Advertisement for the annual Italian arts festival held in Spotelo in 1974. Founded by composer Gian Carlo Menotti in 1958 the Festival dei Due Mondi ("Festival of Two Worlds") remains one of the foremost cultural events in Italy. De Kooning exhibited a series of drawings at the twelfth annual festival in Spoleto in 1969. While there, he and his daughter grew close to Priscilla Morgan, festival official and Menotti’s right-hand woman. "The doyenne of international culture," Morgan was largely responsible for bringing some of the festival’s most prominent guests, and likely asked de Kooning to design the poster as a favor to her and Monetti several years later.

Artist: Willem de Kooning

Material: Paper linen-backed on canvas

Condition: Good, some damage along the sides

Please note all sizes are approximate.