Enrico Cavalli (1849-1919)
Between the France of Monticelli and the Vigezzo Valley of Fornara and Ciolina
Curated by Lorella Giudici and Elisabetta Staudacher, “Rossetti Valentini” School of Fine Arts Santa Maria Maggiore (VCO)
From 25 June to 26 November
From 25/06 to 10/09 2023 daily 10am-1pm and 3.30pm-6.30pm. Mondays closed.
From 16/09 to 26/11 open only Saturday and Sunday 10-13 and 16-18.
Responsible entrance.
On the occasion of the reopening of the renovated and enlarged “Rossetti Valentini” School of Fine Arts – the only School of Fine Arts still operating in the Italian Alps – the exhibition Enrico Cavalli (1849-1919) Tra la Francia di Monticelli e la Val Vigezzo di Fornara e Ciolina, organised by the Fondazione Scuola di Belle Arti Rossetti Valentini (Rossetti Valentini School of Fine Arts Foundation) in collaboration with the Municipality of Santa Maria Maggiore, intends to explore, for the first time in an articulate and exhaustive manner, the artistic and didactic activity and human dimension of Enrico Cavalli, an emblematic figure of the School.
The exhibition aims to highlight, on the one hand, Enrico Cavalli’s ties with the France of François-Auguste Ravier and Adolphe Monticelli (a painter also much loved by Van Gogh and Cézanne, who will be represented in the exhibition with no less than five important oils), whose teachings on light and colour were decisive for his training and for the modern imprint they gave to his painting and that of his pupils;
on the other its Vigezzo roots, which saw in Carlo Fornara and Giovanni Battista Ciolina two important heirs and which transformed that small mountain village into the famous ‘Valley of the Painters’.
The exhibition is realised thanks to the support of Fondazione Compagnia San Paolo, InterregPAES.CH.IT 100 (with contributions from SSIF Società Subalpina di Imprese Ferroviarie, Unione Montana Valle Vigezzo and Fondazione Intra), Fondazione Comunitaria del VCO Ente Filantropico, Museo dell’Emigrazione Vigezzina nel Mondo and Distretto Turistico dei Laghi, Monti e Valli d’Ossola.
The exhibition Enrico Cavalli (1849-1919) Tra la Francia by Monticelli and Val Vigezzo by Fornara and Ciolina is part of the project ‘Val Vigezzo. La valle dei pittori”, realised with the support of the Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation in the framework of the call in “Luce – Valorizzare e raccontare le identità culturali dei territori” (Light – Enhancing and narrating the cultural identities of the territories): of the Mission Creating Attractiveness of the Objective Culture, which aims at the cultural and creative enhancement of the territories of Piedmont, Liguria and Valle d’Aosta, making them more usable and attractive for the people who live there and for tourists, in a perspective of sustainable social and economic development.
Pictured above:
Enrico Cavalli
Self-portrait, circa 1885
oil on canvas, 45 x 31 cm
private collection
Exhibition photo gallery: Francesco Lillo