Lorenzo Alessandri — Illustration for Guida al Mondo dei Sogni by Peter Kolosimo, Edizioni Mediterranee, 1968

15.5 × 23 cm. Offset-printed illustration on paper. Good vintage condition with light signs of age and handling consistent with its period.

An original 1968 illustration produced by Italian surrealist Lorenzo Alessandri for Peter Kolosimo’s Guida al Mondo dei Sogni (Guide to the Book of Dreams), published by Edizioni Mediterranee, Rome, 1968, at Lire 2500. The sheet carries the printed text: Questo è uno dei trentadue disegni “Pascal” di Alessandri che illustrano il libro Guida al Mondo dei Sogni di Peter Kolosimo — identifying it as one of thirty-two “Pascal” drawings by Alessandri made for the publication.

The composition depicts a robed ecclesiastical figure in an ornate mitre leaning toward a seated nude female figure surrounded by ritual objects — small vessels, a bell, and scattered implements — arranged on the ground between them. The image combines psychological symbolism with fantastic imagery, reflecting the fascination with dreams, esotericism, and speculative imagination that characterised a distinctive strand of Italian visual culture during the late 1960s.

Alessandri was one of Italy’s most distinctive visionary painters and founder of the Surfanta movement, developing an immediately recognisable symbolic language populated by enigmatic figures, hybrid beings, and dreamlike psychological landscapes. Although his paintings have become increasingly appreciated, his printed illustrations remain considerably less common and document another important aspect of his practice.

Rather than functioning solely as book illustration, the sheet stands as an autonomous example of Alessandri’s graphic language, preserving the intersection of fine art, publishing, and counter-cultural thought at a moment when artists, writers, and publishers increasingly blurred the boundaries between literature, mysticism, and visual experimentation.

Today, objects connected to Kolosimo’s publications occupy an intriguing position between artist’s ephemera, illustration, counter-cultural publishing, and occult history. They appeal not only to collectors of Surrealism and fantastic illustration, but also to those interested in the broader visual culture surrounding speculative thought during the late 1960s.

Shipping and handling included in the listed price.