Arnaldo Delisio Biography
Arnaldo De Lisio (Castelbottaccio 1869-Naples 1949) In 1883 he moved to Naples, where he completed his classical studies and in 1889 he enrolled at the Royal Institute of Fine Arts, where he was a student of D. Morelli, I. Perricci and G. Toma. He established himself above all as a portraitist and decorator. In his artistic career, his stays in Paris took on great importance. He arrived in the French capital at the end of the century, with his painter friends R. Ragione, P. Scoppetta, A. Mancini, and remained there until 1902, getting to know the works of the Impressionists closely. A series of paintings and sketches date back to this period and are certainly influenced by greater freedom in the application of colour. A versatile and multifaceted painter, he sometimes recovered the freshness and decorative lightness of E. Dalbono, especially in pastels and watercolours, sometimes the folkloric subjects dear to Michetti and sometimes a large neo-century impasto painting. In 1921 he participated in the 1st Neapolitan Biennial. In that same year, for the inauguration of the Circumvesuviana, he created the cover of the related brochure (Ferrovia Circumvesuviana, Rome 1924) and a series of paintings (currently missing), published in the same brochure. In 1925 he participated in the first Neapolitan art exhibition at the Corona gallery and in 1927 he held his first solo exhibition in the Permanente pavilion at the Villa Comunale. He held two other important personal exhibitions in Rome at the Association of the Abruzzo-Semolisana family in 1930 and 1933. He was present in almost all the exhibitions of the Fascist Artists' Union of Campania starting from the first, which took place in 1929. From 1940 until the Liberation he stayed with his family in Castelbottaccio; returning to Naples in 1945, he held his last solo exhibition at the Bianchi gallery.
