Italian Impressionist, Pompeo Mariani
Bottegantica Gallery, Milan
After the extraordinary success of the Giovanni Boldini exhibition in 2011, Bottegantica dedicates a new important monographic exhibition to one of the most eclectic and prolific artists of Lombardy in the nineteenth century: Pompeo Mariani.
Thanks to his unusual technique and unforgettable depictions of the Belle Epoque, Mariani's vision is known and appreciated not only by collectors but by all art lovers. Together with the fecundity in the realization of his works, he was one of the most awarded artists of his time.
The extraordinary artistic career of the Lombard Master began in 1878 in Milan, in the studio of the painter Eleuterio Pagliano, and ended in 1927, the year he died at his home in Bordighera.
During his life, the painter exhibited in international exhibitions and won prestigious prizes as no other Italian artist of that time. Thanks to tireless curatorial work, legal protection of the artist's rights, and divulgation of his works by the Pompeo Mariani Foundation of Bordighera, in the last fifteen years Mariani has been rediscovered by critics and public alike.
After his first experiences in Milan with Eleuterio Pagliano, Mariani continued his activity with a brief stay in Egypt in 1800.
After his return from Africa, his exhibition career began with the proposal of multiple subjects related to his houses and stays in different eras: Monza and the landscapes of Brianza, the Port of Genoa and the Ligurian Riviera, Gignese and Lake Maggiore, La Zelata and the banks of the Ticino, Milan and Monte Carlo in the luxury and frivolity of the Belle Epoque, his beloved Bordighera where he lived from the late nineteenth century until his death.
This catalog has been divided into thematic chapters to allow the reader to perceive the artistic and personal evolution of the Lombard artist. The high variety of subjects dealt with and techniques used allow us to appreciate the thousand facets of the eclectic painter Mariani.
The catalog is accompanied by the critical insights of Bottegantica who analyzes the works of different periods and offers some interesting anecdotes about the painter; Elisabetta Staudacher's essay takes us back in time and underlines the close relationship between Mariani and the Società Permanente of Milan.
A rigorous and scrupulous selection of the works on display, all coming from prestigious private collections, gives visitors the opportunity to admire otherwise inaccessible masterpieces, in some cases true milestones in Mariani's production, whose last exhibition took place twelve years ago.
Our heartfelt thanks go to the collectors who have lent works; to the art historians and collaborators for their commitment and valuable work; to the Pompeo Mariani Foundation of Bordighera that oversaw the selection of the works: without these contributions - interwoven with sensitivity and operational effectiveness - the exhibition would not have been possible.
Enzo Savoia