Mario Mafai's 22 Works Donated to Brera, Documentary in the Works

The Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan has expanded its collection with 22 works by Mario Mafai (Rome, 1902–1965), donated in 2018 by engineer Aldo Bassetti, former president of the Friends of Brera, recently succeeded by Carlo Orsi. The works occupy an entire wall in room 18. Mafai's 'Fantasies' are expressionist paintings from 1939–1944 denouncing Nazi-fascist horrors, depicting massacres and violence against Jews and regime opponents. Bassetti, deeply connected to the collection, recalls at age 14 identifying his aunt Lotte Froehlich Mazzucchelli, a victim of the 1943 Hotel Meina massacre on Lake Maggiore, where 16 Jews were killed and dumped in the lake. He states, 'Mafai becomes a symbol of my life... my gift has a strictly political meaning... an anti-fascist thought.' Mafai himself faced racial discrimination; he moved to Genoa in 1939 with his Jewish wife Antonietta Raphael after the 1938 racial laws. The donation affirms Brera's anti-fascist cultural role. A documentary curated by Alessandra Quarto and Marco Carminati will be available from March 29 on Brera Plus+, a subscription service replacing entry tickets. The works will later move to Palazzo Citterio (future Brera Modern). Director James Bradburne noted, 'This is an opportunity to celebrate donors' generosity.'