Herbert Avraham Haggiag Pagani (25 April 1944 in
Tripoli
Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to:
Cities and other geographic units Greece
*Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece
* Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece
* Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in ...
– 16 August 1988 in
Palm Springs, California) was a Jewish-Italian artist and musician.
Biography
Pagani was born in a Jewish family in
Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...
, just around the time when the country stopped being an Italian Colonial Administration. He spent his childhood and adolescence between Italy, Germany and France. This nonstop wandering about different cultures drove him to seek out a personal language that would enable him to express himself non-verbally, and he started drawing.
In 1964 Pagani, at the age of twenty, had his first exhibition at the Pierre Picard Gallery in
Cannes
Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. T ...
, where he exhibited a group of Indian-ink drawings and engravings. The French poet Jean Rousselot wrote an enthusiastic review in ''
Planete'', describing Pagani as a "Twenty-years-old Visionary". Among his first Italian collectors were Giorgio Soavi,
Federico Fellini, Bernardino Zapponi and the
Olivetti
Olivetti S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of computers, tablets, smartphones, printers and other such business products as calculators and fax machines. Headquartered in Ivrea, in the Metropolitan City of Turin, the company has been par ...
Collection. Shortly afterwards, he was invited to contribute a series of drawings for the ''
Planète'' Review edited by
Jacques Bergier
Jacques Bergier (; maybe born Yakov Mikhailovich Berger (russian: link=no, Я́ков Миха́йлович Бéргер); Odessa, Paris, 23 November 1978) was a chemical engineer, member of the French-resistance, spy, journalist and writer. ...
and
Louis Pauwels
Louis Pauwels (; 2 August 1920 – 28 January 1997) was a French journalist and writer.
Born in Paris, France, he wrote in many monthly literary French magazines as early as 1946 (including ''Esprit'' and ''Variété'') until the 1950s. He partic ...
, becoming one of the youngest exponents of the
Fantastic Realism. In 1965 Pagani illustrated books such as
Giuseppe Berto's ''Fantarca'' (
Rizzoli) and
Aldous Huxley
Aldous Leonard Huxley (26 July 1894 – 22 November 1963) was an English writer and philosopher. He wrote nearly 50 books, both novels and non-fiction works, as well as wide-ranging essays, narratives, and poems.
Born into the prominent Huxle ...
's ''Brave New World'' (Club des Amis du Livre).
Parallel to art, Pagani pursued an interest in music. His first Italian album was released in 1967. About two years later, the day after Colonel
Muammar Gaddafi's
1969 Libyan coup d'état
The 1969 Libyan coup d'état, also known as the al-Fateh Revolution or the 1 September Revolution, was carried out by the Free Unionist Officers Movement, a group of military officers led by Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, which led to the overthrow of ...
, the police broke into Pagani's family's house in Tripoli. A hundred and fifty canvases and drawings were destroyed. His first French album, chronicling those events, was released in 1970. Pagani designed the covers of his records, and the stage designs of his shows.
In 1971 Pagani had a solo exhibition at the
Théâtre de la Ville
(meaning the City Theatre) is one of the two theatres built in the 19th century by Baron Haussmann at Place du Châtelet, Paris, the other being the Théâtre du Châtelet. It is located at 2, place du Châtelet in the 4th arrondissement.
Incl ...
in Paris called ''Concerto d'Italie'' where he did a performance inside his drawings projected on a large screen by Laser Graphics Group. This was the first Diaporama exhibition staged in Europe. Pagani was interested in investigating the correlation among all the techniques he was to try out. Already in 1965 he had declared that "Engraving on stone, or vinyl, is the same thing. It is more important to establish one' s mental and emotional territory with all available means".
In 1973 Pagani used documentary footage made available by
RAI
RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many ter ...
to produce and direct a 27-minute movie-pamphlet entitled ''Venise, amore mio'' which
Unesco
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
defined as "the best vehicle of information on the dangers besetting Venice and its lagoon". The film was later broadcast on
Antenne 2
France 2 () is a French public national television channel. It is part of the state-owned France Télévisions group, along with France 3, France 4 and France 5. France Télévisions also participates in Arte and Euronews.
Since 3:20 CET on 7 ...
twice.
In 1975 Pagani composed the music and designed the stage set for ''Megalopolis'', a total-opera based on ''Medioevo Prossimo Venturo'' (The near future middleages) with a libretto by Italian futurologist Roberto Vacca. To represent the congestion and collapse of the Energy Systems as described by Vacca, Pagani proceeded to clone thousands of images of modern civilization using the first two Rank Xerox colour duplicators installed in Europe. The "xerographies", assembled on large plates, were photographed, projected and animated in ''Multimage'' shows on giant screens. ''Megalopolis'' was selected by the French Ministry of Culture for the re-opening of the Palais de Chaillot at the
Trocadero. It was subsequently staged at
Festival dei Due Mondi in
Spoleto
Spoleto (, also , , ; la, Spoletum) is an ancient city in the Italian province of Perugia in east-central Umbria on a foothill of the Apennines. It is S. of Trevi, N. of Terni, SE of Perugia; SE of Florence; and N of Rome.
History
Spolet ...
. In 1976 it received the ''Grand Prize of Academy Charles Cros''.
In 1975 Pagani composed the soundtrack for the Italian TV series ''Marco Visconti''. The opening theme, "Cavalli Ricamati" was a moderate success in the Italian charts.
In 1977 Pagani experimented with abstraction, mostly with a video-synthesizers devised by the French electronics engineer Marcel Dupouy. Despite his keen interest in technology, Pagani never refrained from using paper, pencils, paints and brushes. Influenced by the Italian art movement
Arte povera, he started working with discarded materials he would collect from beaches and in dumps across Europe. His sculptures, mostly made of old shoes, were exhibited at Centro Internazionale di Brera,
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
and
Palazzo dei Diamanti
Palazzo dei Diamanti is a Renaissance palace located on Corso Ercole I d'Este 21 in Ferrara, region of Emilia Romagna, Italy. The main floor of the Palace houses the Pinacoteca Nazionale di Ferrara (National Painting Gallery of Ferrara).
History
T ...
in
Ferrara.
Pagani died of
leukaemia
Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...
, aged 44 in
Palm Springs
Palm Springs (Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Riverside County by land ...
. He is buried in the
Kiryat Shaul Cemetery in Tel Aviv. A commemorative plate celebrating his life is permanently installed in
Portofino
Portofino (; ) is a ''comune'' located in the Metropolitan City of Genoa on the Italian Riviera. The town is clustered around its small harbour, and is known for the colourfully painted buildings that line the shore. Since the late 19th century ...
, on a path leading to his house.
Bibliography
*
Arturo Schwartz
Arturo Umberto Samuele Schwarz (2 February 1924 – 23 June 2021) was an Italian scholar, art historian, poet, writer, lecturer, art consultant and curator of international art exhibitions. He lived in Milan, where he amassed a large collection o ...
, ''Herbert Pagani: la scrittura della vita'', Macef,
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
, 1991.
* Paolo Levi, Aldo Spirito, Philippe Fresco, ''Herbert Pagani: Opere 1963–1986'', Spazio Skema,
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
, 1986.
Discography
* 1967: ''Una sera con Herbert Pagani'' (Private Pressing)
* 1969: ''Amicizia'' (Mama, RPLP-001)
* 1973: ''Megalopolis'' (Mama, RPLP-002)
* 1975: ''Ballate dal Marco Visconti'' (RCA, TPL1-1155)
* 1976: ''Palcoscenico'' (RCA, TPL-1-1225)
References
External links
*
Herbert Pagani*
*
Herbert Pagani* http://www.megalopolis.it/old (old page)
* http://www.megalopolis.it (new page)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pagani, Herbert
1944 births
1988 deaths
Italian contemporary artists
Italian musicians
Italian emigrants to the United States
Jewish artists
Jewish musicians
Libyan emigrants to Italy
Libyan Jews
People from Tripoli, Libya
Libyan people of Italian descent
20th-century Italian Jews