An interesting exhibition will retrace the holiday of Nobel Prize winner Eugenio Montale in Forte dei Marmi, promoted by Villa Bertelli.
“He was terrified of the annoying people who inundated him with illegible manuscripts, useless sentences, embarrassing compliments. But over time he found a way to defend himself from them too” says Mario Luca Giusti, entrepreneur of synthetic crystal glasses and jugs, in recalling Eugenio Montale's stays at Villa Fasola, in the early years
Seventies, in the family house in Forte dei Marmi, which was first built by the great-grandfather Carlo Fasola, between the dunes and the pine forest, in 1896.
“Montale was a very good friend of my father Antonio Giusti and my mother Susi and he took refuge with us with the housekeeper who was his shadow, Gina, from June to the end of September,” continues Mario Luca Giusti, a teenager at the time. Montale was a kind man of great intellectual refinement, which made him elegant and witty. At the seaside he went arm in arm with Gina, joining the lifeguard Lorenzo, he remained in trousers and sometimes took off his shirt to remain in his undershirt".
The exhibition includes sixteen unpublished paintings by the poet, unpublished photos, drawings, messages and dedications that Mario Luca Giusti wanted to dedicate to Eusebio or the Senator, as everyone called Montale. The exhibition, entitled "Eusebio", inaugurated last Sunday at Villa Fasola, the historic home of the Righteous in Forte dei Marmi, will be open to visitors from 10 August to 10 September at Villa Bertelli and will lead to the discovery of the simple and spartan life of the poet, from lunch under the tent, to a good glass of white wine, to returning home for the rest period. The afternoon was characterized by chats with the painter Nino Tirizzanzi, who painted his still lifes in the annex of Villa Fasola, by literary disputes with Carmelo Bene and by entertainment with another family guest, Carla Fracci. Montale was also a painter. He loved to capture the thoughts and views of the Fort with brushes on rice paper, he used special materials such as coffee, toothpaste or lipstick. This singular fashion has given his works an unmistakable characteristic which, combined with his unique writing, has given rise to a creative amalgam of rare intensity. Montale enjoyed listening to operas while humming the arias and wearing his teenage friend's headphones. Eusebio considered mother Susi as "the only wonder of the Fort", endowed with a feminine charm that has been lost.
We can retrace the journey of this circle of intellectuals which also included Enrico Pea, Mario Tobino and Henry Moore who went to the Fort through the Apuan Alps and Michelangelo's marbles through a series of photos and memories linked to all Giusti's friends who During the Seventies and Eighties, Carmelo Bene, Carla Fracci and Giò Pomodoro frequented the Villa. In addition to the drawings, Montale also gave the young Mario Luca a cuttlefish bone in a frame, on one side with the drawing of a hoopoe, on the other with the legible words of a poem. In Mario Luca Giusti's intentions, this exhibition aims to be an intimate exhibition to tell the story of his family and the cultural history of his time. Montale, despite the continuous rotation of guests in Villa Fasola, preferred to spend the entire summer period in the tranquility and beauty of Versilia. From here was born Giusti's idea of dedicating an entire exhibition to Montale's pictorial works, giving visitors the opportunity to get to know a lesser-known aspect of the poet.
The exhibition can be visited from 10 August until 8 September in the heart of Forte dei Marmi, at Villa Bertelli.
