Carlo d’Aloisio da Vasto

Paesaggi Culturali Abruzzesi at Palazzo d’Avalos

From May 13 to July 30, 2023, the magnificent Palazzo d ‘Avalos di Vasto will host the Paesaggi Culturali Abruzzesi (Cultural Landscapes of Abruzzo) project with a first retrospective show of the artist Carlo d’Aloisio da Vasto from Vasto. Eighty works by the artist will be shown focused on Abruzzo, including some give on loan from the Museums of Rome.

The project honors an artist (or truly an artist couple) of uncommon sensitivity and mastery: Carlo d’Aloisio da Vasto (Vasto 1892 – Roma 1971) was a painter, artist, and especially a promoter of arts “Master of Art and Culture” as the heading of the website about him.

The reason we referred to an artist couple is that Carlo d ‘Aloisio was married to the sculptor Elisabetta Mayo (Naples 1894–Rome 1972) and they had a partnership in life and art as professional as it was wonderful.

Adam’s Mask by Elisabetta Mayo

At Egidi MadeinItaly, www.egidimadeinitaly.com we are delighted and proud that one of our sculptures was chosen by the exhibition’s curator Prof.ssa Paola Di Felice. We thank her sincerely.

This bronze work of uncommon intensity is by Elisabetta Mayo, “The Mask of Adam” and will be exhibited in the retrospective at Palazzo d’Avalos in Vasto. The exhibition’s vernissage is scheduled for May 13.

Elisabetta Mayo bronze sculpture for saleon Egidi MadeinItaly — The Mask of Adam by Elisabetta Mayo,

Who was Carlo d’Aloisio da Vasto?

To give a quick overview of his biography, we could say that though he was self-taught, Carlo d’Aloisio da Vasto managed to reach the highest expressions of the Roman artistic movement known as Tonalism.

He remained very attached to his roots to the point that:

“He loves this popular culture and feels a part of it. He perceives its age-old, archaic value that forms the structure of humanity.” Paolo Calvano

He was surrounded only by classical artists, the true giants of the Academy such as the Palizzi brothers, Gabriele Smargiassi, and Valerico Laccetti.

Nonetheless, he was drawn to the painting of the Avant-Garde of the Roman School to the point that we can consider him “in certain aspects of meaning and form, a forerunner of the tonal Chiarismo of the great period of the Roman 1930s (D. Micacchi 1981).

Paesaggi Culturali Abruzzesi on Egidi MadeinItaly — Painting by Carlo d’Aloisio da Vasto

Elisabetta Mayo: wife and artist

In 1927, Carlo d’Aloisio da Vasto married Elisabetta Mayo (Naples 1894 – Rome 1972), a sculptor and Vincenzo Gemito‘s favorite student. They used to work together in their Roman atelier at Viale Giulio Cesare 51.

The collaboration would prove very fruitful as we can read on the website about them:

“In March, 1929, he and his wife Elisabetta Mayo organized a major solo exhibition in Rome in the Stanze del Libro in the Salone delle Tre Venezie, which was opened by Giuseppe Bottai and graced with the presence of King Victor Emmanuel III.”

In the coming years, they took part together and individually in prestigious Italian and international exhibitions.

I’ll end with one of this truly special couple’s many artistic expressions, their poetry.

Their sensibility led them to write poems too of such quality that a recent event in Vasto spotlighted this aspect of their artistic abilities.

I’ll leave you with the words of these artists’ grandson whom I had the pleasure of meeting, Carlo d’Aloisio Mayo president of the “Archive of Master Carlo d’Aloisio da Vasto” Cultural Association, with his beautiful words spoken at this event:

“The Dialogue between Carlo and Elisa is only one piece of the mosaic with which we are gradually reconstructing and honoring the artistic and cultural lives of two artists from Vasto, helped by the generous, dedicated support of many people.

Too many decades have passed, letting a sort of oblivion fall on the artistic expressions and cultural pursuits of Carlo d’Aloisio da Vasto and Elisabetta Mayo. This dark shadow, to the point of damnatio memoriae in some aspects, stopped us before now from having full knowledge and due recognition of the role that these two key figures played in 20th-century art and culture, not only in Abruzzo and not only in Rome.”

Visit soon!

Tonalismo Scuola Romana su Egidi MadeinItaly