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LuigiPericleGiovanneti,theforgotentalent Theworldofalostartistre-emergesinAscona
It’salateSummerafternoonwhenoureditorialofficeisstrikenbyaphonecalwhichhasthe flavourofbreakingnews.“GotoAscona.Anartcolectionwhichhaddisappearedfordecades, hasjustbeenrefound.ThewholecorpusoftheartworksbyLuigiPericleGiovannetiislikea treasurewhichisarisingthisinstant”.Atthebeginningapeculiarskepticism pervadedtheroom: isitrealyatreasure?Andwhataboutthenameoftheartist?Whydoesn’tthisLuigiPericle Giovannetisoundfamiliartome?Theappointment isinAscona–atthefootofMonteVerità– withAndreaandGretaBiasca-Caroni:they’retheoneswhoownthepaintings.Whenwemeet theytelmeanincrediblestorywhichI’ltrytotelyou.Oneyearearlierthecoupleboughtasmal twofloorhousewherenobodyhadsetfootinforaboutfifteenyears.Itwasthedwelingofa painterwhopasedawayin2001withouthavinganyheirs,soithadstayedthesamesincehe hadleftit.Afterthefirstshortvisitstothehouse,thecouplebeginstorealizethatsomething unique had stepped into their life: the w orld of a forgot ten artist begins to be outlined w ith sources from the abandoned room s,the dusty furnishings,the bookshelves.Paintings,let ters and photographsbyLuigiPericleGiovanneti:apainterwhoisnow mostlyunknownformany reasons,butwhodeservesgreatatentionfortheintensityofhislifeandwork.Thefirstrough inventoryfeaturesdozensofoilsoncanvasandthousandsofdrawingsonpaperwhicharealina goodstateofconservation.TheBiasca-Caronisarecurious,sotheystartedcaryingoutsome personalresearch.IntownsomeonehasfleetingmemoriesofGiovannetiwho,inthelastyears ofhislife,hadstoppedpaintingandhaddevotedhimselftoothermaters.Hehadbeenleadinga secludedlife,sometimesdevelopingpeople’sastralprofiles,writingnovelsonUFO andteaching p a in tin g c la s s e s . A m o n g h is p u p ils th e re w a s a y o u n g In g e b o rg L ü s c h e r w h o in la te r y e a rs mariedtheartcriticHaraldSzeemann.Now shetelshow kindandfriendlyGiovannetiwas–he wasnaturalyendowedwithanauraofknowledge –althoughslightlydistant.Thiswitness– publishedonthewebsiteTicinarte.ch–onlypartlyhelpsustodescribethefigureofapainterwho isdifficulttoplaceintoday’scanonswhicharemainlyfocusedonsingleexpertise.Whorealy wasGiovanneti?Anartist?Aphilosopher?Maybeamystic?Oracombinationofalthesethings together?AndreaandGretaBiasca-Caronishow metheresultsoftheirresearch:itlooksasifa greatpuzleisbeingfinalyputtogetherrightbeforeoureyes.Onlyafew dataonhisfamilyand childhoodarise:ashortbiography–publishedinacataloguefrom theSixties–showshewas bornintheMarcheregionandgrew upinBasel.Hestudiedart,butsoonhedecidedtoabandon hisstudies,becausehecouldn’tbearthescholasticdiscipline.Heiscleverwithpencilsandfinds ajobasanilustrator.BetweenthelateFortiesandthefolowingdecadeheliaiseswithimportant satiricaljournalsconcentratinghisefortsontherepresentationofanimalssuchasaroundand funnymarmotcaledMaxwhich,atthetime,achievesacertainsuces.Hesignsthedrawings withhissurname,Giovanneti,butthismostprobablyisn’tenoughforhim.In1958hedestroys hiswholethirtyyearartproductionwhichhehadneverexhibitedandhadneveridentifiedwith. Thenhetriesnew waysofrepresentationandembracesabstractart.Heisquitewelinformed aboutwhatishappeninginEuropeinthefieldofArtInformelanddecidestomakehimselfknown onlyas“LuigiPericle”.Whenin1959theBaselcolectorPeterStaechelinbeginstoshow interest inhisartworks,thisbecomesaturningpoint.It’sthebeginningofacolaborationwhichonone handalowstheartisttoworkmorecomfortablyand,ontheother,thecolectortoacquireone hundredartworksbyPericle.TheStaechelinsownaremarkablereputationintheSwissartworld: RudolfStaechelin,whowasPeter’sfather,boastsacolectionofrealtreasuresgatheringworks o f a rt b y V a n G o g h , M o n e t, C é z a n n e , P ic a s s o a n d G a u g in . T h e fo l lo w in g d e c a d e is ric h o f o u ts ta n d in g e n c o u n te rs : H a n s H e s s - th e p ro d u c e r o f Y o rk F e s tiv a l a n d d ire c to r o f th e Y o rk Museum –discoversPericle’sartanddecidestoputitonshow inEngland.ThefirstLuigi Pericle’sexhibitionisattheToothGaleryinLondonanditisfolowedbyotherexhibitionsonUk g ro u n d . P e ric le a ls o b e c o m e s a c q u a in te d w ith H e rb e rt R e a d , w h o w a s a B ritis h p o e t, a n a rt historian,anexpertonsurealism andoneofthePeggyGuggenheims’spersonalartconsultants. ReadisfamiliarwithAsconasinceheatendstheEranos’seminars:heisfavourablyimpresed bythepainterandheparticularlyadmiresPericle’stechnicalskilsandthebeautyoftheworksof artwhichwereinfluencedbyOrientalspirituality,acordingtohim.Inthemid-SixtiesourPericle lookslikeanartistwhocancountonabrightcareerandthesupportofimportantpersonalities but...somethinggoeswrong.LuigiPericledecidestoretreatandstopsexhibiting.Heprobably needsanew spiritualapproachorhe’slikelytobemoreinterestedinleavingaworldwhich doesn’tsuithim properly.GretaandAndreaBiasca-Caronishow metheartworksbyLuigiPericle refoundinhishouse.Thesepaintingstelthestoryofanartistwhohasbeeninspiredbytachisme andneocubism andprefersanessentialstyleoptingforacolourpaletewithfew selectedtones. Shapes are control led, the structures are geom etric. It looks like there is no such space for improvisation.Thedrawingsonpapershow acompletelydiferentstyle:they’reabsolutely beautifulandmeaningfulandacertaininteresttowardstheOrientisclearlyperceivable.Thetime isripeforcaryingoutanin-depthresearchonthisartistanddevelopehislifeeventsarousingthe
studyofhisworktoo.IhavetheimpresionthatwewilhearaboutLuigiPericleagainsoon.
Themysteriousrebelwhowithdrew atthedawnofhissuccess Welknow for“Maxthemarmot”,thepainterchosetheseclusioninhishouseontheLakeMaggiore
LuigiPericleGiovanneti’sbiographyisstiltobewriten.Itisknownthattheartistwasbornin1916inMonterubbiano,asmaltownintheprovinceofFermo(inthe Marcheregion).HisfatherwasItalianandhismotherwasofFrenchorigins.Whenhewasyoung,hemovedtoBasel,probablywithhisfamily.Duetohisprecocious talent,Pericleapproachedpaintingataveryyoungage:hejoinedanartschool,buthecouldn’tcopewiththescholasticdisciplineandteachingmethods.Hewaskeenon lookingfornew paterns.HeapproachedEasternphilosophiesandstudiedtheAncientEgyptian,GreekandChinesecivilizationswhichbecamerefreshingsourcesof inspirationforhisart.IntheFiftieshedecidedtofocusonilustrationandsetouttocolaboratewithsomesatiricalmagazinessuchastheSwisNebelspalterandthe EnglishPunch.Forthelaterheinvented“Maxthemarmot”whichobtainsitsfirstpublicationin1952andachievedimmediatelyahugesucces.Pericledestroyshis wholeartproductionoftheThirtiesandForties,butkeepsonpainting:preparingthecoloursonhisownasthemastersusedtodointhepast,healsousesspecial Chineseresinsandinks.In1959hebecameacquaintedwithPeterG.Staechelinwhoturnedintohismainpatronbyacquiringanimportantseriesofartworksfrom then. WestilhaveapproximatelyonethousandpaintingsbyGiovannetiintheStaechelincolection.Withthepurposeofletinghim workaspeacefulyasposible,Staechelin boughttheHalaHouse(whichinspanishmeans“discovery”)forGiovannetiandhiswifeUrsulaatthefootofMonteVeritàinAscona.Between1962and1965he exhibitedseveraltimesas“LuigiPericle”inEngland,mainlyattheToothGaleryinLondon,acontemporaryartgalerywhichmainlyfocusedonEuropeanAbstractArtand ArtInformelproposingtothepublicartistssuchasKarelAppel,AntonioSaura,JeanDubufet,CorneileandAsgerJorn.ManyartworksbyPericleendupinseveralprivate artcolectionsinEnglandandAmerica.Moreoverin1965hehostedHerbertReadduringhisvisittoAscona:ReadwasthecuratoroftheVictoriaandAlbertMuseum in London,professoroftheHarvardUniversityandoneofthepersonalartconsultantsofPeggyGuggenheim.Thisencountercouldhavetrulychangedtheartist’slifeifonly anunexplainabledecisionhadn’tbeenmadeshortlyafterwards.Infact,duetounknownreasons,LuigiPericlewithdrew from thepublicscene.HisdwelinginAscona turnedouttobethecoreofhispersonalworldwherehekeptonpaintinguntiltheEightiescommitinghimselftomeditation,researchandwritingaswelaskeepingin touchwithscholarsandintelectualsworldwide.In2001hepassedawayinAsconawithoutheirsandhishouseremainedclosedforfifteenyears.
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