Film director Federico Fellini's sketches

Fellini drew this atmospheric sketch with a fiber pen for the film "Amarcord" (1973). The semi-autobiographical movie was inspired by the director's childhood in the coastal town of Rimini in the 1930s. The drawing was made in 1972 and served as a basis to shoot some scenes in the film.

This picture was also created during the production of "Amarcord." It shows the protagonist Titta (second from left) with his friends. Fellini created the scene with felt-tipped pens, ink and pencil.

Fellini had a clear idea of how he wanted Armando Brancia to look as Titta's father in "Amarcord," including the bump on his balding head. The drawing originated during the production of the film and was made with felt-tip pens and a black fine liner.

Drawings served not only as models for Fellini, but also as memories. This 1982 work was created with ball point pens and felt-tipped markers. Here, Fellini immortalized the actor Ciccio Ingrassia in his role as Titta's mad uncle in "Amarcord."

Fellini drew this picture during the production of "La Dolce Vita" (1960). It was created in 1959 and shows Anita Ekberg, who plays the role of the seductive Sylvia in the movie. Fellini used just a couple of strokes to dress her in a priest's robe. Her chest, waist and hips are grotesquely exaggerated.

Made with a fiber pen, this picture emerged one or two years before the release of the autobiographical drama "8 1/2" (1963). It shows Carla (Sandra Milo), the lover of the protagonist (Marcello Mastroianni).

Made with watercolor, felt markers and ball-point pens, these heads were created in 1968-1969 during the production of the fantasy film "Satyricon," which is based on parts of the satirical novel of Titus Petronius Arbiter (60 CE). The heads appear in a scene from "Trimalchio's feast."

This sketch shows a female figure from Fellini's adaptation of the autobiography of 18th-century Venetian adventurer and writer Giacomo Casanova. The film from 1976 is divided into episodes based on a free restructuring of events and meetings from Casanova's memoirs.

Federico Fellini (right) on the set of "Amarcord," next to actor Armando Brancia. The exhibition, "Federico Fellini: From Drawing to Film," can be seen until February 20, 2022 at the Folkwang Museum in Essen. The event has been organized in cooperation with the Kunsthaus Zurich and is supported by the Istituto Italiano di Cultura Colonia in Cologne.