After the success of Enrico Cavalli's anthology held in the renovated spaces of the School of Fine Arts of Santa Maria Maggiore in the summer and autumn of last year, the Rossetti Valentini Foundation presents from June 30th to the November 3, 2024 a new initiative dedicated to two students of the Vigezzo master. The exhibition “Gian Maria Rastellini in Grubicy and Tosi's Milan“, in the Rossetti Valentini School of Fine Arts Of Santa Maria Maggiore (Verbania) in Val Vigezzo, intends to retrace the training and artistic activity of Gian Maria Rastellini (Buttogno 1869 – Milan 1927) and his brother Gian Battista Rastellini (1860–1926), also a painter and decorator, originally from Buttogno. Between the two, Gian Maria stands out particularly in the art world, while Gian Battista dedicates himself above all to restoration. There Rossetti Valentini School of Fine Arts Of Santa Maria Maggiore (Verbania) hosts an exhibition dedicated to a little-known but interesting artist of the late nineteenth-early twentieth century, Gian Maria Rastellini (Buttogno, 1869 – Milan, 1927).
The exhibition therefore deals mainly with Gian Maria, but does not fail to reserve space for the still lifes and portraits painted by his brother.
The exhibition is organized by the Rossetti Valentini Foundation, in collaboration with the Municipality of Santa Maria Maggiore, the Compagnia San Paolo Foundation, the Community Foundation of the VCO Philanthropic Institution, the Museum of Vigezzina Emigration in the World, the Tourist District of the Lakes, Mountains and Valleys of Ossola and SSIF Società Subalpina di Imprese Ferroviarie SSIF on the occasion of the celebrations for the centenary of its birth, with the patronage of AICA Italia (International Association of Art Critics), of the Society for Fine Arts and Permanent Exhibition of Milan, of the Ciolina Foundation, of the Poscio and Asilo Bianco Collection with the support of the Rastellini Archive, Big Ciaccio Arte and the Valle Vigezzo Folkloristic Group.
The exhibition itinerary is divided into five sections:
First section: Training. From Val Vigezzo to Breraafter the first artistic teachings received together with his brother Gian
Baptist by Carlo Giuseppe Cavalli and his son Enrico, at the Rossetti Valentini school of Santa Maria Maggiore, the young Gian Maria perfected his pictorial preparation at the Academy of Fine Arts in Milan, the city where he lived and worked until his death. The works of the formative years, from the collection of the Rossetti Valentini Foundation, will be combined with those of Carlo Fornara and Giambattista Ciolina, classmates at the Santa Maria school.
Second section: The Dream: Nana, the favorite model, illustrates Gian Maria's bond with his family and in particular with his sister, protagonist of the painter's absolute masterpiece, exhibited in 1891 at the first Brera triennial in Milan and, in 1913, at the international exhibition in Munich where he won a medal golden. The painting, flanked by a second version from the Poscio Collection, returns to be visible to the public after more than a century. Caterina, known as Nana, is also portrayed in fragments of everyday life such as in paintings The nestpresented to Permanente in 1889, The cradleexhibited at the Famiglia Artistica of Milan in 1893, e Under the pergola.
The third section is dedicated to The Vigezzo landscapes between reality and memoriesor, the places of his youth with which the painter will always maintain a very strong bond. The love for Buttogno's native home, the places of his childhood and the nature of his valley push Rastellini to maintain a relationship with his lifelong friends, in particular with Carlo Fornara and Giambattista Ciolina to whom, since the early years of living in Milan, he wrote long letters full of technical advice on painting and comments on the ever-buzzing artistic climate of Milan. On display there are some portraits of people from the valley (The nap, The gardener's son), impressions of landscapes, as well as scenes of everyday life, such as Humble lifeof the Landscape Museum of Verbania.
The Milan of Grubicy and Tosi, fourth section which gives the exhibition its title, tells of life in Milan, where Gian Maria shares the house and studio in via Monforte with his brother Gian Battista. Here the artist established himself as a portraitist of the Lombard bourgeoisie, implementing the teachings of his beloved master Enrico Cavalli in the best possible way. In Milan he frequented Arturo Tosi with whom he also spent long stays in Rovetta, in Valseriana, and formed relationships with their mutual friend Vittore Grubicy and with other painters, including Eugenio Gignous and Leonardo Bazzaro. On display is Grubicy's painting, The cart, 1887, with a dedication by the author to his friend Gian Maria. The portraits of the inhabitants of the Valley are accompanied by those of figures of the Lombard upper middle class and nobility, such as that of Bice Borghi Amman and the Marquise Teresa Visconti.
Another fundamental stage in the artist's life is that of Liguria. The Ligurian navies and the fifth section. The depiction of reality which fascinated Gian Maria from the first years of his activity is found not only in his mountain paintings, but also in the sea views created in Liguria. The very strong bond with his first daughter Maddalena, known as Nene, born in 1906, pushed him to find her, during the First World War, suitable accommodation near Genoa. Sturla, Nervi, Quarto are the places where Rastellini lived the years of the war, immersing himself in the observation of the sea, of its changing colors that attracted Enrico Cavalli so much.
The exhibition is enriched by numerous documents, school registers, letters, postcards, personal objects and two photo albums created by Emilio Sommariva. The Rastellini family commissioned several photographic campaigns of the works of Gian Maria, Gian Battista and Adolphe Monticelli from the well-known Milanese photographer, who usually goes on holiday in the valley, whose passion for collecting was inherited by the Rastellinis from Cavalli, so much so that they set up an art gallery , now no longer existing, in the family home in Buttogno.
For the creation of the exhibition, not only the family archives were searched but also those of the Mart of Rovereto (Grubicy fund), the Brera Academy, the Società perle Belle Arti ed Esposizione Permanente, as well as those of Fornara and Tosi. The substantial documentation found has allowed us to reconstruct a precise chronology of Gian Maria and the Rastellini family which will be published in a catalogpublished by Belle Arti Vigezzo, with images of all the works on display, some unpublished letters and critical texts by the curators.
Carlo Franza