Art: Tower Builder

The most discussed exhibition in Italy last week was of 94 landscapes and cityscapes signed "Francesco Torri." It was not the quality of the paintings that made talk, though they were pretty good. Unpretentious sketches of pleasant spots for a picnic or an apéritif, the canvases were simple in composition and glowing in color. They were the work of a man, one critic had averred, "who knows his trade."

Torri's trade is rayon textiles. He is head man of gigantic and world-famed Snia Viscosa (40,000 employees). He signs himself "Torri" (Towers), he explained, because he has built three towering structures: an office...

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