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CorieredelaSera-L'economia-
P.Manaza
17December2018
Englishversion
Thediscovery InaSwishousethetreasureofLuigiPericleGiovanneti
Itlooksliketheclassic“trunk”foundinacelar.Insteadofgolddoubloons therearehundredsofartworkscreatedbyanartistwhowaswelknowninthe secondhalfofthe20thcentury,butthenvanishedintothinair.
TheBiasca-CaronisboughtabuildingclosetotheirHotelinAscona(Switzerland) anddiscoveredacolectionofextraordinaryartworksanddocumentswhichleadto LuigiPericleGiovanneti:apeculiarandcomplexartistwhowasborninFermo (intheMarcheregion)in1916andmovedtoBaselwithhisfamilysoonafterwards.
IntheFiftiesPericlewascommitedtoilustration:heliaisedwithsatiricalmagazinessuchastheSwisNebelspalterandtheEnglishPunch.Forthelaterheeven invented“Maxthemarmot”whichbecameimmediatelypopular;althoughpaintingwashistruelove.
In1959therenownedSwiscolectorStaechelinfelinlovewithPericle’swork.Heacquiredhundredsofartworksandevenboughtahouseforhim inAscona-atthefoot ofthe w el l-know n M onte Verità – in orderto lethim paintas peaceful ly as pos sible.
Between1962and1965heparticipatedinimportantexhibitionsas“LuigiPericle”,mainlyinEngland,whereheexhibitedhisartwithoutstandingpersonalitiessuchas Picasso,Tàpies,Appel,Stela,Corneile,Saura,Dubufet.
EvenHerbertRead–whoatthetimewasthecuratoroftheVictoriaandAlbertMuseum inLondonandwasalsooneofthepersonalartconsultantsofPeggyGuggenheim -gotenchantedbyPericle’swork.TheencounterwithReadcouldhavechangedhiswholelifeandlaunchedhim inthehyperuranionofcontemporaryartworld.
Mysteriously,in1965Pericleretreatedfrom publiclife:herefusedanyform ofinvitation,preferingtoliveasecludedlifewithhiswifeOrsolinaintheirhouseinAscona, wherehedevotedhimselftothestudyoftheAncientEgyptian,GreekandChinesecivilizationsandtomeditationaswel. In2001hepasedawaywithouthavinganyheirs.Hishouseremainedclosedandemptyforfifteenyears,untiltheBiasca-Caronisboughtitanddiscoveredclosetswhich enclosedoilsoncanvas,drawingsandhandwritendocuments.
Afterafew momentsofastonishment,theystartedtocaryouttheprojectoftheArchivioLuigiPericle(www.luigipericle.org).Atthemomentthey’redealingwiththe recoveryandpromotionofthisgreatartistintermsofartcriticsandphilology,butalsotakingalookatthevalorizationofhisartworkstoo.
InfactiftheestimatesofPericle’sartworkswentbacktothoseoftheSixties,hisinkdrawings,atpresent,wouldbeworthapproximatelytenthousandeurosandhisoils oncanvasbetweenfiftyandsixtythousandeuros.Duetothehugeamountofartworksfoundinthecelarofthehouse,itmeanswe’reactualystaringatatreasure.
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