194 - Carlo De Roberto (1915–2003)

Carlo De Roberto (1915–2003) Landscape, approximately 1982 Ink on paper 50 x 70 cm Distinctive features: on the reverse, a label from the Banca Popolare di Asolo e Montebelluna with inventory references Provenance: Banca Popolare di Asolo e Montebelluna; Veneto Banca SpA in LCA Condition. Support: 95% Condition. Surface: 95% For direct WhatsApp assistance before and during the live auction: +39 346 12 999 80 // Direct assistance via WhatsApp before and during the auction: +39 346 12 999 80 Carlo De Roberto—an artist who is extremely rare on the market—learned the basics of drawing from Giulio Ettore Erler and painting from Nando Coletti at a very young age, but at the age of fifteen, a spinal injury sustained while playing as a child left him paraplegic, forcing him to interrupt his formal education, which he would later continue as a self-taught artist. He began exhibiting at the Sindacato Belle Arti exhibitions in 1933, and in 1936 his friend Giovanni Barbisan encouraged him to take up etching. His first solo exhibition took place in 1940, organized by the Provincial Fine Arts Union of Treviso, with an introduction by Giuseppe Mazzotti. Before and during the war, he participated in the 3rd and 4th Rome Quadriennales and the 23rd Venice Biennale. After the war, in addition to participating in the 5th and 9th Rome Quadriennales and the 28th Venice Biennale, he held over thirty solo exhibitions in Italy, ranging from the one at the Galleria L’Isola in Genoa in 1947 to the one at the Galleria del Cavallino in Venice in 1951, from the one at the “Libreria Paesi Nuovi” in Rome in 1964 to the one at the Fondazione Querini Stampalia in Venice in 1972, with an introduction by Giuseppe Marchiori. In 1948, he illustrated Virginia Woolf’s novel *Jacob’s Room* for the publisher Arnoldo Mondadori. Starting in the 1950s, he combined his artistic work with journalistic activities, devoting himself to art criticism and the translation of essays and books for Edizioni di Comunità, in addition to directing the Research Office of the Province of Treviso. In 1985, the monograph *Disegni di Carlo De Roberto* was published, with an introductory note by Guido Perocco. That same year, the portfolio *Ritorni di luce* was released, featuring poems by Andrea Zanzotto and etchings by Carlo De Roberto. In 1990, the solo exhibition “Carlo De Roberto – Paintings 1939–1989” took place at Ca’ dei Carraresi in Treviso, with an introduction by Marco Goldin. This drawing can be dated to 1982 based on a comparison with another sheet by the artist owned by Veneto Banca, depicting “Rovigno.” We thank Carlo De Roberto’s heirs for the content of this note, which provides a summary of the artist’s biography as presented on the institutional website.