The only real international art show in the world (since Pittsburgh's Carnegie International went domestic) is the Biennial, held in Venice's Public Gardens. Seventeen countries (including the U.S., which made a belated entry this week) sent their best paintings and sculptures. Just one pavilion, the Russian, stood empty, its iron doors bolted.
The Biennial has been a going concern since 1895, though Mussolini cramped its style by barring such "decadents" as Picasso. Last week there was a whole section devoted just to Picasso. Even Mussolini had not been able to bar Picasso's influence; whatever the newest school of Italian painters, who call...
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