In 1937, the Italian art critic, theorist, writer, journalist, and artist Carlo Belli traveled to Paris, accompanied by his friends Peppino Ghiringhelli, Alberto Sartoris, and Fausto Melotti. During the day, they visited the pavilions of the World’s Fair, museums, and private galleries, called on the widow of Paul Guillaume and on Wassily Kandinsky, and spent their evenings attending performances and dining with artists and art dealers. Belli recorded every event from these dizzying days in his diary.

Carlo Belli (1903–1991) was an Italian art critic, theorist, writer, journalist, musicologist, and artist. He began publishing actively in the 1920s, writing on painting, architecture, and contemporary art; he collaborated with the Galleria del Milione in Milan and worked for various Roman publications following the Second World War. He is best known as the author of *Kn* (1935)—a text considered the primary theoretical manifesto of Italian abstract art. His works and personal archive are held at the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Trento and Rovereto (MART).