Flavio Costantini (21 September 1926 - 20 May 2013) was an Italian artist and anarchist. Costantini has illustrated for newspapers, and has illustrated several novels. His works were inspired by the novelist Franz Kafka, and by his literary, utopian and anarchist ideals.
Biography
Early Life
In September 1926 he was born in Rome to middle-class parents, and his father was an amateur painter. As a child, he was crafty, and kept a diary accompanied with newspaper cut-outs, collages, photos and drawings. At a renowned Roman high school, he failed French and Latin.
World War II
Constantini's experiences during World War II led his focus to the suffering and meaninglessness of the world; it was at this time, too, that he became interested in utopianism.[1]
Inspiration
He first experimented with illustration after his time spent in the Italian navy doing drawings of Kafka's work. "His earliest ventures into art were motivated more by intellectual frustration than by artistic masters. 'I started to draw because I read the Kafka books… it was impossible to write like Kafka, so I began to draw'. Other writers followed, but it was the human condition as portrayed by Kafka that was to remain the dominant influence in Costantini’s world."[2]But it wasn't until the 1960's when he read Victor Serge's Memoires of a Revolutionary that he began to champion anarchism through his works.
Novels Illustrated
- The Pony by Vladimir Mayakovsky (1969, reprint 2006)[3]
- Heart by Edmondo De Amicis (1977) [4]
- The Shadow Line by Joseph Conrad (1989)[5]
- Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1997) [6]
See also
References
- ^ Farina, Roberto. "Flavio Constantini. An Experienced Anarchist". Retrieved 23 May 2013.
- ^ [1] "Obituary: FLAVIO COSTANTINI (Rome, 21 September 1926—Rapallo, 20 May 2013)". Christie Books. 21 May 2013. Site accessed 1 June 2013.
- ^ Mayakovsky, Vladimir. The Horse of Fire. Emme Edizioni, 1969 Nugae Milan, Genoa, 2006.
- ^ De Amicis, Edmondo. Heart. Olivetti: Milan, 1977.
- ^ Conrad,Joseph. The Shadow Line. Nuages: Milan, 1989.
- ^ Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. Notes from Underground. Nuages: Milan, 1997.