Gianfranco Schialvino's 'Storia della xilografia in Italia nel secolo XX' fills a critical gap

Gianfranco Schialvino, a recognized xylographer and co-founder of the hand-printed literary magazine Smens, has published 'Storia della xilografia in Italia nel secolo XX' (Pendragon, Bologna 2020). The 512-page volume offers nearly 500 biographical entries and illustrations, covering the 20th-century Italian woodcut tradition. It addresses a historiographical void left since Luigi Servolini's 1955 dictionary. The book includes detailed profiles of overlooked artists like Mario Giansone, who rejected Peggy Guggenheim's request for free works. Schialvino organizes the material by macro-regions, a choice criticized for misplacing internationally oriented artists such as Enrico Prampolini (born in Modena but active in Rome) and Giacomo Balla (born in Turin). The review also notes graphic design issues and occasional filler contributions. Despite these flaws, the work is hailed as a monumental reference for future scholarship on xylography.