This exhibition was organized by the Ente Quadriennale, a government institution set up in the ’30s. The 33 artists in the show were chosen by a committee of six art critics (Renato Barilli, Achille Bonito Oliva, Rossana Bossaglia, Maurizio Calvesi, Antonio Del Guercio, Cesare Vivaldi) and one artist, Ugo Attardi, who showed the poor taste of including himself among the exhibitors. The committee members had the task of singling out a series of living artists whose work could be seen as a reflection of developments in Italian art over the last 40 years; their catalogue essays acknowledge the