Belle lettere

Premio Belle Lettere award, edited by Carlo Buffa, 1998. Hardbound, 168 pages, 25 x 30 cm. 

Bilingual book, Italian and English, beautifully illustrated and laid out, published following the 1997 Belle Lettere Award. The award was announced as a consequence of two exhibitions conceived and organized by Carlo Buffa in Cittadella (Padua) starting in 1995.

This was the dawn of calligraphy in Italy (the Italian Calligraphic Association was founded in 1991) and these initiatives were very important in giving recognition to calligraphy as an art. This book collects the works selected by the jury. 

As usual, the contribution made by international calligraphers was very important, among the best known are Denis Brown, Brody Neuenschwander, Thomas Ingmire, Hermann Kilian, Nancy Ruth Leavitt, Susan Skarsgard, Rose Folsom, Keith Adams. The book does not lack the works of two interesting and innovative artists such as Monica Dengo and Helga Ladurner. At their side are some lesser-known Italian artists in the world of calligraphy who nevertheless created works focused on text or alphabetic forms.

Furthermore, the members of the jury, Thomas Ingmire, Manfredo Massironi and Tiziano Santi contributed essays that allow us to delve into the meanings across eras and cultures of creating works from written letters. A great variety of techniques emerges in the book, the reproductions are often full page, the paper is beautiful and being opaque it does not reflect the light (a non-secondary detail).