Michele Cascella

Michele Cascella was born on September 7th 1892 in Ortona, Province of Chieti, and he died in Milan in 1989.

Like his brother Tommaso, he studied under his father Basilio, who was also born in Ortona and was an important painter, ceramist, lithographer and ladies' tailor. Michele, right from primary school, was not a good pupil, and even in drawing gave poor results (yes, you may well smile!). His mother decided that an ecclesiastic career would be best for him, but his father wanted him, and made him, a painter, taking him in his chromolithographic laboratory and making him copy the drawings of Leonardo and Botticelli, or simplifications of large mouths and noses that he prepared specifically for him. Their father, for Michele and his brother Tommaso, was their guide in design and in comprehending the logic of art, comparable to a soft background music, or the comprehension of the demands of human beings, objects and natural phenomena.
In 1907 he exhibited for the first time at the Familglia Artistica in Milan, then in 1908 this was repeated at the Caffè Ligure in Turin and at the Druet Gallery, Paris, in 1909. His technique mainly consists in the use of pastels, thus approaching the style of the symbolist Michetti.
Around 1910 he began to frequent the cultural circles of Milan, where he became acquainted with his great friend, the poet Clemente Rebora, as well as the philosopher Antonio Banfi and the writer Sibilia Aleramo, who in her turn introduced him to Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Umberto Boccioni and Margherita Sarfatti.
In 1924 he exhibited for the first time at the Venice Biennial and in 1925 organised a personal exhibition at the Pesaro Gallery in Milan, which received good reviews from Carlo Carrà, who was a great supporter of the primitivism in Cascella's paintings. His seascapes and urban views, his female portraits brought him success and invitations to all the Venice Biennial exhibitions without interruption from 1928 to 1942, and in this last year he was dedicated a personal showroom.
During the 'thirties Cascella used the water colour technique, and painted views of towns. These paintings were mainly exhibited in Europe, in London, Paris and Brussels until his works were moved to the Luxembourg Museum, the Jeu de Paume and the Victoria and Albert Museum.
After the second World war his exhibitions abroad considerably increased: Montevideo and Buenos Aires and many other towns in South America, during the 'fifties and the 'sixties he exhibited regularly in Paris at the Andrè Weil Gallery, the Allard gallery and the Marseille Gallery. In 1959 he was obliged to remain frequently in California where his pictures are hung at the Juarez Gallery in Los Angeles.