Chronology of Venice Biennale

　　1933

　　The Biennale organised exhibitions of Italian art abroad.

　　1934

　　The Festival Internazionale del Teatro di Prosa (International Theatre Festival) was held for the first time (after 1936 it became an annual event).

　　1937

　　On 10th August, the Palazzo del Cinema was opened at the Lido di Venezia (it would be enlarged in 1952). The Palazzo del Casinò was built the following year.

　　1939-1945

　　Following the outbreak of hostilities during the Second World War, the activities of the Biennale were interrupted in September 1942. The last edition of the Art Exhibition took place in 1942 to resume only in 1948. In September 1943, Cinecittà installed itself in the Giardini di Castello, using the pavilions as studios (Cinevillaggio), and remained there until April 1945. The Film Festival was suspended between 1943 and 1945, and restarted in 1946 (Jean Renoir's The Southerner was voted best film by a jury of journalists). Music and Theatre were resumed in 1947.

　　1948

The International Art Exhibition reappeared - the first following the war and the fall of fascism - with a major exhibition of a recapitulatory nature. The Secretary general, art historian Rodolfo Pallucchini, started with the Impressionists (proposed by Roberto Longhi) and many protagonists of contemporary art (Chagall, Klee, Braque, Delvaux, Ensor, Magritte). A retrospective of Picasso's work was presented by Guttuso. Pallucchini invited Peggy Guggenheim to exhibit her famous New York collection, which subsequently found a home at Ca' Venier dei Leoni and became one of the cultural treasures of modern Venice. Film festival: Gran Premio Internazionale to Laurence Olivier's Hamlet.

　　1948-54

Under Pallucchini, the Art Exhibitions became an observatory on contemporary art and avant-garde work. Awards were given to Braque (1948), Matisse (1950), Dufy (1952), Ernst and Arp (1954). In 1950, the US pavilion presented works by Pollock, Gorky and, for the first time, De Kooning (in 1954 he returned with 27 paintings). Alexander Calder, in 1952, was the first major American artist to win the Gran Premio di Scultura.

　　1949

　　The Arena at the Lido was enlarged and given its definitive arrangement. The Leone di San Marco, later renamed the Leone d'oro (Golden Lion) was created for the first time and awarded to Manon by Henri-George Clouzot.