> Interior with Figures by Vittoria Morelli >> A professional artist…small-scale
Chiara Mignani in the restoration studio with Morelli's painting
A professional artist…small-scale
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Where was Morelli most successful? Though her works as a painter were widely appreciated, Morelli was primarily able to make a living as a children's books illustrator. Art historian Lucia Mannini explains trends in Florence during Morelli's time. "Immediately following World War I, we certainly witness an upsurge in female illustrators, perhaps because the book publishing and printing industry carried significant weight in Florence, or probably because illustration was a field whose exponents were conveniently isolated and somewhat in the shadows; indeed, this creative exercise was most often practiced within the confines of one’s own home. Children’s literature was a singular creative field. It provided female illustrators the chance to portray the domestic sphere, interwoven with educational children’s stories. This helped lessen the sting of isolation, whilst enabling them to escape from the home’s confining walls on the wings of their imagination […]."
Texts from Mannini's: "'This doesn’t look like it was done by a woman'. Women artists in Florence in the interwar period"
Texts from Mannini's: "'This doesn’t look like it was done by a woman'. Women artists in Florence in the interwar period"