Plain Language summary: The Changing Face of Fascist Italy
This is what you see in this exhibition:
Poster House is showing posters from Italy. Italy is a country in Europe.
The posters tell the story of how a brutal man named Benito Mussolini came to power in the 1920s.
The exhibition is called The Future Was Then: The Changing Face of Fascist Italy.
The exhibition has more than 50 posters made from the 1920s through the 1940s.
The posters promote Mussolini’s vision of Italy: that it is a very strong country and should be admired by others around the world. Some posters are political and show a strong Italian army or powerful airplanes. Other posters have beautiful pictures of Italian food, clothes, or travel.
Mussolini became a dictator who created a fascist government. A dictator is a person who controls a population with great power and influence. A fascist government is ruled by a single leader with unchecked authority who may punish people who think differently.
In the 1920s, Italy was very poor. Many people could not find a job or pay for food. Mussolini promised to fix everything. That is how he became popular, but his power was built on propaganda. Propaganda is a tool used to spread ideas and control what people believe.
The posters in this exhibition show a happy and rich Italy: plenty of food, stylish clothes, fast cars, modern planes, and big ships. The posters are an example of propaganda. Life was still hard for most Italians under Mussolini if they were not rich or powerful. Mussolini spent large amounts of money on the army instead of helping his people.
But Mussolini’s posters tried to show that he was very well liked by the Italian people. The posters show people clapping and cheering for him. In reality, it was dangerous for people to speak out against Mussolini. He had spies who would report anyone who did not agree with the government.
In 1940, during World War II, Mussolini joined forces with Hitler in Germany and with Japan. Together, they became known as the Axis powers. The Allies—including the United States, Russia, and Great Britain—fought them and won. They freed Italy from Mussolini.
Today, Italy is a democracy.
The exhibition has important works, including:
- FIAT, Giuseppe Romano, 1927
- Esposizione Rhodia Albene, Marcello Dudovich, 1936
- Giornata dell’ala, Giovanni Minguzzi, 1933
- 13e Foire de Milan, Giacinto Mondaini 1932
- Camicia nera, Paolo Federico Garretto, 1932
Poster House is the first and only poster museum in the United States.
This is the first time these posters have been shown in the United States.