ABSTRACT

The literature generally hails Antonio Fradeletto (1858-1930), first general secretary of the Biennale between 1895 and 1914, as instrumental in organising the venture and in setting forth its artistic and commercial direction in conjunction with the City Mayor, president of the Biennale. During these early ‘heroic’ years of the Biennale, the general secretary concentrated a lot of power in his hands, from curating some of the sections, to managing the venue, to facilitating the sales. In addition, Fradeletto was an elected MP representing Venice at the Parliament in Rome, who also found the time to pursue some intellectual and literary activities. Antonio Fradeletto is therefore taken as an ‘ego-centric’ case study to explore the extent and limits of agency at the Venice Biennale. Indeed, by focussing specifically on Fradeletto’s acknowledged Anglophilia and on his support of the British section, this article seeks to highlight the negotiations and compromises going on behind the scene, and the way Fradeletto pushed his own preferences to implement his vision of the Biennale. More broadly, this perspective allows to investigate how far political and cultural biases may affect the development of a cultural institution such as the Biennale.

摘要

文献普遍赞扬 1895 年至 1914 年间双年展的第一任秘书长安东尼奥·弗拉德莱托（Antonio Fradeletto，1858-1930 年）在组织这次冒险活动以及与双年展主席、市长一起确定其艺术和商业方向方面发挥了重要作用。在双年展的早期“英雄”年代，总书记将很多权力集中在他的手中，从策划一些部分，到管理场地，再到促进销售。In addition, Fradeletto was an elected MP representing Venice at the Parliament in Rome, who also found the time to pursue some intellectual and literary activities. 因此，安东尼奥·弗拉德莱托 (Antonio Fradeletto) 被视为一个“以自我为中心”的案例研究，以探索威尼斯双年展代理的范围和局限性。的确，通过特别关注弗拉德莱托公认的亲英主义和他对英国部分的支持，本文试图强调幕后进行的谈判和妥协，以及弗拉德莱托推动自己的偏好以实现他对双年展的愿景的方式。更广泛地说，这种观点允许调查政治和文化偏见在多大程度上影响双年展等文化机构的发展。