In 2016, the City of Florence will mark the 50th anniversary of the devastating Flood of the Arno River, which destroyed, or damaged, 14,000 pieces of art.
A new book, and PBS documentary based on the book, called When the World Answered: Florence, Women Artists and the 1966 Flood, by Jane Fortune and Linda Falcone, tells the story of how women artists from around the world responded to the crisis by donating paintings and sculpture to the city, securing its place not only as home to Renaissance art, but also for its growing reputation for contemporary art.
Several of these works were restored by Advancing Women Artists Foundation (AWA) and are on display at the recently opened Museum of the 1900s in Florence.
“As countless numbers of ordinary citizens called mud angels did all they could to save Florence’s art in the hours, weeks and months after the Flood, other angels from around the world also did what they could to help. They couldn’t save what was lost, but these women artists could, and did, offer their own works of art to the City, many which have been in storage, unseen, for 49 years, and I believe they should be remembered,“ says Jane Fortune, author and founder of AWA based in Indianapolis, Indiana and Florence, Italy.
The documentary had its world premiere in Florence, Italy at the Odeon Theatre on October 20 to a sold out performance and PBS will broadcast it across the United States beginning November 12.
Her previous book, “Invisible Women: Forgotten Artists of Florence”, showcases the Foundation’s mission, which is the discovery, restoration and efforts to exhibit the works to the public. Thousands of pieces of art by these “Invisible Women” are still languishing in vaults in Florence. PBS also did a documentary based on this book, which won an EMMY in 2013.