Bigazzi, Ugo and Luisa, cavalier Banana, Pimpa… On the eve of an exhibition that brings together half a century of his intuitions, the great satirical cartoonist confesses. Only on Today on newsstands

Francesco Tullio Altan, 80, at his home in Aquileia (Udine)

There are cartoons that I published 40 years ago and they still work. But it's not my merit, it's this country's fault», says the satirical illustrator Francesco Tullio Altan, 80 years of age and 50 years of career (on display in Verona from 21 to 25 February and then around Italy), in an interview published in the issue of the weekly Oggi on newsstands.

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ABOUT RIGHT AND LEFT – The “father” of the worker Cipputi and of the “Pimpa” acknowledges: «The world of Cipputi is at dusk. But how do I, for example, get inspired by a rider, one of those who deliver dinners by bike? It is a reality that I do not know. Here in Aquileia, where I live, they don't even exist». And speaking of left and right: «The left-wing opposition has always committed the same sin: it fails to unite. For heaven's sake, defending one's ideas without compromise can also be noble, but if this is to the detriment of every action... Right and left are now somewhat vague words, one can clarify one's ideas by observing who is above and who is below. There are references that have been fixed since the French Revolution: it shouldn't be so difficult to retrieve them».

WORD TO WOMEN – Finally, a curiosity, why do women say the most sensible things in your cartoons? 'Because that's how it is. Men invent a world and then they go to live there, they lose the sense of reality. Women, on the other hand, have a more lucid gaze: they are the ones who help us to be less scoundrels ».

The full interview is on Today at the newsstand

Source: oggi.it