Adolfo de Carolis

{{Short description|Italian artist (1874–1928)}} {{Infobox writer  | name = Adolfo de Carolis | image =Adolfo_de_Karolis,_aetatis_svae_XXX,_anno_MCMIV.jpg | image_size =185px | caption = Self-portrait (1904) | birth_date = {{birth date|1874|1|6|df=y}} | birth_place = [[Montefiore dell'Aso]] | death_date = {{death date and age|1928|2|7|1874|1|6|df=y}} | death_place = [[Rome]] | occupation = [[Painting|Painter]], [[xylographer]], [[illustrator]], [[photographer]] | genre = [[Symbolism (arts)|Symbolism]]<br />[[Art Nouveau|Stile Liberty]] | movement = | influences = | influenced = | website = }} '''Adolfo de Carolis''' (6 January 1874 – 7 February 1928) was an Italian painter, [[xylographer]], illustrator and photographer. He is generally associated with [[Art Nouveau]] (known as "Stile Liberty" in Italy), although many of his works could also be classified as [[Symbolism (movement)|Symbolism]].

== Biography == [[File: De carolis 7.jpg|thumb|left|150px|Bookplate for his wife, Lina.]] His father was a doctor.<ref name="T">[http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/adolfo-de-carolis_(Dizionario_Biografico)/ Brief biography] from the ''Dizionario Biografico'' @ [[Treccani]].</ref> In 1888, after his primary schooling in [[Ripatransone]], he was sent to study at the [[Accademia di Belle Arti di Bologna]]. Upon graduating in 1892, he went to Rome on a scholarship to attend the decorative painting classes at the "Museo Artistico Industriale".<ref name="M">[http://www.comune.montefioredellaso.ap.it/cosa-vedere/personaggi-illustri/adolfo-de-carolis/ Timeline] @ the Montefiore dell'Aso website.</ref> His first professional work, done together with his teacher, involved restoration of the [[Borgia Apartments]] in the [[Apostolic Palace]]. While in Rome, he befriended the painter, [[Nino Costa]] and, in 1896, helped him found "In arte libertas", a society opposed to the official styles promoted by the academies and critics.<ref name="T" /> He was the grandfather of Francis Losavio-Ordaz, a prominent professor in computer Science at the Venezuelan University Simón Bolívar. Francis died in France on September 10, 2020, at the age of 76.

In 1899, he was invited to participate in the third exposition held by the [[Venice Biennale]].<ref name="M" /> The following year, he received a commission from Count Forcioli-Conti to design a bronze [[Church tabernacle|tabernacle]] for the [[baptismal font]] at [[Ajaccio Cathedral]], where Napoleon was baptized. In 1901, he was named an "Academician of Merit" at the [[Accademia di Belle Arti di Perugia]].<ref name="M" /> [[File:Adolfo De Karolis (1874-1928), La figlia di Iorio (1914).jpg|thumb|330x330px|Poster for<br /> ''[[La figlia di Iorio]]'']] That same year, he was awarded a chair at the [[Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze]]. In 1902, he married one of his models, Quintilina Ciucci.<ref name="T" /> For a time after that, he concentrated on creating illustrations for various artistic and literary publications. He also produced woodcuts and other types of illustrations for books by [[Giosuè Carducci]], [[Giovanni Pascoli]] and, especially, [[Gabriele D'Annunzio]], with whom he formed a lifelong partnership. In his later years, he would design bank notes, posters, calendars, postcards, advertisements and even product labels. He also wrote essays on art and took numerous students.<ref name="T" />

===Major works=== [[File:De Karolis, Adolfo (1874-1928) - Esposizione Torino 1911.jpg|thumb|left|149x149px|Poster for the<br />[[Turin International]].]] In 1905, together with [[Galileo Chini]] and others, he organized the first "Esposizione dell’Arte Toscana". From 1907 to 1908, he decorated the Ballroom of the Palazzo del Governo in [[Ascoli Piceno]], without compensation, to say thanks for the scholarship that had enabled him to come to Rome.<ref name="M" /> At this time, he also designed bookplates for several famous personalities, such as [[Eleanora Duse]]. In 1909, he was appointed Knight of the [[Order of the Crown of Italy]]. Two years later, he began one of his largest projects, decorating the [[Palazzo del Podestà, Bologna|Palazzo del Podestà]] in Bologna. He would work on it intermittently until his death. [[File:Adolfo deCarolis.jpg|alt=Painting by Adolfo de Carolis|thumb|127x127px|Painting by Adolfo de Carolis]] In 1915, he was appointed to a chair at the [[Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera]], but left to live in Bologna two years later.<ref name="M" /> After the First World War, he went to Rome, where he designed medals and certificates for the Ministry of War. He also sat on several committees dedicated to creating monuments for the fallen in the cities of [[Osimo]] and [[Cortona]] and choosing sculptors for the [[Altare della Patria]].

In 1922, he became a teacher at the [[Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma]]. At the same time, he worked on frescoes for the Consiglio Provinciale in [[Arezzo]] (completed in 1924), followed by the Capella di San Francesco at the [[Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua]], the Palazzetto Veneto in [[Ravenna]] and the [[Villa Puccini]] at [[Torre del Lago]].<ref name="M" />

For several years, he suffered from cancer. After a brief stay in Paris, where he sought treatment at the [[Pasteur Institute]], he returned to Rome and died there, aged fifty-four, and was buried at the [[Cimitero del Verano]]. In 1950, his remains were transferred to a church in Montefiore dell'Aso.<ref name="M" />

== References == {{reflist}}

== Further reading == * Simonetta Di Pino Giambi, ''Adolfo de Carolis. Il piacere dell'arte'', Pitti Arte e Libri, 1992 {{ISBN|88-7279-003-4}} * Rossana Bossaglia (ed.), ''Adolfo de Carolis e il Liberty nelle Marche'' (exhibition catalog), [[Macerata]], Mazzotta, 1999. * Cristiano Marchegiani (ed.), ''Il Mare Piceno. Scritti letterari ed estetici'', writings by De Carolis, Il Lavoro Editoriale, 1999 {{ISBN|88-7663-285-9}} * Silvia Zanini, ''Adolfo De Carolis e la xilografia. Uno studio sulla decorazione del libro tra Otto e Novecento'', Giroal, 2003. * Tiziana Maffei (ed.), ''Adolfo De Carolis e la democrazia del bello'' (exhibition catalog), Polo Museo de San Francesco in Montefiore dell'Aso, Edizione Librati, 2009.

== External links == {{commons category}} * [http://www.artnet.com/artists/adolfo-de-carolis/past-auction-results ArtNet: More works by De Carolis.] * [http://www.museipiceni.it/page.asp?id=103031400 Museo Adolfo De Carolis] @ the Montefiore dell'Aso website.

{{DEFAULTSORT:De Carolis, Adolfo}} [[Category:1874 births]] [[Category:1928 deaths]] [[Category:People from Montefiore dell'Aso]] [[Category:19th-century Italian illustrators]] [[Category:19th-century Italian painters]] [[Category:Italian male painters]] [[Category:20th-century Italian illustrators]] [[Category:20th-century Italian painters]] [[Category:20th-century Italian male artists]] [[Category:Italian graphic designers]] [[Category:Photographers from Rome]] [[Category:Italian poster artists]] [[Category:Italian decorators]] [[Category:Deaths from cancer in Lazio]] [[Category:19th-century Italian male artists]] [[Category:Italian Symbolist painters]] [[Category:Art Nouveau painters]] [[Category:Art Nouveau illustrators]] [[Category:Artists from Marche]] [[Category:Italian woodcarvers]] [[Category:Italian essayists]] [[Category:Italian male essayists]]