1883 - 1883 - XIX

GAM1550

Unità di misura: cm; Altezza: 151; Larghezza: 80

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Esposizione commemorativa di Antonio Mancini - Torino - 1940<br>Palazzo Bianco - 1938

The subject refers directly to the paintings of religious processions by the Abruzzo painter Francesco Paolo Michetti, a friend of Mancini, Vincenzo Gemito and Gaetano Esposito, with whom he shared artistic and life experiences. The work can be identified as the painting that Michetti presented at the Milan Fine Arts Exhibition in 1884, which can therefore be dated to around 1883. The central figure is still imbued with an evident naturalism, while in the background - conceived as a vibrant and colourful palette - the elements appear more blurred, in a manner typical of the artist's later work. Both in 1938, at the exhibition organised in Genoa by Orlando Grosso at Palazzo Bianco, and at the “Esposizione commemorativa di Antonio Mancini” (Commemorative Exhibition of Antonio Mancini), held in Turin in 1940, “Pastorello in ciocie” received positive and admiring reviews from critics. Vertical canvas depicting a young shepherd wearing traditional Ciociaria footwear, with a stick under his arm.

1880 - 1889 - XIX

GAM1553

Unità di misura: cm; Altezza: 48.5; Larghezza: 33.5

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In the refined and mischievous "Fanciulla abruzzese", datable to the 1880s because of the decadent tone that connotes it, Francesco Paolo Michetti carefully describes the little girl's face, her delicate complexion, the dishevelled locks of hair that partly cover her forehead, her earrings, their reflections on the necklace of crosses and seeds, her white dress and the small bouquet of small wild flowers; all of which are further emphasised by the dark green of the background vegetation. This is a recurring figure in the works of the Abruzzese artist, who was a friend and protector of D'Annunzio, illustrator of his tragedies, and animator of a cultured coterie of artists, men of letters and musicians in his home-atelier at the Conventino in Francavilla sul Mare. It is difficult to identify the girl depicted, although young figures very similar to this one appear in other works by Michetti. The material preciousness of the work is well matched by the decorative richness of the frame that frames it, richly carved with scrolls and foliage and with four cartouches with lozenge motifs in the centre of the sides, characteristic of mid-18th century French decoration. Rectangular canvas painted in oil and framed in wood. The subject is a little girl with blonde hair, tousled and light as foam, dressed up for a party, with earrings, a necklace of seeds, crosses and medals around her neck, and a bouquet of wildflowers in her hand.

1872 - 1872 - XIX

GAM1554

Unità di misura: cm; Altezza: 39.2; Larghezza: 56.1

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Skilled in the analytical representation of the natural datum, it is well known how Filippo Palizzi loved, in the pursuit of this goal, to make his own working tools, brushes and palette knives, as recalled by his painter friend Domenico Morelli. Exemplary of this desire are the two paintings selected by the Frugone brothers, in which animal hair, hay threads, even the cracks in the walls testify to his ability to make painting “tactile,” rendering to perfection the feeling of roughness or softness of each element. The painting depicts a sheep and a cow eating together.

XIX - 1896 - 1899

GAM 1562

Unità di misura: cm; Altezza: 180; Larghezza: 130

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The canvas presents a charcoal sketch of two "Lovers" made by Giovanni Segantini and formally related to two similar young people in the well-known 1896 painting "Love at the Source of Life" (Milan, Galleria d'Arte Moderna).
"The playful and carefree love of the female, and the thoughtful love of the male, bound together by the natural impulse of youth and spring", as Segantini wrote in 1896. Apparently far removed from the painter's expressive methods and exuberant colours precisely because they were unfinished, the two figures were perhaps made for the Symbolist painting ‘The Earthly Paradise’, which was interrupted by the artist's sudden death.
The museum also houses a beautiful charcoal drawing by Segantini, the "Sleeping Shepherd" from around 1893, from the collection of the famous conductor Arturo Toscanini, who bought it during a sale of works belonging to the painter Vittore Grubicy De Dragon who, with his brother Alberto, had been the reference market for the Italian Divisionists. Charcoal drawing depicting two figures with soft, flowing volumes, in a style close to classicism.

XIX - 1893 - 1893

GPB 695

Unità di misura: UNR (= Unita' Non Rilevata); Misure mancanti: MNR

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This is the final sheet in a series of similar subjects tackled on several occasions by Segantini, using different techniques. Charcoal is used here to veil the grainy paper support. Only later does the artist insert the figures of the shepherd and the animals. Lazzaro Frugone purchased the drawing, through the mediation of his usual dealer Ferruccio Stefani, from the renowned conductor Arturo Toscanini, arousing the envy of the collector Ricci Oddi of Piacenza, who would have liked it for himself. The drawing depicts a young shepherd resting under a tree, next to a sheep.