Lorenzo Mattotti, Golden Romics of the 36th edition
From Fires to The Famous Invasion of the Bears in Sicily: the master of comics and illustration awarded the Romics d'Oro
Lorenzo Mattotti, author of seminal works such as Fires and Mr. Spartacus, illustrator for The New Yorker and director of the animated film The Famous Invasion of the Bears in Sicily, will be celebrated with the awarding of the Romics d'Oro during the 36th edition of Romics, scheduled for April 9-12, 2026 at Fiera Roma.
Born in Brescia in 1954, Lorenzo Mattotti is recognized as one of the most authoritative and influential figures on the international art scene, an author capable of transcending and reinventing the languages of comics, illustration, visual art, and cinema, creating a poetic and unmistakable imagery that has profoundly influenced contemporary visual culture. The award of the Romics d'Oro will celebrate Mattotti's extraordinary artistic journey, the constant tension of research, and the rare sensitivity with which he manages to make every image of life and imagination vibrate.
After making his debut in the late 1970s with black and white strips inspired by the expressionism of José Muñoz and Carlos Sampayo, and studying Architecture in Venice, he moved to Bologna, where in 1983 he founded the Valvoline collective together with Daniele Brolli, Giorgio Carpinteri, Igort, Marcello Jori and Jerry Kramsky. The group promotes an interdisciplinary and pop vision of comics, bringing them into dialogue with art, music, fashion, and advertising, and directs the magazine supplement Alter Alter. It was in Alter that Alter Mattotti published Il signor Spartaco (1982), his first colour work, and Fuochi (1984), an emblematic work that revolutionised the language of comics thanks to a sensual and evocative use of colour and an extraordinary expressiveness of the sign, definitively affirming his style.
Throughout his career he has published numerous volumes for adults and children, translated into many languages, and has collaborated with some of the most prestigious international newspapers, including The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Cosmopolitan, Le Monde, Nouvel Observateur, Das Magazin, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Corriere della Sera, Internazionale and la Repubblica.
He has also designed covers and editorial projects for major publishing houses such as Einaudi, Garzanti, Guanda, Mondadori, Penguin, Rizzoli, Sellerio and Seuil, also contributing to illustrated reinterpretations of great literary classics, from Pinocchio to Gulliver's Travels, up to the reinterpretation of Paul Auster's Ghosts for The New York Trilogy.
Alongside his publishing activity, Mattotti has created posters and visual projects for leading cultural events and institutions, including the Cannes Film Festival, the Venice Film Festival, theater seasons, and comics festivals. In 2025, on the occasion of the Paralympic Games in Paris, the Se dépasser (Unlimited) series was exhibited in the main French railway stations.
His artistic career also includes animated cinema: from the illustrations for Il était une fois… and Eros, up to the film The Famous Invasion of the Bears in Sicily (2019), based on the story by Dino Buzzati, presented at the Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section and nominated for a César Award for Best Animated Film.
During the 36th edition of Romics, Lorenzo Mattotti will be the protagonist of a special meeting that will retrace the fundamental stages of his artistic career and of an exhibition, a visual tribute to his imagination. A unique opportunity to discover the strength of his plates, the masterful use of light and sign, and the ability to evoke the inner landscapes of the human soul with intensity. Works that have influenced generations of readers and authors, in an ongoing dialogue between visual arts, narrative, and collective imagination.