Michele Cascella

Michele Cascella

Michele Cascella was born in Ortona a Mare, province of Chieti, in the region of the Abruzzi in Italy on September 7, 1892. He was the second of 7 children (3 boys and 4 girls). Michele’s father, Basilio Cascella, was also born in Ortona in 1860, as was his grandfather, Francesco Paolo Cascella, who was a tailor for women. Michele’s mother, Concetta Palmerio, was from Guardiagrele, the daughter of a very popular veterinarian in the area at the time. Michele’s father was his first and most influential teacher. Basilio was a painter, engraver, ceramist, lithographer and illustrator. Before Michele was born, he lived and worked in Naples, Milan, Turin, Venice, London and Palermo. In 1895, Basilio moved the family from Ortona to Corso Manthone` in Pescara, across from Gabriele d’Annunzio’s house. The Pescara city council gave Basilio a piece of land to build a chromolithographic laboratory and art studio. This building today is the site of the Museo Civico “Basilio Cascella” (Pescara): http://h1.ath.cx/muvi/sistema/museocascella/. It holds more than 500 pieces belonging to three generations of the Cascella family. Most of the works are Basilio’s, the others are of his sons Tommaso, Michele and Gioacchino and the two sons of Tommaso, Andrea and Pietro , who became well known sculptors. In 1899, Basilio began publishing the magazine L’illustrazione abruzzese, then L’illustrazione meridionale and finally La Grande Illustrazione. Among the collaborators to these publications were some of the most important literary figures of the times, such as Gabriele d’Annunzio, Luigi Pirandello, Umberto Saba, Gennaro Finamore, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Sibilla Aleramo, Matilde Serao, Grazia Deledda, Ada Negri, Guido Gozzano and Giovanni Pascoli Michele finished elementary school with difficulty and his teacher said his head was always in the clouds. The following year, after his art teacher humiliated him in front of the class, he abandoned school entirely, because of his poor grades in all subject matters. His mother, who was deeply religious, wanted him to follow an ecclesiastic career, but his father who was a socialist and very antireligious, wanted him to become an artist, like himself. Right away Michele began to work in his father’s chromolithographic laboratory in Pescara. Basilio put Michele to work filling the backgrounds of the designs on the lithographic stone, with the black graphic ink, Lorilleux. Michele would often turn the star-shaped wheel of his father’s press and was involved in the various lithographic processes of transfers and proofs. Meanwhile Basilio had Michele copy the drawings of the masters (Leonardo, Pisanello, Botticelli, and Donatello) or simplifications of large mouths and noses which Basilio prepared specifically for Michele to practice over and over again. Michele was very proud and happy to be working for his father and he was becoming very familiar with the tools of the trade. Basilio was not able to paint from nature very well himself, so to compensate for this lack of ability, he taught his sons from the beginning to work in the open air, from the real, to see, to grasp and to interpret the language of nature. Soon Basilio would send Michele and Tommaso alone, at dawn, on foot to the shores of the Pescara River and the surrounding hills or by coach to the Majella to study the scenery from close by. They brought only their boxes of pastels, some bread and a caciocavallo, so they could stay out all day to paint. When Basilio felt his sons were ready to show their work, he shifted his role from shop master to organizer and promoter of their art. Michele had now been out of school and working for his father for almost 5 years. Their first show was held in Milan at the Famiglia Artistica in Via San Raffaele in 1907, far from their provincial cultural limits. Basilio wanted to expose Michele and Tommaso to a more stimulating environment, richer with activity and possibilities. There was talk of “Enfants prodiges”. Michele was only 15 years old. Michele sold his first painting privately in 1908 and had his first show in Paris the following year. His technique mainly consisted in the use of pastels. In 1910, Michele began to frequent the cultural circles of Milan, where he became friends with the poet Clemente Rebora, as well as the philosopher Antonio Banfi and the writer Sibilla Aleramo, who in her turn introduced him to Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Umberto Boccioni and Margherita Sarfatti. Giorgio de Chirico also became a friend of his. Michele presented the pastel La casa blu to the Biennale of Venice without success. Shortly after, Eduadro de Filippo, the great theater actor, comedian, and director, bought it. In 1912 Michele’s father opened another studio in Milan on Viale Monza #26. Most of the family remained in Pescara. Basilio made illustrations for a magazine Nature and Art for the Antonio Vallardi Publishing House. By 1914 Michele was having an affair with the poetess Sibilla Aleramo, who was 16 years older than him. She was 38 at the time. He was 22. He met her while working on his father’s magazine L’illustrazione abruzzese, to which he collaborated with drawings and graphic illustrations. In 1915 Michele was mobilized and sent to the front (in the Trentino), but he did not stop painting: in fact the general Enrico Caviglia, his commander, gave him the job of drawing the life of the soldiers at the front. One evening, at the command seat of Chiut Zuin two foreign deserters arrived: an officer and a simple soldier. They were Russian. The moon was coming up behind them, when they arrived, they were both of an unreal light yellow color similar to hay, from head to toe. He made a little design and upon his return to Pescara he painted a small piece entitled “The Russian Soldiers, 1915”. Some of these scenes of military life at the front are today preserved in Museum of the Risorgimento and the Civil Historical Collections in Milan. In 1917 Basilio moved with his sons to Rapino where he dedicated himself to ceramics. In 1919 Michele moved to Milan where he shared an apartment with his friend and inspiration, the poet Clemente Rebora in Via Tadino, #8. Michele dedicated himself to engraving and ceramics, later returning to oil and watercolor painting. In 1923 Michele was finishing a watercolor of a fountain in a Piazza in Palermo, when he heard an older woman turn to her friend and say: “Look what he has to do to eat, poor guy!” The following year he exhibited at the Venice Biennale for the first time. In 1924 Carlo Carra`, who was a great supporter of the primitivism in Michele’s paintings, gave him good reviews. That same year, Michele exhibited three watercolors at the Biennale of Venice for the first time and one of them, Mattutino, was bought by His Majesty the King. From that year on until 1942, Michele participated, at almost all the Venice Biennal exhibitions, except for 1938. In 1928 Michele made his first trip to Paris, even though he had held several exhibits there already, and he exhibited in Brussels. Michele considered Paris his second home from then on. Life there reminded him of certain areas of Italy. In 1931 Michele participated at the Rome Quadriennale I, along with his father, and continued to participate at all the Quadriennales until 1951. In April Michele exhibited 28 paintings at the Bastford Gallery in London and he met the architect Alfred C. Bossom who bought three paintings. He then donated the watercolor The entrance to the village, to the Victoria and Albert Museum. Still that same year Michele exhibited at the Gallery of the Toison d’Or in Bruxelles and in June, the Belgian Minister of The Sciences and Arts stated that it had acquired Evening at Montecatini. In 1933 the director of the Corriere della Sera Aldo Borelli, invited Michele to collaborate on the newspaper with a series of sketches of important Italian localities. Almost everyday the paper published one of his designs. After Michele’s military experience, pen and ink sketches had become his favorite method of expression. On June 4th, 1933, pushed by his father and with special dispensation of a friend, Michele was able to paint the canonization ceremony of Andrea Uberto Fournet in Saint Peters. Though Michele initially thought this painting was a flop, Antonio Mariaini (Dacia Maraini’s grandfather), then secretary of the Biennal of Venice, had it figured prominently in the Biennal the following year. The Italian King, Victor Emanuel, wanted to buy it, but Michele put a very high price on it for that time and the royal family offered only half of what Michele was asking, which Michele refused because of an excess of pride. Later on he regretted it, because he could not find a buyer for it. In 1934 Michele went to Libya for a few months and shortly afterwards Michele received a commission from Her Highness the Princess of Piedmont for a series of paintings dedicated to southern Italian landscapes. She gave him itinerary tips from Amalfi to Sila. The Civic Gallery of Modern Art in Turin acquired Sera a Montecatini Alto. In 1937 the Honorable Stefano Benni, then Minister of Transportation, wanted Michele to do the wall decoration for the new Maritime station of Messina. Michele thought his father would be better suited for this job, but ended up accepting it. He agreed only to do the sketch and had his father and brother Tommaso do the actual execution. He also won the gold medal at the Universal Exposition in Paris. And at the Permanente in Milan Michele exhibited Roma, sport esultanza, inspired by the Carnera-Paolino fight held in 1933 in Piazza di Spagna in the presence of Mussolini. In 1938 Michele did the drafts of the opera Margherita da Cortona, directed by Franco Capuana and interepreted by Augusta Oltrabella, which was performed at the Scala Opera House in Milan. He then began to reside in Portofino which became the inspiration for many of his later works. In 1942 Michele had a room at the Biennal of Venice, his last year there, and he exhibited works made at the request of the Ministers of the Navy and of the Air Force. In 1955 Michele designed the costumes for La moglie saggia by Carlo Goldoni, shown at the Sant’Erasmo Theater under the direction of Carlo Lari. The French State bought the watercolor Piazzola di Padova and Michele’s native town of Ortona a Mare gave him and his brothers a gold medal and held a celebratory exhibition. In October of 1959 Michele made his first trip to the U.S., to New York. From then on he would spend half of the year in Palo Alto, California, where Isabel Lane became his agent and organized all of his shows. Later Michele was represented by the Juarez Gallery in Los Angeles. In 1965, while in Ortona, Michele dedicated a painting to the Apostle San Tommaso, whose remains are preserved in the Cathedral there, and gave it to the then mayor, who in turn donated the painting to His Holiness Paolo VI. In 1967, Michele traveled to Hawaii for the holidays. Michele’s brother, Tommaso, died in Pescara in 1968 and the following year Garzanti published Forza zio Mec, a short autobiography written by Michele while he was in the U.S. From 1969 Michele spent much of his time in the countryside of Colle Val d’Elsa (province of Siena) with his second wife, Isabel Lane Cascella. He painted many Tuscan landscapes during this period. In 1972, the Comune of Milan gave Michele a gold medal of merit. In 1975 in Pescara the Museo Basilio Cascella was opened in the original location of Michele’s father’s lithographic establishment, with works of Basilio, his sons and grandsons. During the same year, Portofino made Michele an honorary citizen. In 1977 the city of Ortona dedicated the Pinacoteca Comunale to Michele which exhibits around 50 of his paintings: http://h1.ath.cx/muvi/sistema/pinacotecacascella/ In 1980, the Comune of Milan gave Michele the medal of merit. Michele died on Tuesday, August 31, 1989 at the age of 97 in Milan and was buried in Ortona. In 2003 Michele was featured in the collective exhibition, De Chirico et la peinture italienne de l’entre-deux guerres (De Chirico and Italian Painting of the Interwar Period) at the Musee de Lodeve. Michele Cascella was a very congenial and humane person, as well as a tenacious worker. The techniques Michele used were pastels, pencil and pen and ink drawings, oils, watercolors, ceramics, lithography and textiles. His most frequent subjects were the landscapes of Abruzzi, locations all over Italy, Portofino, Paris, London, New York, California, Mexico, Hawaii, Tuscany, flowers, portraits and still life. Michele himself said that Henry Rousseau and Picasso had the greatest impact on the art world, while Van Gogh, Utrillo and Raoual Dufy most influenced his own work. He is referred to as an Italian Impressionist, post-impressionist and neo-impressionist. Also primitivism and crepuscular landscape artist are used to describe his work. Michele won the gold medal at the Paris Exposition Universelle in 1937. In 1972 the Comune of Milan gave Michele a gold medal of merit and again in 1980. In 1975 Michele became an honorary citizen of Portofino. In 1977 the city of Ortona dedicated the Pinacoteca Comunale to Michele. In 1979, the Academy of Art Dino Scalabrino of Montecatini Terme gave Michele the Life of artist 1979 prize.

Michele’s works are preserved at: The Basilio Cascella Civic Museum in Pescara: http://h1.ath.cx/muvi/sistema/museocascella/; The Pinacoteca Comunale M. Cascella in Ortona: http://h1.ath.cx/muvi/sistema/pinacotecacascella/; The Risorgimento Museum and the Historical Collections in Milan; The Victoria and Albert Museum in London; The National Modern Art Gallery in Turin; Banca Nazionale del Lavoro in Rome; The Museum of the Jeu-de-Paume in France; The National Gallery of Luxembourg; The House Museum of Gabriele D’Annunzio in Pescara; The De Saisset Art Gallery of Santa Clara University in California, Permanent Collection; The Modern Art Gallery in Brussels; The National Modern Art Gallery in Rome.

Exhibitions: 1907 – Milan, Artistic Family, end of November 1908 – Turin, Caffe` Ligure at Porta Nuova 1909 – Paris, Druet Gallery, 20 rue Royale, April 1910 – Milan, Artistic Family Paris, Salone d’Automne 1911 – Roma, Ridotto of the National Theater 1912 – Milan, Palace of the Permanente 1913 – Pescara, Gallery unknown, July-August Buenos Aires, San Paolo del Brasile, Gallery not identified 1917 – Milan, Salone dell’Associazione della Stampa and the Central Gallery of Art 1920 – Milan, Corso Vittorio Emanuele, ceramic show and pastels Paris, George Petit Gallery 1922 – Milan, Palace of the Permanente, National Expostions, by the Academy of Brera 1923 – Milan, Pesaro Gallery 1924 – Milan, “Lidel” Saletta Biennale of Venice Monza, War Show at the Villa Reale, dedicated to the artists that painted or drew events during the First World War. 1925 – Milan, Pesaro Gallery 1926 – Biennale of Venice Biella, Bottega d’Arte 1927 – Rome, Bragaglia Gallery, April Piacenza, Association Friends of the Arts, December Milan, National Exposition of Art, Pineta in Pescara bought by the Provincial Administration of Milan 1928 – Milan, Pesaro Gallery, paintings in the show were inspired by Milan. Biennale of Venice Brussels, Unknown 1929 – Milan, Pesaro Gallery in Milan, February along with his father Genova, Valley Gallery, April London, Beaux Arts Gallery 1930 – Paris, George Petit Gallery, March Turin, Codebo` Gallery, April Stresa, Municipal Casino`, September Biennale of Venice 1931 – Paris, 23 Gallery, January, the French State acquired Abruzzi Dawn at the Convent, for the Museum of the Jeu-de-Paume. London, Bastford Gallery, April, Alfred Charles Bossom, bought three paintings, including a watercolor of Guardiagrele, which he later donated to the Victoria and Albert Museum. Rome, Camerata of the Artists, November Rome, Quadriennale I 1932 – Milan, Milano Gallery, February-March Paris, Bernheim Jeune Gallery, June-July, Roma, Via Aurelia, bought for the National Gallery of Luxembourg. Genova, Vitelli Gallery, December Biennale of Venice Stresa, Unknown 1933 – Turin, Guglielmi Gallery, January Rome, Sabatello Gallery, May Milan, Fall Social Exposition of the Society for the Beautiful Arts and Permanent Exposition, six works 1934 – La Spezia, House of Art Livorno, Art Shop, February Naples, II International Show of Colonial Art Bruxelles, Pavillion for Modern Art at the Universal and International Exposition Biennale of Venice 1935 – Milan, Pesaro Gallery, December-January with 90 works mostly of Southern Italy Rome, Quadriennale II 1936 – Milan, Pesaro Gallery, December, including maioliche he made at the Richard-Ginori factory in Doccia. Biennale of Venice 1937 – Rome, S.A.C.A. Gallery, Doria Palace, March Johannesburg, Gallery unknown Milan, Permanente Milan, Gian Ferrari Gallery, December 1939 – Rome, Quadriennale III 1940 – Rome, Gallery of Rome, first retrospective of fifty works from 1908 to 1940. Bienale of Venice 1942 – Biennale of Venice 1943 – Rome, Quadriennale IV 1944 – Milan, Philological Circle, January Naples, Artistic Circle, April Rome, Gallery of Rome, May Milan, Gian Ferrari Gallery 1945 – Milan, Dedalo Gallery, November, retrospective of 36 pieces 1946 – Turin, Martina Gallery, February Varese, Prevosti Gallery, November 1947 – Sanremo, Parodi Gallery, January Milan, Gussoni Gallery, March Florence, Michelangelo Gallery, April-May 1948 – Buenos Aires, Van Riel Gallery, August Montevideo, Berro Gallery, August Rosario, Renon Gallery of Art by the O.C.I.S.A. (Organizacion Cultural Italo-Sudamericana), September-October Los Angeles, The Mid 20th Gallery, Giorgio de Chirico wrote the catalogue introduction. Milan, Gussoni Gallery, December Rome, Quadriennale V 1949 – Florence, Michelangelo Gallery, May Paris, Allard Gallery, May, French Minister of Education acquired Firenze, Piazza Santa Maria Novella. 1951 – Milan, San Babila Art Center, April Rome, Babuino Gallery, May Como, Column Gallery, May Genova, Rotta Gallery, June Cortina d’Ampezzo, Artistic Circle Rome, Quadriennale VI 1953 – Milan, Cairola Gallery, January-February Livorno, Art Shop, March Los Angeles, Rosati Art Studio Gallery, April Rome, Giosi Gallery, May Milan, Prints of Art 1954 – Paris, Marseille Gallery Lugano, Caccia Museum, Villa Ciani, July-September, first anthological show under the auspices of the Lyceum of Swiss Italy with over 240 pieces from 1908 to 1954. Ginevra, Art and History Museum, Salle des Casemates, October-November Losanna, Salons du Palace, November Trieste, Trieste Gallery 1955 – Florence, Spinetti Gallery, April-May Paris, Marseille Gallery, May Rapallo, Kursaal Excelsior, July Milan, Gussoni Gallery, November-December 1956 – Naples, Giosi Gallery, January Paris, Weil Gallery, April Rome, Il Camino Gallery, May Portofino, Azienda Autonoma, August Ortona a Mare, Comune di Ortona, celebratory show, August-September Genova, Rotta Gallery, October 1957 – Rome, Giosi Gallery, May Lione, Malaval Gallery, May Rome, Russo Gallery, October Milan, Gussoni Gallery, November-December 1958 – Paris, Andre` Weil Gallery, Avenue Matignon, April L’Aquila, second Regional Biennal Show of figurative Arts of the Abruzzo and Molise, 2 rooms dedicated to Michele, July and August. Santa Margherita Ligure, Kursaal, August Rome, Russo Gallery, November-December 1959 – Turin, Fogliato Gallery, May Bologna, Loggia Gallery, June Rome, La Marguttiana Gallery New York, Chase Gallery, December Pescara, Verrocchio Gallery, December-Janaury 1960 – San Francisco, Maxwell Galleries, February Beverly Hills, Edgardo Acosta Gallery, April-May San Francisco, Laky Galleries, August Milan, Gussoni Gallery 1961 – Saratoga, Montalvo Gallery, January 1962 – San Francisco, Maxwell Galleries Paris, Andre` Weil Gallery, September Milan, Gussoni Gallery, November-December 1963 – Beverley Hills, Edgardo Acosta Gallery, May-June Palo Alto, Palo Alto Art Club, October 1964 – Salsomaggiore Terme, Azienda Autonoma di Cura, Saloni mostre, September Venice, Santo Stefano Gallery, September Paris, Andre` Weil Gallery, october Westport, Cupola Art Gallery, October Milan, Gussoni Gallery, November 1965 – University of Santa Clara, De Saisset Art Gallery, June Paris, Andre` Weil Gallery 1966 – New York, International Gallery, March-April San Francisco, Maxwell Galleries, June-July Paris, Andre` Weil Gallery, retrospective 65 works from 1907-1966, September-October Beverly Hills, Edagardo Acosta Gallery, October-November 1967 – Milan, Levi Gallery, February-March Beverly Hills, Edgardo Acosta Gallery, October 1969 – University of Santa Clara, De Saisset Art Gallery, July-August Milan, Levi Gallery, November Los Angeles, Gregg Juarez Galleries, November 1970 – Palm Beach, Gregg Juarez Galleries, March-April Milan, Levi Gallery, April Pescara, G. D’Annunzio University, August 1971 – Ascoli Piceno, Rosati Gallery, November-December 1972 – Francavilla al Mare, Sirena Palace, anthological show, August Milan, Levi Gallery, November 1973 – Milan, Comanducci Gallery Giulianova, La Riva Gallery, July Lanciano, “The Cube” Art Center Udine, At the Arches Gallery 1974 – Reggio Emilia, Libreria Prandi, April-May Pescara, Margutta Gallery, July Molfetta, “La Medusa” Encounter Center for Art, November 1975 – Milan, Levi Gallery, January Venice, Santo Stefano Gallery Bergamo, La Simonetta Gallery, October-December Pescara, Ponterosso Gallery, December 1976 – Bergamo, Simonetta Gallery, October-November Genova, Genova Gallery 1977 – Milan, Comanducci Gallery, October-November Turin, Comanducci Gallery, November-December 1978 – Teramo, Rizziero Gallery Vigevano, Castello Sforzesco, anthological show with more than 100 works Lanciano, “The Cube” Art Center, August Venice, Santo Stefano Gallery 1979 – La Jolla, Burdett-Juarez Galleries, November 1980 – Rome, The Indicator Gallery, April Montecatini Terme, “D. Scalabrino” Academy of Art, Viale Diaz 6, anthological show, with 102 pieces, September, Life of artist 1979 prize Ancona, Gioacchini Gallery, September 1981 – Milan, Palazzo Reale, anthological show, April-May Campione d’Italia, Civic Gallery, anthological show, November Rome, Barberini Palace, anthological show Genova, Rosso Palace, anthological show, October Milan, Sant’Andrea Gallery, November Ferrara, Diamond Palace, anthological show, December-January 1983 – Pisa, Il Centauro Gallery, March Catania, Art Club, February-March Varese, Ghiggini Gallery, March-April Chiari, The Encounter Gallery, October-November 1984 – Cattolica, Delfino Gallery, January-February Sasso Marconi (Bologna), The Art House, anthological show, March Pescara, Questarte Gallery, July-August 1985 – Rome, Sant’Angelo Castle, anthological show, June-September 1986 – Reggio Emilia, City Gallery, March Cosenza, Il Sagittario Gallery Imperia, Battifoglio Gallery 1988 – Montecarlo, Sporting d’Hiver, anthological show, July-August 1989 – Palermo, Basile Gallery, October-November Arzignano, Arzignano Art Gallery, December-January 1990 – Pavia, Sansoni Gallery, March Dolo, Civic Halls of Villa Petrolini, May Chieri, Civic Gallery, May Busto Arsizio, Museum of the Arts, Bandera Palace, anthological show with 100 pieces, November-January 1991 – Passariano (Udine), Villa Manin, anthological show, December-January 1992 – Como, Continental Hotel, April Manerbio, Cultural Center, May Milan, Palace of the Permanente, Michele Cascella, Works from 1907 to 1946, September-October 1993 – Pescara, D’Annunzio’s House, anthological show, November-December 1994 – Sorrento, Correale Museum 1996 – Viterbo, Palace of the Popes, anthological show, March- April 1999 – Aosta, Saint-Benin Center, Michele Cascella, Anthological show 1907/1987, July-October 2000 – Rio de Janeiro, National Museum of Beautiful Arts. Anthological show, May-June San Paolo del Brasile, Memorial da America Latina, Galeria Marta Traba, June-July Buenos Aires, National Museum of Beautiful Arts, October-November 2005 – Arona, Villa Ponti, December-April 2008 – Francavilla al Mare, Museo Michetti, Palazzo San Domenico, La gioia di vivere, July-September 2011 – San Francisco, Museo ItaloAmericano, Michele Cascella Retrospective, February

Sources: Forza zio Mec, Michele Cascella, 1969 Taccuino di un pittore, Michele Cascella, 1975 Michele Cascella… On Art, Architectural Digest, Spring 1970 pg. 62-67 Michele Cascella La gioia di vivere, Vittorio Sgarbi, 2008 http://www.artinvest2000.com/cascella_english.htm http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michele_Cascella