Carlo Domenici Biography
Carlo Domenici (Livorno, 18 March 1897 – Portoferraio, 29 June 1981) was an Italian painter. Carlo Domenici was born in Livorno on 18 March 1897; his father Cesare, a professional marble worker, played in the Philharmonic of the famous composer Pietro Mascagni. The journalist and poet Giosuè Borsi, a family friend, convinced him to undertake an artistic path. He enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence, where he approached the style of the Macchiaioli. In 1913, Domenici created his first painting (Figure of a Child) and exhibited at the Secession Exhibition, at the Società Amatori e Cultori di Belle Arti in Rome. In 1917, the composer Pietro Mascagni purchased one of his paintings in Venezia Livornese. He married Bianca at just 18 years old. He joined the Labronico Group, participating in various exhibitions with the other members; in 1979 upon the death of Renato Natali he became president, holding this position until his death in 1981. In the first period he created numerous "stain panels", with the characteristic of being signed first in color with the tail of the brush[3 ], and then with the pencil downwards or upwards. In 1924 he exhibited 40 works in Milan and in the same year he was present at the Rome Quadrennial Art Exhibition, in 1926 at the South American Exhibition and at the Venice International Art Biennale. Among the exhibitions abroad, we remember the one at the Tokyo International and the solo show in Manila. In 1933 he went to the Island of Elba for the first time to paint; he returned there frequently after the Second World War. In 1950 he exhibited at the Fifty Years of Tuscan Painting Exhibition in Florence, and in 1957 at the Maschio Angioino National Exhibition. Towards the mid-1950s he met Raffaello Scarselli, who purchased some of his paintings. Scarselli then edited the first monographic volume on Domenici in 1975. Carlo Domenici, creator and founder of the Elban Artists Group in 1946, established the Llewelyn Lloyd Award in the town of Portoferraio in memory of the painter who lived and painted on Elba for many years. He is also interested in politics, holding the position of municipal councilor of the Municipality of Portoferraio. On 9 May 1978 his second wife Plava Cioni died, married in 1975 after a long cohabitation, mother of his son Claudio who also became a painter with the stage name of Claudio da Firenze. Piero Caprile writes: «Domenici's originality lies in the lively perception of the images, ideas, feelings and sighs that alternate over time and in the community, without compromising the lexicon of the overall overview, in the pictorial movements of perspective and studying the behavior of nature in its genesis".
