Fabrizio Clerici
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Fabrizio Clerici (15 May 1913 – 7 June 1993) was an Italian painter.


Biography

Clerici was a complex and eclectic artist and was also an architect, costume designer, scenographer and photographer. His works were exhibited in many museums in the United States, including the MoMA and the
Guggenheim Museum The Guggenheim Museums are a group of museums in different parts of the world established (or proposed to be established) by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. Museums in this group include: Locations Americas * The Solomon R. Guggenhei ...
, and in France, such as the
Centre Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the Centre national d'art et de culture Georges-Pompidou ( en, National Georges Pompidou Centre of Art and Culture), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English, is a complex building in the Beaubourg area of ...
. His most renowned works are ''Il Minotauro accusa pubblicamente sua madre'', ''Sonno romano'' (1955); ''Le Confessioni palermitane'' (1954); ''Minerva phlegraea'' (1956–57); ''Le Krak des Chevaliers'' (1968). In 1920 Clerici moved to Rome, where he studied at the Scuola Superiore di Architettura, and obtained an architecture degree in 1937. The Roman monuments, architecture and paintings from the
Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( it, Rinascimento ) was a period in Italian history covering the 15th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Europe and marked the trans ...
and the baroque period considerably influence him, as did certain religious works, due to their spectacular aspect. Later, ''Sonno romano'' (1955) would reawaken those memories. In Rome he attended conferences by Le Corbusier, and in 1936 he became a friend of Alberto Savinio; they admired each other's work.Savinio, ''Ascolto il tuo cuore città'' (1944) In 1938 he met
Giorgio de Chirico Giuseppe Maria Alberto Giorgio de Chirico ( , ; 10 July 1888 – 20 November 1978) was an Italian artist and writer born in Greece. In the years before World War I, he founded the '' scuola metafisica'' art movement, which profoundly influ ...
in Milan. At the end of the 1930s he made his first dreamlike and fantastic paintings, based on his memory of events, locations and persons transformed by the filter of time. Through his reconstruction of images, Clerici evolved naturally towards surrealism. However, the actual motive of Clerici remained
metaphysical Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of conscio ...
. Upon his return to Rome after the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
he closely perused the scientific studies of
Athanasius Kircher Athanasius Kircher (2 May 1602 – 27 November 1680) was a German Jesuit scholar and polymath who published around 40 major works, most notably in the fields of comparative religion, geology, and medicine. Kircher has been compared to fe ...
,
Erhard Schön Erhard Schön ( 1491–1542) was a German woodcut designer and painter. Schön was born in Nuremberg as the son of painter Max Schön III. He probably started to learn his trade as an artist in the workshop of his father. He was clearly influenced ...
and Jean François Niceron. In 1944 he wrote an article in the review ''Quadrante'' describing his meeting with Leonor Fini. In January 1945 he and Savinio participated in a collective exhibition. In 1947 he collaborated with Lucio Fontana in the project ''Patio per una casa al mare'', for Handicraft Development, Inc. in New York. Until 1948, Clerici continued to produce drawings and engravings; in 1949 he produced large-scale paintings in which architecture was the major harmonic component. Later he travelled to the Middle East —
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
, Syria and
Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
— as well as to
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 ...
and Turkey. From those travels Clerici developed two themes: the "mirages" and the "temples of the egg", cycles of constructions set in the desert and spiralling from a central core containing a hypothetical primordial egg. In parallel to his paintings, which became more and more fantastic and magical, he worked for the theatre. On this return from Egypt he created sets for '' La vedova scaltra'' by
Carlo Goldoni Carlo is a given name. It is an Italian form of Charles. It can refer to: * Carlo (name) * Monte Carlo * Carlingford, New South Wales, a suburb in north-west Sydney, New South Wales, Australia *A satirical song written by Dafydd Iwan about Prince ...
under the direction of
Giorgio Strehler Giorgio Strehler (; ; 14 August 1921 – 25 December 1997) was an actor, Italian opera and theatre director. Biography Strehler was born in Barcola, Trieste; His father, Bruno Strehler, was a native of Trieste with family roots in Vienna and die ...
. Before that he had produced the sets of a number of ballets and lyric works, always with the theme of a fantastic world. He then made the sets and costumes for Igor Stravinsky's ballet ''
Orpheus Orpheus (; Ancient Greek: Ὀρφεύς, classical pronunciation: ; french: Orphée) is a Thracian bard, legendary musician and prophet in ancient Greek religion. He was also a renowned poet and, according to the legend, travelled with J ...
'', presented at the La Fenice theatre in
Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...
in 1948; for ''
Dido and Aeneas ''Dido and Aeneas'' (Z. 626) is an opera in a prologue and three acts, written by the English Baroque composer Henry Purcell with a libretto by Nahum Tate. The dates of the composition and first performance of the opera are uncertain. It was com ...
'' by Henry Purcell and for ''
The Rape of Lucretia ''The Rape of Lucretia'' (Op. 37) is an opera in two acts by Benjamin Britten, written for Kathleen Ferrier, who performed the title role. Ronald Duncan based his English libretto on André Obey's play '. Performance history The opera was fi ...
'' by
Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...
, both at the
Teatro dell'Opera di Roma The Teatro dell'Opera di Roma (Rome Opera House) is an opera house in Rome, Italy. Originally opened in November 1880 as the 2,212 seat ''Costanzi Theatre'', it has undergone several changes of name as well modifications and improvements. The pre ...
and directed by Alberto Lattuada (1949); for '' Armide'' by Jean-Baptiste Lully (1950); for the comic opera ''
Gianni Schicchi () is a comic opera in one act by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Giovacchino Forzano, composed in 1917–18. The libretto is based on an incident mentioned in Dante's ''Divine Comedy''. The work is the third and final part of Pucci ...
'' by
Giacomo Puccini Giacomo Puccini ( Lucca, 22 December 1858Bruxelles, 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long ...
, directed by Peter Ustinov at the
Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Ope ...
in Covent Garden (1962); and for ''
Ali Baba "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" ( ar, علي بابا والأربعون لصا) is a folk tale from the '' One Thousand and One Nights''. It was added to the collection in the 18th century by its French translator Antoine Galland, who heard ...
'' by Luigi Cherubini, at the La Scala in
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 ...
. Over a two-year period he helped create the big stained glass window ''La fede di Santa Caterina'' for the
Basilica of San Domenico The Basilica of San Domenico is one of the major churches in Bologna, Italy. The remains of Saint Dominic, founder of the Order of Preachers ( Dominicans), are buried inside the exquisite shrine Arca di San Domenico, made by Nicola Pisano and hi ...
in
Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centur ...
(1957). In 1964 he began a series of tables for '' Orlando furioso'' of Ludovico Ariosto. In 1968, on the occasion of the
Berliner Festspiele The Berliner Festspiele (German for Berlin Festivals) are a series of festivals, art exhibitions, and other cultural events organized all year long by a common organization in Berlin. Events are held at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele, a pre-ex ...
, he participated in two exhibitions on painting and scenography in the ''
Neue Nationalgalerie The Neue Nationalgalerie (New National Gallery) at the Kulturforum is a museum for modern art in Berlin, with its main focus on the early 20th century. It is part of the National Gallery of the Berlin State Museums. The museum building and its s ...
'' and the ''Galerie im Rathaus Tempelhof''. In 1970 he produced for Berlin's ''
Propyläen Verlag The ''Ullstein Verlag'' was founded by Leopold Ullstein in 1877 at Berlin and is one of the largest publishing companies of Germany. It published newspapers like '' B.Z.'' and '' Berliner Morgenpost'' and books through its subsidiaries ''Ullstein ...
'' an edition of ''
The Travels of Marco Polo ''Book of the Marvels of the World'' ( Italian: , lit. 'The Million', deriving from Polo's nickname "Emilione"), in English commonly called ''The Travels of Marco Polo'', is a 13th-century travelogue written down by Rustichello da Pisa from st ...
'' (''Il Milione'') of Marco Polo, with tables and original lithographs. The drawings were exhibited with other paintings at the '' Galerie Brusberg'' in
Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...
(1971). In 1974-75 he painted a cycle around the theme '' Isle of the Dead of Arnold Böcklin. In 1977 he made a series of lithographs for an edition of '' Le bestiaire'' by
Guillaume Apollinaire Guillaume Apollinaire) of the Wąż coat of arms. (; 26 August 1880 – 9 November 1918) was a French poet, playwright, short story writer, novelist, and art critic of Polish descent. Apollinaire is considered one of the foremost poets of t ...
. During the same year three important retrospective exhibitions were dedicated to Clerici at the Museum of Western and Oriental Art in Kiev, the Fine Arts Museum in Almaty and the Pushkin Museum in
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...
. In the 1970s he produced Egyptian-inspired works entitled ''Variazioni tebane''. In 1980–1981 he completed a cycle of paintings around the theme of violence, entitled ''I corpi di Orvieto''. At the same time he worked on a series of large colour tables entitled ''Le impalcature della Sistina''. In 1983 an exhibition was dedicated to him at the
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. In 1984, he visited Samarkand and Bukhara. In 1987 a retrospective exhibition was dedicated to him at the
Reggia di Caserta The Royal Palace of Caserta ( it, Reggia di Caserta ) is a former royal residence in Caserta, southern Italy, constructed by the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies as their main residence as kings of Naples. It is the largest palace erected in Europ ...
, with a catalogue edited by
Franco Maria Ricci Franco Maria Ricci (2 December 1937 – 10 September 2020) was an Italian art publisher and magazine editor. Amongst his publications is '' FMR'', a Milan-based bi-monthly art magazine published in Italian, English, German, French, and Spanish for ...
. After his death the ''Archivio "Fabrizio Clerici"'' was created.


Bibliography

*Giuseppe Bergamini, Giancarlo Pauletto. ''Fabrizio Clerici: opere 1938–1990''. Pordenone: Centro Iniziative Culturali, Collana ''Protagonisti'', 2006, 128 pp. *Raffaele Carrieri. ''Fabrizio Clerici''. Milan: Electra Editrice, 1955. *Marcel Brion. ''Fabrizio Clerici''. Milan: Electra Editrice, 1955, 122 pp. *Sergio Troisi (ed.). ''Fabrizio Clerici. Opere 1937–1992. Catalogo della mostra (Marsala, 7 luglio-28 ottobre 2007)''. Palermo:
Sellerio Editore Sellerio Editore is an Italian publisher founded in 1969 in Palermo, by Elvira Giorgianni and her husband Enzo Sellerio, encouraged by the writer Leonardo Sciascia and the anthropologist Antonino Buttitta. History After some titles published i ...
, 2007, 207 pp.,


References


External links


Archivio Fabrizio Clerici
*Nicita, Paola (10 July 2007)

''
La Repubblica ''la Repubblica'' (; the Republic) is an Italian daily general-interest newspaper. It was founded in 1976 in Rome by Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso (now known as GEDI Gruppo Editoriale) and led by Eugenio Scalfari, Carlo Caracciolo and Arnol ...
'' *
Peggy Guggenheim Collection The Peggy Guggenheim Collection is an art museum on the Grand Canal in the Dorsoduro ''sestiere'' of Venice, Italy. It is one of the most visited attractions in Venice. The collection is housed in the , an 18th-century palace, which was the home ...

"Fabrizio Clerici"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clerici, Fabrizio 1913 births 1993 deaths 20th-century Italian painters 20th-century Italian male artists Italian male painters