Artista Francesco Paolo Michetti. 1851 - 1929.

Biography:
Francesco Paolo Michetti, Born in Tocco di Casauria on the 4th October 1851, Francesco Paolo Michetti completes his first artistic studies in Chieti. His undeniable talent induces the abbruzzese city to grant him a scholarship in 1868 to pursue his studies at the Accademia di Belle Arti of Naples.
In Naples Michetti is attracted mainly from the realism of Domenico Morelli, the Palizzi and the painters of the school of Resina. A scarce attendance to the academic courses does not prevent him, years later, from winning twice an encouragement award destined to the best students (Mezza figura di vecchio, 1867-68; Paesaggio con figura, 1868-69).
In 1872 Michetti participates to the Paris Salon and he ties himself with the German merchant Reutlinger. This is a feverish and prolific period full of stimulus. He meets and develops an interest in Mariano Fortuny art work and begins to devote to photography presumably with the mediation of Filippo Palazzi.
He exhibits again at the Paris Salon in 1875 and in 1877 attracts the attentions of the critiques at the Naples Nationl Exhibition, where he presents la Processione del Corpus Domini a Chieti (private collection). The Countess La Field, deeply touched by this painting, commission Mattinata, a work themed with a canto rehearsal of a romanza of Francesco Paolo Tosti set in Francavilla. His participations to important reviews became towards the end of 1800 more intense. In 1878 he is present at the Paris Universal Exposition, in 1880 at the first International Exhibition of Modern Paintings of the Raffaello’s Society and again at the Paris Salon, in 1881 at the National Exhibition of Milan. In 1882 he illustrates the Canto Nuovo of Gabriele D’Annunzio published by Angelo Sommaruga.
The following year marks a turning point in the production of the artist. The monumental painting Il Voto, presented at the Rome International Exhibition, hits the critics and the public for the raw realism in which it described the feast of Saint Pantaleon at Miglianico. The work, reviewed by D’Annunzio on the pages of “Fanfulla della Domenica”, finally enters in the collections of the Rome's Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna.
During the same period Michetti buys the convent of Santa Maria Maggiore in Francavilla, where in the summer of 1883 he invited friends Costantino Barbella, D'Annunzio, Matilde Serao, Edoardo Scarfoglio and Domenico Tosti. The new house becomes a magnet for artists such as Giulio Aristide Sartorio, Guido Boggiani and Basilio Cascella, who spend long periods painting in each other's company...//

...//Especially close is the relationship with D'Annunzio, who writes in Francavilla Il Piacere (1883-84), L'innocente (1890-92) and part of his Trionfo della morte (1889-94). In the company of D'Annunzio himself, Barbella and a scholar of local folklore Antonio De Nino, the artist goes to visit the most remote locations in Abruzzo, in order to achieve photojournalism during the traditional festivals, collecting the rich iconographic material, later used in the monumental canvas Le Serpi e Gli Storpi (both art works are in Francavilla a Mare, Museo Michetti).
In the first half of the 1890 the artist participates in major exhibitions in Germany, including the International Art Exhibition of the Society of Artists in Berlin in 1891. In 1895 the painting La Figlia di Iorio (Pescara, Palazzo della Provincia) is awarded at the 1st Venice Biennale. The jury composed by critics and art historians motivates its decision in the following way: "Michetti [...] has expressed a human drama with sincerity, with immense natural power." From the second half of the decade, Michetti's participation in public exposure becomes ever more sporadic.
The artist spends long periods of isolation in the convent of Francavilla, reassembles its rich photographic material in carrying out the pictures Le Serpi e Gli Storpi, which will be formally introduced after years of gestation in the Paris Universal Exposition of 1900. The photography over this period is no longer a simple tool to gather documentary material, but becomes self-expressive language, whose potential is investigated in the isolation of Abruzzo. Appointed Senator of the Kingdom in 1909, the following year Michetti agrees to send fifteen of his landscapes to the Venice Biennale. It is his last appearance, followed by futile attempts to persuade him to resubmit his work to the public. In 1913 he accepts, however, to become member of the Ordering Board of the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna and also a member in 1921 of the Acquisitions Board of the same institution. He died in the convent of Francavilla from pneumonia on 5th March 1929.