L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2024 www.italoamericano.org 12 L'Italo-Americano G etting to know a n a r t i s t t h r o u g h t h e i r w o r k s i s a n encounter that sometimes offers the oppor- tunity to understand their art, to place them in the time they lived, to imagine their personality, especially if they are no longer in this world. However, it is not always the case that this allows us to comprehend the motivations behind their artistic and life choices. R a r e l y , i n s t e a d , d o w e have the fortune to stumble upon some of their diaries, w h i c h n o t o n l y c o n t a i n reflections on art - their own or that of their contempo- raries - but also their inner- most soul, their most private life, with their impressions, feelings, and daily existence that would otherwise remain unknown, and the impact of which would not be under- stood in their works. This is precisely what hap- pened with Fausto Piran- dello, a painter of remark- a b l e d e p t h i n t h e 2 0 t h century and among the mem- bers of the Roman School. H e w a s t h e s o n o f t h e undoubtedly more famous father, Luigi Pirandello, the playwright and Nobel Prize winner. The discovery of these precious diaries was accidental, with the oldest dating back to 1936 found at t h e b o t t o m o f a d r a w e r – never opened again after his death on November 30, 1975. The drawer belonged to what was once his home and stu- dio on Via Scialoja in Rome, where the artist lived from the 1950s onwards. Today, this space is guarded by his daughter-in-law, Giovanna Carlino Pirandello, the tireless President of the Faus- to Pirandello Foundation, who took on the leadership role after her husband Pier- luigi's passing. Pierluigi was a co-founder of the foundation alongside her in 2011. She is now aided in the promotion of Fausto's works by Manuel Carrera, the Artistic Director, and Andrea Iezzi, the Assis- tant responsible for organiz- ing exhibitions and events. Both of them are from the Fausto Pirandello Founda- tion, headquartered in Rome. Deciphering the handwrit- ing was a task of considerable difficulty, but through his daily accounts, it was possi- ble to accurately date some works – an endeavor previ- ously impossible – and to identify others whose desti- nation had been lost. Fur- thermore, Fausto's torment- ed feelings emerge not only towards his father Luigi, with whom he had a known con- flicted relationship but also towards his sons Pierluigi and Antonio and his wife Pompilia d'Aprile, a beautiful model from Anticoli Corrado. Fausto married her two years after the birth of his firstborn Pierluigi, in Paris, without even informing his father. This is also recounted in the book written jointly by Pier- luigi Pirandello and Alfonso Veneroso, The Forgotten Pirandello, published in 2017 by De Luca Art Publish- ers, Rome. In his diary, Faus- to poured out all his dissatis- faction with marriage and his wife, whom he labeled with epithets like carrion, old hag, hyena, and shrew. Despite this, he never left her, and s h e r e m a i n e d h i s a l l y throughout his life. Regard- ing his children, he wrote: "My children are now to me like two abstractions, as if they were emblems of a tra- ditional way of being...I give them then what I would give to myself, thinking of when I was a child." N o w , t h e d i a r i e s h a v e been presented to the public i n a b o o k b e a r i n g t h e emblematic title: Pirandel- lo Day by Day, meticulous- ly curated by Manuel Carrera and once again brought to print by De Luca Art Publish- ers, the venerable publishing house of the Pirandello fami- ly. This literary revelation unveils not only the artist but also his human essence, laid bare in annotations delving into his private realm, his relationships with friends, colleagues, and the select few w i t h w h o m h e e n g a g e d . Within the pages of these diaries, one discovers his m u s i n g s o n m o d e r n a r t , along with accounts of his dreams, offering a fresh lens through which to interpret his works. T h e d i s c o v e r y o f t h e s e diaries has allowed for the partial filling of gaps in his archive, a task made neces- sary as Pirandello was not one to meticulously preserve his writings. What remains are scattered notes scribbled o n a n y a v a i l a b l e p i e c e o f p a p e r o r c i g a r e t t e p a c k , along with letters, scraps, and photographs, diligently preserved by his son Pierlui- g i , a r e s p o n s i b i l i t y n o w entrusted to Giovanna Carli- n o . F a u s t o e s c h e w e d t h e notion of preserving memo- ries, and what endures mere- ly reflects his idiosyncratic approach to his craft, rather than any deliberate intent to leave a lasting legacy for pos- terity. T h e v o l u m e w a s p r e - viewed at Casa Sanfilippo, headquarters of the Archae- ological and Landscape Park of the Valley of the Temples of Agrigento, in view of the initiatives related to the city, the Italian Capital of Culture 2025. Manuel Car- rera's book, with introducto- ry texts by the Park Director, Roberto Sciarratta, and art historian Lorenza Trucchi, contains the full transcrip- tion of the twelve diaries b e l o n g i n g t o t h e p a i n t e r , written between 1936 and 1 9 7 3 . I t i s e n r i c h e d w i t h p a i n t i n g s a n d w o r k s o n paper, footnotes, an index of names, 48 color plates cover- ing the years from 1928 to 1974, and a documentary apparatus with unpublished l e t t e r s a n d w r i t i n g s . T h e diaries constitute completely u n p u b l i s h e d m a t e r i a l o f extraordinary importance, thanks to Fausto's annota- tions on the progress of his works, the techniques used, and the revisions of works carried out even at consider- able intervals. The volume was published thanks to the support of the Archaeological and Land- scape Park of the Valley of the Temples of Agrigento, in c o l l a b o r a t i o n w i t h t h e Municipality of Anticoli Cor- rado and the Rotary Club R i b e r a , t h e h o m e t o w n o f Giovanna Carlino. Before the book presenta- tion, there was a ceremony to h a n d o v e r a p a i n t i n g b y F a u s t o P i r a n d e l l o , t i t l e d "Self-portrait" - watercolor on paper from 1945, gener- ously donated by Giovanna C a r l i n o , P r e s i d e n t o f t h e Fausto Pirandello Founda- t i o n , r e p r e s e n t e d f o r t h e occasion by Manuel Carrera and Andrea Iezzi. During the event, a small painting by Luigi Pirandello w a s a l s o d o n a t e d t o t h e Archaeological and Land- scape Park of the Valley of t h e T e m p l e s b y A n t o n i o Alessio, Professor of History and Vice President of Inter- n a t i o n a l P r o g r a m m e s a t Richmond American Univer- sity London. It's an oil on canvas from 1913, titled "Bell Tower Church of San Gior- gio," Soriano al Cimino. It w a s d e l i v e r e d b y h i s s o n Dominic, who also presented his father Antonio's book, titled Pirandello Unbri- dled. An exploratory and p e r s o n a l j o u r n e y b y Antonio Alessio. With the donation of the t w o p a i n t i n g s – F a u s t o Pirandello's Self-portrait and Luigi Pirandello's Bell Tower Church of San Giorgio – the art gallery of the Museum of the Birthplace of Luigi Piran- dello will be enriched, thus bringing together father and s o n f o r c o m p a r i s o n , t w o great artists who have left a legacy that will hardly be matched over time. Two gen- erations in comparison, two a r t i s t s , t w o p e r s o n a l i t i e s often in conflict and contra- diction but with a fundamen- t a l l o v e t h a t n o d i f f e r e n t vision of life and art could TERESA DI FRESCO Pirandello Day by Day LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE Famous Italian writer Luigi Pirandello, father of painter Fausto Pirandello (Work available under Creative Commons agreement. PirandelloOnline/Public Domain)

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