We are pleased to share that Fabio Fantuzzi, a Marie Skłodowska Curie Fellow who delivered a guest lecture on the legacy of Norman Raeben during the fall semester at IIJS, has now released the first retrospective catalog of Raeben’s works. This publication, based on research conducted at Columbia and Ca’ Foscari University as part of the EU-funded POYESIS project, offers the most comprehensive study to date on Raeben’s art and influence. The catalog is available for free in an open-access format through Sillabe Editore: Norman Raeben (1901–1978): The Wandering Painting.
Accompanying the catalog, a retrospective exhibition of Raeben’s work is currently on view at the Jewish Museum in Venice. Initially set to close in January, the exhibition has been extended until March 9 due to strong interest. In addition, RAI 3 has produced a short documentary on the exhibition, which can be viewed here: Il pittore errante – Sorgente di vita.
Fabio Fantuzzi is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, working on the EU-funded MSC project POYESIS (Perspectives on Yiddish Cultural Evolution and Its Legacy: Visual Arts, Theatre, and Songwriting Between Assimilation and Identity. A Case Study). He holds a Ph.D. in Anglo-American Studies, and his primary research interests lie in the intersections of poetry, music, and visual arts within the American Jewish and Italian American literary and artistic traditions.
He has published articles and essays in several academic journals, edited the volume Tales of Unfulfilled Times (Ca’ Foscari University Press, 2017), co-edited Bob Dylan and the Arts: Songs, Film, Painting, and Sculpture in Dylan’s Universe (Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura, 2020), and curated the catalog Norman Raeben (1901–1978): The Wandering Painting (Sillabe, 2024). His current research examines the work and teachings of artist Norman Raeben and his influence on various leading artists as a means of exploring the evolution of Yiddish culture and art in 20th-century New York. As part of this research, he has curated the retrospective exhibition of Raeben’s works, "Norman Raeben (1901–1978): The Wandering Painting," which will be on display at the Jewish Museum in Venice until March 9, 2025.
In addition to his academic pursuits, Fantuzzi is a multi-instrumentalist and songwriter. With his band Le Ombre di Rosso, he has released the albums Momenti di lucidità (2016) and Da Sponda a Sponda (2021), which puts to music Luciano Cecchinel’s homonymous collection of poems (Arcipelago Itaca, 2020).
Dr. Fantuzzi’s IIJS fall lecture is available to watch–view it here.