| Francesco Paolo Michetti, Italian (1851 - 1929)
Draftsman, Painter, Photographer Francesco Paolo Michetti learned painting's rudiments from
a local fresco painter. In 1868 he traveled to Naples, supported
by a small grant to study at the academy there. Asserting that
his temperament would benefit more from real life situations,
he was allowed to return to the Abruzzo region in 1869 and continued
to receive his grant. Michetti exhibited at the Paris Salons
of 1872 and 1875, but he also belonged to Scuola di Resina,
a group of Neapolitan painters that aimed to bring Italian art
into Europe's mainstream. Abruzzo was his emotional and aesthetic
inspiration. He captured its people, animals, and local events
in emotionally charged paintings with luminous colors and vibrant
light. In 1883 Michetti purchased a convent as his home and
studio. For the next twenty years, the convent was a meeting
place for Abruzzo's artists and exponents of culture, including
writer Gabriele D'Annunzio. Michetti's 1895 Daughter of Iorio
inspired D'Annunzio's 1904 tragedy, for which Michetti designed
the sets and costumes. From 1872 onward, Michetti also produced
small, decorative clay sculptures. After a lukewarm response
to his paintings at the 1900 Exposition Universelle in Paris,
he abandoned painting, sold his studio, and generally lived
as a recluse.
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