Ancient, Modern & Contemporary Art

Giuseppe Marino curated the graphic fine art portfolio for the XXIX Olympic Games in Beijing. He selected 27 internationally renowned artists, and each created a work of art as part of a portfolio ordered by the Olympic Organising Committee, which gave the
initiative its patronage and provided its own official stamp. 

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Produced in 260 numbered pieces, this portfolio is the only official artistic product of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Today, it is exhibited in the Forbidden City, the former Imperial Palace (now a UNESCO World Heritage Centre) and is recognizable by the official stamp of the Olympic Organising Committee. 

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In many of the 27 works, the athletes’ bodies are filtered through the artists’ aesthetic perception. They are admired and recreated as though they were living sculptures, from Trevor Gould’s swimmer to the athlete whose plastic pose is captured by Gianmarco Montesano in Tiro con l’arco (Archery) at the precise moment when she shoots off her arrow. ​​​​​​