The exhibition season at the Palazzo dei Priori in Fermo continues with another great artist from the early twentieth century: Adolfo De Carolis, with an eclectic and multifaceted personality. The exhibition presents approximately 60 works owned by the
Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Fermo collected in five thematic sections among paintings, drawings, notebooks and woodcuts. Some works are exhibited to the public for the first time.
After the successful exhibitions of Antonio Ligabue and Giuseppe Pende, the exhibition continues at Palazzo dei Priori in Fermo “The time of exhibitions”. From theJuly 8th to November 3rd 2024 the halls of the Palace will host the exhibition “In the studio of Adolfo De Carolis. Works in the collection of the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Fermo”edited by Stefano Papetti.
An undisputed protagonist of the artistic season that characterized the panorama of post-unification Italy in the decades between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Adolfo De Carolis (1874-1928) demonstrated an eclectic spirit that led him to excel in various fields, from painting to decoration, from xylography to scenography and design, in close contact with the most eminent intellectuals of his time, as demonstrated by the long partnership with Gabriele D’Annunzio as demonstrated by the extensive correspondence preserved at the Vittoriale degli Italiani.
The exhibition represents the central moment of the initiatives promoted on the occasion of the decarolisian celebrations by the committee which sees the participation of the Municipal Administrations of Montefiore dell’Aso, Ascoli Piceno, San Benedetto del Tronto and Fermo. In particular, it aims to illustrate the modus operandi of the artist through the study material preserved by descendants and acquired by the Cassa di Risparmio Foundation of Fermo which has thus prevented its dispersion, starting from a capital work in the production of the master from the Marche, the “Sea Triptych” recently subjected to
a delicate and complex restoration project at the University of Urbino.
The exhibition is promoted by the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Fermo with the patronage of the Municipality of Fermo, the organization is by Maggioli Cultura e Turismo.
Curator Stefano Papetti explains: “A careful scientific cataloguing and the essays entrusted to the major specialists in the sector will allow us to understand the role of the artist from the Marche in valorising artistic craftsmanship in harmony with the ideals of the English Arts and Crafts movement, his connection with the major intellectuals of the time, such as D’Annunzio, and his role as a great creator of complex decorative apparatuses, such as those created at the Palazzo Comunale in Bologna, the Aula Magna of the University of Pisa and the Salone del Palazzo della Provincia in Arezzo.”.
Various events are planned on the occasion of the exhibition Side events with the participation of scholars, art historians and writers who will address the figure of De Carolis from different perspectives: the involvement of local schools is also planned with the organization of guided tours and laboratory activities.
The sections of the exhibition. The exhibition presents the figure of Adolfo De Carolis through five sections. The first “Family lexicon” is dedicated to portraits on paper and canvas of the artist and his family; the second “The beloved shores” to the Sea Triptych, to the sketches, drawings, woodcuts and photographs with an Adriatic theme; the third “The Myth and the History” to the decorative enterprises of mythological-allegorical subjects of the Government Palace of Ascoli Piceno, of the Salone of Bologna, of the Aula Magna of the University of Pisa. The fifth section “The Piety” is dedicated to the decorative projects conceived for the chapel of San Francesco in Padua, for the Puccini chapel in Torre del Lago and for the Collegiate Church of San Ginesio; finally the fifth section “At the origins of design” presents the numerous graphic notes intended for the promotion of manufacturing activities, the collection of funds for voluntary and charitable associations, book illustration, and the creation of furnishing elements.
Paintings, drawings, notebooks, photographs and engravings by De Carolis. belonging to a descendant of the artist and purchased by
Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Fermo, have been the subject of careful scientific cataloguing and a selection will be exhibited for the first time on this occasion. These are works that range from the formative years, which took place in D’Annunzio’s Rome alongside great figures such as Morani and Gioia, and reach up to the final years of his life, showing the stylistic evolution of the artist who, starting from symbolist and pre-Raphaelite suggestions, came to elaborate a grandiose and magniloquent style imbued with admiration for the work of Michelangelo. A language that proved particularly suited to satisfying the celebratory needs linked to the large public commissions in which De Carolis participated in Ascoli Piceno (decoration of the Salone delle Feste of the Palazzo del Governo), Bologna (Salone del Podestà), Pisa (Aula Magna of the University) and Arezzo (council room of the Palazzo della Provincia). Of these demanding undertakings, the collection of the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Fermo preserves various preparatory studies that demonstrate the care with which the artist, following the great tradition of the Renaissance masters, elaborated the complex decorations.
Another aspect that this exhibition allows us to highlight is linked to the attention with which De Carolis looks at the world of adriatic seafaring; the photographic images showing the characteristic fishing boats with sails decorated with archaic symbols, the life of the fishermen and their companions awaiting their return on the seashore, represent a documentation taken from real life which is then reworked in the vast and ramified production of the painter, both in the grandiose decorative enterprises of the early twentieth century and in impromptu sketches made live, as in the numerous woodcuts dedicated to the Adriatic navy.
The variety of projects and ideas collected in the drawings acquired by the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Fermo exhibited on this occasion demonstrate the eclectic and versatile character of the painter from the Marche which develops projects for the construction of banknotes of the Kingdom of Italy,
ideas for printing stamps of the ephemeral Republic of Fiume, ideas for the decoration of ceramic artefacts and even projects of packaging for a line of perfumes created by a famous Italian perfume industry, in the spirit of an all-encompassing conception of art that permeates every aspect of everyday life.
Carlo Franza