The life and work of Ele D'Artagnan (1911-1987)

Ele D'artagnan, born in Venice, was an orphan who had a singular life on the margins of the Italian Dolce vita.
During the late 1930s he was a trumpet player in the military band that played for Mussolini and the King.  During the war years, he worked in vaudeville troupes, mostly in Milan and the north of Italy.  By 1950 he moved to Rome, living a precarious existence but able to
enter into the thriving film business in Cinecittà. From the early
'50s to the early '70s, he acted in many Italian films, including
Fellini's Toby Dammit, City of Women, Casanova and Amarcord (where he appears in the final scene, the old man under an umbrella on the beach, looking out to sea). 
Between films, he lived on the streets or in a squatter's shack on the
Tiber banks, and he passed the time painting, often using pieces of
cardboard found on the street and a box of crayons that a schoolkid had
given him. Without formal training, D'Artagnan was nonetheless blessed
with an ebullient imagination, and he was able to develop a coherent
and original style, combining elements of naif and psychedelia, where
the bright colors and dreamlike symbolism seem to perfectly capture the
spirit of the euphoric Roman dolce vita.

Death and an Extraordinary Rebirth
D'Artagnan's paintings give birth to ICBIE, a school for the poor in Brazil

D'Artagnan
died, forgotten and wretched, in 1987, and his paintings were
bequeathed to a young Italian musician and critic, Pietro Gallina, who
had been the painter's closest friend since the early '50s, when Pietro
was a little boy. Pietro worked slowly and persistently to create a
posthumous fame for D'Artagnan, culminating in the successful showing
in New York in 2003. With the proceeds of the show, Pietro bought a
beautiful old building on the seafront in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil,
and founded the

where
D'Artagnan's dreams of a home, a community and harmony can be realized,
helping the desperate children of the favelas. A D'Artagnan painting
has been added to the permanent display at The Museum of Modern Art in
New York, and subsequent showings in Miami, Amsterdam and New York have permitted the ICBIE to grow and expand.

Useful D'Artagnan Links

New York Times Article

NYT review of the first American showing of D'Artagnan's work
ART IN REVIEW
Ele D'Artagnan
Published: October 3, 2003
K.S. Art
73 Leonard Street, TriBeCa

The Brooklyn Rail Article

The Brooklyn Rail review of D'Artagnan's first American showing, October 2003.

Arps Gallery WebPages

The Arps Gallery in Holland hosted the first major European showing of D'Artagnan's works in June, 2007.

D'Artagnan page on ICBIE Website (in Italian)

The Institute of Culture Brazil Italy Europe is the
beneficiary of the proceeds from the sales of D'Artagnan paintings.
Pietro Gallina, ICBIE's founder and president, knew the painter from
early childhood, and inherited his works after the painter's death 1n
1987. Pietro Gallina is also the author of the definitive biography of
D'Artagnan, On the Margins of the Dolce Vita

D'Artagnan news on the ICBIE Blog

The ICBIE Blog follows all important D'Artagnan events, showings, sales, etc.

On the Margins of the Dolce Vita
Ele D'Artagnan biography by Pietro Gallina

Published
in 2007 by the Institute of Culture Brazil Italy Europe, this 144 page
book, written in Italian, provides a complete biography of Ele
D'Artagnan and a meticulous critique of his artworks. Richly
illustrated with historic photos (including the one shown here, with
D'Artagnan and Giorgio De Chirico, taken in 1956) and reproductions of
his major artworks, Ai Margini della dolce vita: Il pittore/attore Ele D'Artagnan is an invaluable
resource for anyone interested in this fascinating artist. An English
translation is finished, and should appear in the coming months.