The life and work of Ele D'Artagnan (1911-1987)
Ele D'artagnan, born in Venice, was an orphan who had a singular life on the margins of the Italian Dolce vita. By 1950 he moved to Rome, living a precarious existence but able to enter into the thriving film business in Cinecittà. From the early '50s to the early '70s, he acted in many Italian films, including Fellini's Toby Dammit, City of Women, Casanova and Amarcord. Between films, he lived on the streets or in a squatter's shack on the Tiber banks, and he passed the time painting, often using pieces of cardboard found on the street and a box of crayons that a schoolkid had given him. Without formal training, D'Artagnan was nonetheless blessed with an ebullient imagination, and he was able to develop a coherent and original style, combining elements of naif and psychedelia, where the bright colors and dreamlike symbolism seem to perfectly capture the spirit of the euphoric Roman dolce vita.
Death and an Extraordinary Rebirth
D'Artagnan's paintings give birth to ICBIE, a school for the poor in Brazil
D'Artagnan died, forgotten and wretched, in 1987, and his paintings were bequeathed to a young Italian musician and critic, Pietro Gallina, who had been the painter's closest friend since the early '50s, when Pietro was a little boy. Pietro worked slowly and persistently to create a posthumous fame for D'Artagnan, culminating in the successful showing in New York in 2003. With the proceeds of the show, Pietro bought a beautiful old building on the seafront in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil, and founded the Institute of Culture Brazil Italy Europe
where D'Artagnan's dreams of a home, a community and harmony can be realized, helping the desperate children of the favelas. A D'Artagnan painting has been added to the permanent display at The Museum of Modern Art in New York, and subsequent showings have permitted the ICBIE to grow and expand.
Ele D'Artagnan - Painter of the Dolce Vita
Ele D'Artagnan-Painter of the Dolce Vita
Ele D'Artagnan (1911-1987), Italian painter, actor. Worked with Federico Fellini. Bizarre paintings, psychedelic naif.
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Useful D'Artagnan Links
- New York Times Article
- NYT review of the first American showing of D'Artagnan's work
ART IN REVIEW
Ele D'Artagnan
Published: October 3, 2003
K.S. Art
73 Leonard Street, TriBeCa - The Brooklyn Rail Article
- The Brooklyn Rail review of D'Artagnan's first American showing, October 2003.
- Arps Gallery WebPages
- The Arps Gallery in Holland hosted the first major European showing of D'Artagnan's works in June, 2007.
- D'Artagnan page on ICBIE Website (in Italian)
- The Institute of Culture Brazil Italy Europe is the beneficiary of the proceeds from the sales of D'Artagnan paintings. Pietro Gallina, ICBIE's founder and president, knew the painter from early childhood, and inherited his works after the painter's death 1n 1987. Pietro Gallina is also the author of the definitive biography of D'Artagnan, On the Margins of the Dolce Vita
- D'Artagnan news on the ICBIE Blog
- The ICBIE Blog follows all important D'Artagnan events, showings, sales, etc.
On the Margins of the Dolce Vita
Ele D'Artagnan biography by Pietro Gallina
Published in 2007 by the Institute of Culture Brazil Italy Europe, this 144 page book, written in Italian, provides a complete biography of Ele D'Artagnan and a meticulous critique of his artworks. Richly illustrated with historic photos (including the one shown here, with D'Artagnan and Giorgio De Chirico, taken in 1956) and reproductions of his major artworks, Ai Margini della dolce vita: Il pittore/attore Ele D'Artagnan is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in this fascinating artist. An English translation is finished, and should appear in the coming months. 
