Angelo Morbelli Italian, 1853-1919

Angelo Morbelli (Alessandria, Italy 1853 - Milan, Italy 1919)

Born in Alessandria in 1853, after training in music, Angelo Morbelli was forced to abandon this path due to his progressive deafness. Thanks to a scholarship from the City Council of Alessandria in 1867, he enrolled at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts Milan.

His first works, exhibited in Brera, demonstrate the use of photography to correctly elaborate on perspective, enjoying experimentation with new materials.

In 1883, he was awarded the Fumagalli Prize at the Brera exhibition and, in 1889, a gold medal at the Paris Universal Exhibition.

From 1890, Morbelli gradually began to adopt the technique of Pointillism. He met Pellizza da Volpedo, joining the Divisionism movement together, dedicating, over the following years, much time to the study and development of the theories of colour fundamental to Divisionism. In addition to exploring new painting techniques, Morbelli experimented with the production of homemade oil paints to achieve the desired lighting.

In his last years, the artist focused on landscapes, particularly the mountains of northern and central Italy. Still interested in the ever-changing perception of colour, he painted different versions of the same motif or site to capture variations which depended on the weather, time and day.

He died in Milan in 1919.

Photo © UniCredit Group (Sebastiano Pellion di Persano)