The Dutch Connection. Roots of the Italian interest towards Dutch culture

In the late 19th century a bond was established between the artistic, architectural, and urban Italian scenario and the Dutch one which is evidenced by a large number of letters, articles, publications, and expositions. On the one hand, this tie was strengthened by the new role played by magazines in the international cultural exchange, on the other, by the presence of some—mainly Italian—key role figures which took their interest in different aspects of the Dutch cultural fabric: from artistic sympathy to the admiration for accomplished planning systems, modern architectural languages and innovative technological solutions, from theoretical and historiographic questions to the most practical issues. The study aims to investigate the critical fortune that Dutch culture found in Italy throughout the past century, questioning its media and motivations, and posing issues of thematic and chronological continuity. In particular the chapter deepens the study over the first decades of the fortuitous season of Italian interest towards the artistic and architectural scene in The Netherlands : opening with the echo of Dutch avant-garde in Italy arrived via new artistic magazines, it goes through the original contribution of Gaetano Minnucci, who, with a pragmatic approach, first explored Dutch architecture, ranging from typological studies on social housing, to town planning or formal and technological issues. Lastly, the chapter introduces a rich theoretical debate developed in the 30s by some relevant Italian critics and opens a reflection on the season of renewed historiographic interest that followed the Second World War. The research examines how the Dutch experience, sedimented and indispensable in the affirmed narrative of Modernity, came to be confronted with the contemporary Italian context by outlining the results of the reciprocal process of cultural transfer.