FMR is a luxury art magazine that was initially created by Franco Maria Ricci, an Italian publisher and polymath. It was published from 1982 to 2009, and is planned for restart in 2022.

Jacqueline Kennedy Jacqueline Lee Kennedy Onassis ( ; July 28, 1929 – May 19, 1994) was an American socialite, writer, photographer, and book editor who served as first lady of the United States from 1961 to 1963, as the wife of President John F. Kennedy. A po ...

called it "the most beautiful magazine in the world". ''FMR'' ostensibly stands for the initials of the publisher's name. When pronounced aloud, it also sounds like , a French word with rich connotations that may translate as "fleeting" or "transitory".

History

''FMR'' first appeared in 1982 in Italian, and in 1984 in English. In December 2002, after twenty years from the release of the first issue, Ricci sold the magazine to Marilena Ferrari's company Art'é to focus on his old ambition to build the largest maze in the world, "

Labarinto della Masone Labirinto Della Masone (The Mason Labyrinth) built by Franco Maria Ricci (1937-2020) after an idea originating from and made to his friend the Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges was at one time the largest maze in the world. Following Ricci's deat ...

", in

Fontanellato Fontanellato (Parmigiano: ) is a small town in the province of Parma, in northern Italy. It lies on the plains of the River Po near the A1 autostrada, about west of Parma towards Piacenza. The town was built up in the 15th century around the m ...

. In 2003 art critic and curator Flaminio Gualdoni replaced Ricci as editor of the magazine. In 2007 ''FMR'' was augmented by ''FMR White'', a sister publication devoted to contemporary art. Over the years the two publications featured many notable contributors, including Alberto Arbasino, Peter Bloch,

Jorge Luis Borges Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo (; ; 24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator, as well as a key figure in Spanish-language and international literature. His best-known b ...

Italo Calvino Italo Calvino (, also , ;. RAI (circa 1970), retrieved 25 October 2012. 15 October 1923 – 19 September 1985) was an Italian writer and journalist. His best known works include the '' Our Ancestors'' trilogy (1952–1959), the ''Cosmicomi ...

Umberto Eco Umberto Eco (5 January 1932 – 19 February 2016) was an Italian medievalist, philosopher, semiotician, novelist, cultural critic, and political and social commentator. In English, he is best known for his popular 1980 novel '' The Name of th ...

, Giovanni Mariotti,

Octavio Paz Octavio Paz Lozano (March 31, 1914 – April 19, 1998) was a Mexican poet and diplomat. For his body of work, he was awarded the 1977 Jerusalem Prize, the 1981 Miguel de Cervantes Prize, the 1982 Neustadt International Prize for Literature, a ...

, Nicola Spinosa, and Giovanni Testori. Both ''FMR'' and ''FMR White'' ceased publication in 2009. In 2015, after completing the seven-hectares wide maze also featuring an art museum and a library, Ricci bought back the copyrights of ''FMR'' with the potential intent to resume publication. Following Ricci's passing away in September 2020, the project was taken up by his widow Laura Casalis. A "Numero Zero" was produced in late 2021, and the first full issue is expected in March 2022.

Reception

''FMR'' elicited many high-profile admirers, including director

Federico Fellini Federico Fellini (; 20 January 1920 – 31 October 1993) was an Italian film director and screenwriter known for his distinctive style, which blends fantasy and baroque images with earthiness. He is recognized as one of the greatest and most ...

who used to call it the "black pearl"

Notes

Bilingual magazines Lifestyle magazines Magazines established in 1982 Magazines disestablished in 2009 Visual arts magazines Defunct magazines published in Italy Magazines published in Milan Bi-monthly magazines published in Italy {{art-mag-stub