Exhibition "Vigezzini di Francia"

Poscio Collection exhibits 90 19th-century Vigezzo works at Casa De Rodis in Domodossola

The exhibition Vigezzini di Francia, created by Collezione Poscio in collaboration with the Fondazione Rossetti Valentini di Santa Maria Maggiore and with the important support of Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo, opens on Friday 15 September at 6 pm at Casa De Rodis, Piazza Mercato in Domodossola.

The exhibition, which features 90 works and is open from Friday to Sunday until 26 November, draws inspiration and foundation from the monograph of the same name written with care and passion by Dario Gnemmi, an authoritative and unforgettable scholar in the area.

Maestro Enrico Cavalli (1849-1919), a turning point in nineteenth century painting, called for a "Storia dell'Arte Vigezzina": Dario Gnemmi began it with a deepening of the central period, from the nineteenth century to the first half of the twentieth century, highlighting the importance of the particular link with French art and culture.

The exhibition opens with a first section dedicated to the French suggestions and inspirations of Vigezzo painting: Francois-Auguste Ravier (1814-1895), a prominent figure at the Lyon School, and Adolphe-Joseph-Thomas Monticelli (1824-1886), one of the most interesting interpreters of the Barbizon School. A painting where the protagonists are colour and light that give life to the shapes.

The first floor brings together portraits, still lifes and landscapes of the main painters from Vigezzini of the nineteenth century, illustrating the intensification of relations with France, from Carlo Gaudenzio Lupetti to Enrico Cavalli, the most "French" of the Vigezzini and a turning point in the painting of the valley, tormented artist and brilliant Master at the Rossetti Valentini School of Fine Arts.

On the second floor you can admire the paintings of the "magnificent four", Enrico Cavalli's most beloved pupils: Carlo Fornara, Giovanni Battista Ciolina, Lorenzo Peretti Junior and Gian Maria Rastellini; while the works of the next generation – including Camillo Besana, Alfredo Belcastro and Severino Ferraris – are exhibited in the attic.

Finally, in the basement there is a section dedicated to drawing, to which the painters from Vigezzo devote great attention with splendid results.