Project Description
The string of exhibitions and awards that Pompeo Mariani enjoyed during his lifetime is truly impressive – albeit not entirely uncommon for the historical period in question. He participated in various Italian art salons, especially in Milan, Venice and Turin, and also frequently exhibited in Liguria, Tuscany and, or course, in Rome. The various life-time exhibitions represent a rather complex stages in his artistic progress. Mariani has also, on occasion, ventured abroad, but with lesser success and losing some important engagements in Paris. However, a better view is gained by taking a broader critical approach, not limited to only artistic parameters. If we mentally follow the ‘artistic itinerary’ of Mariani – between Milan and the Casino of Monte Carlo, between the dense fogs of Ticino and the eclectics of Renaissance Revival buildings, in search of his artistic identity – what begins to emerge is a paradigm of exceptional clarity that helps us understand the formation of his artistic taste and style, in the midsts of the crucial historical juncture of the post-Unification Italy.