Radical Light: Italy’s Divisionist Painters, 1891-1910

Italian Divisionism was arguably the most significant art movement in Italy during the last decades of the 19th century. Often misinterpreted as a simple derivative of French Neo-Impressionism, Divisionism actually diverged from the French school in both aims and results. Italian Divisionists were motivated by a basic dissatisfaction with modern civilization and a desire both to endow art with a scientific approach and make it an instrument of social change. At the same time, their work was often deeply Symbolist in character.

This book features many first-generation Divisionists, including Vittore Grubicy de Dragon, Giovanni