La Somalia
Where: Salice Terme, Hotel Clementi Date: 2006 A posthumous exhibition dedicated to Novaresio’s African subjects, mainly figures of women and shepherds captured during his trips and constantly revised, in a continuous artistic research.
Where: Salice Terme, Hotel Clementi Date: 2006 A posthumous exhibition dedicated to Novaresio’s African subjects, mainly figures of women and shepherds captured during his trips and constantly revised, in a continuous artistic research.
Where: Milan, Galleria Palmieri Date: 1978 Novaresio exhibited a series of abstract paintings created with full, concise strokes. In these years, the artist opened a studio in Milan. Images and scans copertina catalogo foto opera 1 foto opera 2 foto opera 3
Luogo: Genova, Galleria Rotta Anno: 1952 Questa mostra raccolse generale consenso da parte della critica, che seppe leggere il significato della ricerca di Novaresio all’interno di una selezione decisamente eterogenea. Alle pareti si allineavano infatti sia opere figurative (soggetti sacri e floreali, paesaggi e ritratti) sia astratte: due linguaggi che..Leggi di più
Where: Kismayo (Somalia), Kismayo School Date: 1954 This is Novaresio’s first solo exhibition outside Italy. The artist described it as a tribute to Somalia: he did not yet know that this would be the first of a long series of exhibitions on his land of adoption. Landscapes and, above..Leggi di più
Luogo: Marsiglia Anno: 1950 Mostra nota da poche citazioni documentarie, ancora oggetto di studio.
Where: Genoa, Associazione ‘La Serenissima’ Date: 1954 An example of the often abused comparison between art and nature: Novaresio’s and Tampieri’s paintings were displayed in the halls of the association ‘La Serenissima’, together with the works of the flower painter Podestà. No photographs were found, but the theme of the..Leggi di più
Where: Genoa, Palazzo San Giorgio Date: 1962 Novaresio did not personally take part in this exhibition, but promoted it actively and passionately. The real protagonists of this event were Aden Mohamed, Fatuma Giana and Isuf, three young Somali artists. The exhibition also included a series of small sculptures from the..Leggi di più
Where: Rome, Palazzo Bernini-Benzoni, Foyer Italo AfricanoDate: 1961 When Novaresio came back to Italy, he proposed an exhibition focused on his African journey. Among the works displayed were figures of women and shepherds, the main subjects of Novaresio’s African paintings. Once again, the research of new formal solutions took the..Leggi di più
Luogo: Genova, Galleria il punto Anno: 1974 La critica salutò con entusiasmo il ritorno, dopo vent’anni, di una personale di Novaresio a Genova, sottolineando l’importanza dell’artista nel movimento di avanguardia cittadina. L’esposizione era formata da due sezioni: un’antologica (1943-1973) e le “8 proposte per un manifesto contro la guerra”, opere..Leggi di più
Where: Palermo, Galleria del Banco di Sicilia A large exhibition, in which the artist displayed more than fifty works, example of how his art was moving towards abstraction. However, the exhibition also included a series of female figures portrayed through rapid and vigorous brush strokes. Year: 1976 Immagini e scansioni..Leggi di più
In 1971, Novaresio moved to the small town of Godiasco (Pavia), away from the chaos of Rome: he rented an old mill and turned it into his studio.
Three years later, he exhibited again in Genoa at the Galleria Il Punto: this large retrospective traced the artist’s career from the 1940’s up to the series of paintings entitled 8 proposte per un manifesto contro la guerra [8 proposals for an anti-war manifesto], which testified the atrocities of war. He then held a traveling exhibition on the motorship Irpinia, which called at Alexandria, Beirut, Kaifa, Istanbul and Athens.
The 1980s
This decade began with the exhibition Omaggio alla Somalia [Homage to Somalia] at the Istituto Italo-Africano in Rome. After the exhibition, all his works were taken to the Somali Embassy to be selected but, inexplicably, they remained there for seven years. As a consequence, Novaresio was forced to give up the idea of exhibiting in Genoa and Spoleto.
In 1987, Novaresio displayed the series of essential but powerful etchings Via Crucis at the Town Hall of Voghera: the etching plates, dated 1949, were printed in only ten copies by the lithographer Miles Fiori.
The following year (1988), the artist was invited to the International Festival of Sacred Art in Spoleto, where he displayed a large altar-piece, Crocefissione [Crucifixion]. In June, the town of Voghera hosted two solo exhibitions, one at the Ex Caserma di Cavalleria, which housed the paintings returned by the Somali Embassy, and one at the Museum of Contemporary Art in the castle of Montesegale, with the artist’s most recent works.
The 1990s
Also during the 1990s, he continued his exhibition activity: he took part in various collective exhibitions and held a solo exhibition in Genoa (1993, Galleria S. Benigno).
On 21 July 1997, the artist died in Godiasco while working on a portrait exhibition in Fortunago (PV): the exhibition opened the following month.
The 1960s
During another stay in Somalia, Dag Hammarskjoeld, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, invited him to the USA, but Novaresio had a different plan in mind. He travelled through Kenya, Uganda, Tanganyika, Congo, up to Southern Rhodesia in a big Chevrolet, with a mechanic and a lot of canvas and paints.
He stayed in Kariba, where he illustrated with tempera paintings and drawings the construction of the impressive dam. These works were displayed the following March at the Rhodes National Gallery in Salisbury.
This exhibition was included in the visit programme of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother, who came for the inauguration of the dam.
Novaresio achieved a remarkable success in terms of sales (he handed over the proceeds to the refugees from Congo): even Lord Courtauld bought some of his works for the National Gallery and the University of Salisbury.
In the same period, he was commissioned to paint a panel for Nuffield College in Oxford: despite a long correspondence and various proposals, nothing came of this.
In 1961 (the year in which he painted an altar-piece for the Church of San Colombano in Ottone Soprano – Piacenza) he returned permanently to Italy. He devoted himself to the complex painting of the fresco in the Church of Santa Teresa in Albaro, Genoa: the work was completed only in 1965, because of some disagreements between the artist and the Curia. In 1963, he painted a big decorative panel portraying an abstract city for the pavilion of the national association of insurance companies at the Fiera Internazionale in Genoa.
The exhibitions of these years (Palazzo Bernini-Benzoni, Rome, and Padiglione dell’Artigianato, Sassari) testify the value of the African experience.
Africa
1954 – He left for Mogadishu, Somalia.
This was the first of a series of trips across Africa (Kenya, Uganda, Tanganyika, Congo, Southern Rhodesia, South Africa).
Africa became for him a primary source of inspiration: there he produced several works and obtained important public commissions (such as the frescoes for the Hall of the Council of Ministers in the Somali Parliament and the mixed-media panels for the Aula Magna of the Mogadishu University). He successfully exhibited in several cities, including Johannesburg and Salisbury, where he received the visit of the Queen of England.
He also devoted himself to photography, as testified by the Album Somalo. Some of his writings date back to this period.
The 1940s
Like all young artists, in 1940 and 1941 Giovanni successfully participated in the Mostre Prelittoriali, organized for university students. This was a necessary step for all artists to develop their career in the structured fascist control system.
At the outbreak of war, he was enlisted in the army and sent to the French front, where he came to know about his mother’s death. He was then discharged and came back to Genoa. Thanks to the director of the Accademia, he did not return to the front.
Instead, he actively took part in the Resistance (together with his fellow student, Giacomo Buranello). He also hid the sculptor Agenore Fabbri, who was wanted by the Brigate Nere [Black Brigades].
Despite the danger, Novaresio continued to successfully exhibit (for example at the 14th Inter-provincial exhibition).
He was part of the group of artists who gravitated around the Galleria Romano but, above all, he was one of the founders of the cultural association L’Isola, which he directed together with Sandro Cherchi. The members of this association were not only interested in painting and sculpture, but also in music and theatre, organizing shows and concerts by the most important musicians of the time. They also published the magazine Sipario (edited by Ivo Chiesa): Novaresio drew the cover of the first issue and illustrated Caligula by Camus. This gallery soon became the focal point of the Avant-garde in Genoa, attracting artists such as Scanavino, Fieschi and Borella, who considered Novaresio as one of his Masters. In these years, Giovanni experienced new forms of expression, illustrating Il romanzo di Rama by Giovanna Atzori and painting the scenery for Anphitirion 38 by Girardoux, staged by Giulio Cesare Castello (1948).
He rejected the invitation to the Venice Biennale to show his solidarity with the artists who were not allowed to participate. As a member of the jury, he imposed the presence of Scanavino at the Mostra di Pittori Italiani in Argentina [exhibition of Italian artists in Argentina].
In 2001, the Modern Art Gallery of Genoa housed the exhibition Dal mulino al museo: uno studio d’artista per la Galleria d’Arte Moderna (included among the official events for Genoa European Capital of Culture, 2004). The exhibition showed thirteen works of the artist, his working tools and his studio furnishings (donated by the family, along with a large number of paintings).
Now this reconstruction serves as an educational tool for children and adults.
The Hotel Clementi in Salice Terme devoted him a posthumous exhibition, Somalia (2006).
Since 2007, the parish of Santa Reparata in Godiasco has been temporary housing a collection of works the artist donated to the town.
In 2014, the Accademia Ligustica di Belle Arti organized a retrospective, which helped in giving the artist due historical-critical recognition.