Lorenza Trucchi, critic who transformed Rome's Quadriennale, dies

Lorenza Trucchi, the Italian art critic who revolutionized the Quadriennale in Rome as its first female president from 1995 to 2001, has died. Trucchi wrote the first review of Alberto Burri in the late 1940s, authored the first Italian monograph on Francis Bacon, and was a friend of Jean Dubuffet. She was a militant critic for newspapers like Il Messaggero, Il Giornale, and La Voce, and was close to Maria Teresa Benedetti and Marisa Volpi Orlandini. As president of the Quadriennale, she turned the board into a curatorial committee, inviting curators to select emerging Italian artists. This led to the 12th edition, 'Ultime Generazioni,' featuring 174 artists across the Palazzo delle Esposizioni and the newly opened Ala Mazzoniana of Termini Station. Architect Massimiliano Fuksas designed a pioneering installation with a large video wall on the Palazzo delle Esposizioni facade. The edition restored artist prizes with an international jury including Giovanni Carandente, Norman Rosenthal, and Dan Cameron. Artists included Maurizio Cattelan, Vanessa Beecroft, Grazia Toderi, and others. Trucchi, who lived on Via Flaminia near Porta del Popolo, dictated her articles to a typist at a copy shop below her apartment. She was also a regular at the Strega Prize and friends with Cesare Garboli, Giancarlo Menotti, Maurizio Calvesi, and Giovanni Carandente. The obituary was written by Ludovico Pratesi.