Guglielmo Achille Cavellini

3026:, fulfilling Cavellini's 1970s prophecy via poster. At various venues around Manhattan including the MoMA Library, Richard L. Feigen & Co., Lynch Tham, and the Whitebox Art Center, Bloch hosted exhibitions, mail art shows, performances, spoken word events and music including a 55-foot long wall covered with artworks from the mail art network and a 14 by 14-foot drawing of Cavellini by Bloch at Whitebox Art Center on the Lower East Side. Bloch had met Cavellini in New York in 1982 and in California at both the Interdada 80 and Interdada 84 celebrations. 983:. Cavellini was asked to contribute with some works from his collection, and he deposited 70. The exhibition was inaugurated on 15 November 1964. The contract would last seven years, then Cavellini would take back the works because of poor storage conditions and the missing promotion on the part of the Comune. In October 1965 he travelled to Russia with his son Piero and numerous artists and prominent figures including the 1516: 33: 1874:. At the end of the year he wrote his story on a rag of cloth in eight languages. Ken Damy made a videotape in which his students got enveloped in the rag and took it around the streets of Brescia. Cavellini also wrote his story on the body of Marco Lucchetti, documenting his performance through photos and videos. Meanwhile, he also made another 514:. Meanwhile, the family store enjoyed great success and expanded, changing its name from Bazar 33 to Grandi Magazzini 33. On 4 February 1946 Cavellini's son Piero was born. In 1950 his brother moved and he was left the entire family villa, which was restructured by architect Mario Baciocchi. Part of the house was transformed into a true 2202:

published articles about him. Canadian artist Vincent Trasov visited Cavellini's home and shot a 19-minute video in which Cavellini made art performances with Colosio and Luchetti. The video was shown on Canadian television on 1 March 1978 and in the United States in September of the same year. On 15

2003:

published articles about him. Three new solo exhibitions were made in Poland, and one in the Netherlands, and Cavellini was also selected for numerous group exhibitions. He started to gain more popularity. He received a letter from Elke Koska and Ha Schult, German artists. Camillo Capolongo invited

1452:

were exhibited in Milan at the Cenobio-Visualità Gallery at the beginning of 1973. Then Cavellini wrote an encyclopedia article dedicated to himself, telling his story until the year 2014. He translated the article into four languages and started writing it everywhere: on canvas, sheets, clothes,

2234:

the article "Cavellini teases people", confusing the two "living works" with Cavellini's children Mariella and Pietro. The Bolaffi National Catalog of Modern Art no. 14, edited by critics Renato Barilli, Carlo Bertelli, Maurizio Calvesi, Mario De Micheli, Giuseppe Marchiori and Nello Ponente,

2308:

On 3 September 1977 Cavellini, unsatisfied with his words from 1965–1970, burned 353 of them in the countryside near Brescia. Then he created a series of black-and-white stamps in which he wore his written clothes, on nine subjects chosen from photographs by Ken Damy. The Petri Gallery di

1984:

and wrote his name in place of that of the artist, then mailed a letter to the president of the Biennale Commission Carlo Ripa di Meana declining the invitation because he disagreed with the way the event had been organized. The two letters were published on the April 1976 issue of

1492:, a letter of thanks to each one of the authors who had written books about him, with translations in English, French and Spanish. He printed a catalogue of the letters and mailed it to museum and gallery directors, art critics and the most famous artists. That was the first 2823:. In New York he was also covered in stickers by his fans and then painted in green, white and red. On 8 October 1982 the Store Upstairs gallery inaugurated an exhibition of his works. Later that year he participated in the Festa dell'Unità in Mantua and in Arte Expo in 2508:

with the Gruppo Alternativo from Salerno, headed by Beppe Rosamilia. They put Cavellini's posters on the pavement, set fire on them and covered them with salt, then they collected the ashes and lit candles in the Nuovi Strumenti Gallery, as an "artisti funeral".

2278:

published an article by art critic Germano Beringheli titled "Cavellini's Schizophrenia". Tullio Cicciarelli wrote an article titled "Writing on Oneself: Guglielmo Achille Cavellini or the Honesty of Fiction". In the same year Carlo Battisti, director of an

919:

works. He experimented with materials such as imprints of leaves, enamel, blotting paper, collages, toilet paper, razor blades. In 1965 he exhibited a dozen works at the Apollinaire Gallery in Milan. With the help of Giovanni Fiorini he created homages to

2905:. Cavellini was again asked by artist organizer Ginny Lloyd to participate, (in 1981 she had visited him at his home in Brescia) so he traveled to the United States and made a performance writing on the body of fellow artist Eva Lake. On the stage of the 1166:) for the exhibition that he imagined would take place in 2014 in the most important museums of the world to celebrate the centennial of his birth. In the same year he met Rina Majoli, director of the Cenobio-Visualità Gallery, who decided to exhibit the 2270:, asking him for a forecast on the following year's developments in art. Cavellini replied that art was dead and it was useless to make art in the traditional way, that Italy was a provincial nation and Italians were worthless pretentious people. The 2203:

October 1977 art critic Giuseppe Marchiori wrote a letter to Cavellini in which he called him "the most famous Italian artist in the world". However, the artist kept being ignored in Italy, as he was not present in the catalog of the

2126:

had been shown in 10,600 locations, including the most important museums in the world that tacitly accepted the catalogues. Not receiving any reply, he decided to publish the list himself. In February 1977 Franco Farina, director of

1838:, which he also used for a stamp. In September 1975 he exhibited his works twice in Brescia, first at the Banco Gallery and then at the Nuovi Strumenti Gallery managed by his son Piero. He was also invited at the Art Festival in 387:, Édouard Pignon and Henry Adam. He was disheartened by the comparison to the great artists of the past and present, so he decided to abandon painting and work full-time on his commercial activity and on his collection. 2986:, analyzing Cavellini's art and history. In 2014, for the centennial of Cavellini's birth, there were exhibitions of Cavellini's artworks at the Italian Institute of Culture in San Francisco and at the Ludwig Museum in 2131:

in Ferrara, invited Cavellini to the inauguration of a space dedicated to the production of videotapes, performances and theatre. On 15 April Cavellini made a performance there. Then he participated in the art fairs of

2933:

in October, and then in Tokyo in January 1987. On 7 October 1986 Cavellini landed in Osaka and in the following days he made numerous performances, among them the writing on the naked head of Shimamoto in the

785:

was positively reviewed by Elda Fezzi, Guido Ballo, Giorgio Kaisserlian, Duilio Morosini, Angelo Dragone and Rosanna Apicella. Some pages of Cavellini's diary were published by Alfredo Mezio on the magazine

1076:, and then by Claudio Parmiggiani, Aldo Spinelli, Michele Zaza, Fernando De Filippi, Adriano Altamira, Carlo Pittore and E.F. Higgins III. In 1966 Cavellini made his first trip to the United States, in the 6542: 575:, edited by Gualtieri di San Lazzaro, published a long article about Cavellini written by professor Argan. In February 1954 Cavellini traveled to Paris where he met San Lazzaro, acquired paintings by 2991: 2333:

sent him a work celebrating his genius. In 1978 he composed a portrait with photographs made by Paolo Gioli. He was also the subject of a mail art work by Plinio Mesciulam, and he replied with a

2476:. Cavellini mailed to 500 people a copy of the magazine containing the interview. He also made the inaugural exhibition at the Cinquetti Gallery in Verona by creating 43 portraits. The magazine 5504: 4767: 4090: 2464:

featured an exhibition with 123 works made by Cavellini in the previous 15 years. In the autumn of 1979 Cavellini mailed to 5,000 friends a form to request Cavellini's participation to the

2966:

hosts a different Cavellini exhibition each year. There were numerous retrospectives in Italy and elsewhere, for instance in 2008 at the Florence Lynch Gallery di New York, in 2013 in the

2612:, Maurizio Calvesi and Michael Pergolani were also present. The Naples Alternative Group made a performance to celebrate Cavellini, and the artist wrote on the body of Mariella Valenti. 2111:, who visited him with Giuseppe Recchia, did not show any interest in his art, and Filiberto Menna and Alberto Boatto judged him negatively. Disappointed, the artist prepared the stamp 6594: 417:

who had just returned to Italy after his exile during Fascism. Venturi recognized the importance of Cavellini's work and in 1953 published an article about him in the daily newspaper

2572:. In Pescara Cavellini made a new writing performance on some panels and on the body of Gianni Romeo. In March 1980 the artist Galeazzo Nardini invited Cavellini at a convention in 2160:

published articles and photographs of him. He also sent his two living works, Pierangela Colosio and Marco Lucchetti, to Basel and Kassel. Meanwhile, he received many new works of

1566:, promoting his imaginary exhibition in Venice. Since then he included the stickers in every work of mail art. At the end of 1974 Cavellini made a new "Exhibition at Home" titled 1957:, decided to publish an interview of the artist and on that day Cavellini writes the story on the body of a Playboy model. He then mailed 200 copies of the magazine as a work of 6567: 2178:, printed 12,000 copies of it and mailed them around the world. He received requests for stickers from many foreign artists, including the Americans Buster Cleveland and 2862:. There he was proclaimed President of the United States of Europe. On 7 February 1984 his family's business, Magazzini 33, closed down. The Modern Realism gallery in 2758:

visited him in Brescia and informed him that he was readying and essay about self-historicization. In the summer of 1981 Cavellini traveled to Paris and visited the

2609: 1042: 2468:

of the following year. Ne invia 3000 alla Biennale ma non-riceve risposta. In 1980 he started to make paintings with dry leaves, glue, and photographs of himself.

3678: 3145: 2601: 1508:

by famous historical figures, in which he was photographed wearing the suit with his story and a wooden helmet showing the name of the person. He also made new

2866:

organized an exhibition of his works, and in Italy Enzo Rossi Roiss made one at the Centro Nucleo Arte in Bologna. Roiss asked Cavellini to create a homage to

1473:. At this exhibition he met photographer Michelangelo Giuliani, who took pictures of him with the suit, the hat, the tie and the umbrella showing his story. 3022:

curated in New York City, a Cavellini festival celebrating the centenary of his frequent mail art correspondent that culminated in an event at New York's

1937:, brought the Mayer exhibition into his gallery, and in this occasion Cavellini again wrote his story on the body of Marco Lucchetti, in front of critics 435:. Despite this Cavellini kept collecting art and visiting artists in Rome in the weekends, especially the home of Guttuso and his studio in the park of 2344:

In 1979 Cavellini was again photographed by Ken Damy, first with Carnival masks and then fully covered with his stickers. He also created the postcard

2990:. On 11 September 2014 the Spazio Contemporanea in Brescia hosted the official celebrations for the centennial. From 5 October to 6 January 2015 the 2305:, brought his students to the exhibition and made a lesson about Cavellini. In April 1978 Maltese invited Cavellini to Genoa to meet his students. 875:

and Hisao Domoto. He was also visited in Brescia by Italian painter Tancredi Parmeggiani, who would commit suicide a few years later. In 1960 the

1645:

Do not publish your past, present and future story; do not write it everywhere (on personal clothes, the human body, fabrics, columns, etcetera).

552:, shortly before his death, and he acquired two of his paintings. He started to receive the interest of art critics and museum managers, meeting 6515: 2750:

using some of his wife's personal belongings: belts, umbrellas, bags, gloves, hats... In the same year he made a new Exhibition at Home, titled

1123:, were bought by a collector. In 1970 he decided to promote his art through a series of exhibitions in Italy: first at the Toninelli Gallery in 2047:. Then he sent him a blank book, and Cavellini replied by filling it with his stamps. This gave him the idea for a new series of works called 6719: 1115:. He was photographed with the artworks by Danilo Allegri. The following year he made an exhibition with his drawings in the Sturm Palace in 6744: 6729: 2665: 1809: 790:, directed by Mario Pannunzio. In the summer of the same year he travelled to London with his daughter Mariella, and there he met painter 708: 399: 127: 154:(self-historicization), upon which he acted to create a deliberate popular history surrounding his existence. He also authored the books 2982:, Enrico De Pascale and Maurizio Mondini, then again in New York at the Lynch Tham gallery. In 2008 Monia Marchionni published the book 2230:, and during the program Cavellini showed Battaglia his works and wrote on the bodies of Colosio and Luchetti. Marco Nozza published on 482:

like Franchina, Consagra, Corpora and Capogrossi. At the end of 1949, and then again in 1951, he traveled to Paris to acquire works by

4809: 3614: 2859: 2759: 2680:, in which they swallowed fragments of Cavellini's posters. On 10 May there was a new parade in his honor. Then the artist moved to 1210:. He also created 25 covers for the books that the most important people of the past and present time would have written about him: 372: 6112: 2640:

in honor of Cavellini and invited him to the United States. Hoffberg published a picture of Cavellini on the cover of her magazine

2906: 1724:

shows interest in Cavellini's work, and Dutch journalist Ger Van Dyck published an interview of Cavellini together with those of

114:. After his initial activity as a painter, in the 1940s and 1950s, he became one of the major collectors of contemporary Italian 2488:

in March 1981 described Cavellini as one of the most important artists of the contemporary Italian art scene. Yugoslav magazine

6739: 1623:

Do not burn, do not destroy, do not empty your failed works; do not propose them again; do not dissect those by famous artists.

233:, but he was forced to interrupt his studies to help his parents in the store. Since his childhood he drew and painted, mainly 1969:

to participate in the inauguration of an exhibition at the Students' Cultural Center. In the same year he was also visited by

4360: 2391:

and Miroslav Klivar. Banana visited his house in Brescia with her husband Bill Gaglione. Buster Cleveland filled the city of

1053:

went to Cavellini's house and made a portrait of him. James Collins made a video-portrait. They were followed by the French

6734: 1512:, both drawn and photographic. One of them was composed of 330 pictures of his face, each showing a different expression. 716: 264:. On 10 September 1942 his daughter Mariella was born, and then Cavellini went back to the army until the end of the war. 2512:

Later Cavellini maile 400 authorizations to celebrate his centennial in 2014, and he created new stamps. He also wrote a

952:. Then he started to destroy his works, dissect them and put them in small caged. He also burned his works, creating the 347:

The exhibition was successful, and many young artists contacted Cavellini to ask him to show their works. Among them was

2403:

of Cavellini by the Center for Cavellinian Studies. Jolena Baldini wrote about Cavellini's artworks and performances on

1951:

magazine published a picture of Cavellini during the performance, then Paolo Mosca, director of the Italian edition of

1578:

he met art critic Mario Verdone, who warned him that many Italian artists were criticizing his supposed arrogance. The

1186:. At the inauguration in Basel on 23 June 1972 there were no visitors. In this period Cavellini also created the first 267:

From 1945 to 1948 he drew and painted frequently. In the same period he visited the Feroldi collection, which included

2661: 1206:

which he transformed into stamps to celebrate his centennial, and he also exhibited them at the Segnapassi Gallery in

1158:(self-historicization), upon which he acted to create a deliberate popular history through self-promotion. He made 16 2226:), in which he presented a series of unusual people, to Cavellini. He also interviewed him on his television program 6690: 2051:('Round Trip'), which he made with Bill Gaglione from San Francisco and then many other artists. Art magazines like 2207:

art fair, he was not invited an important exhibition about Italian art from 1960 to 1977 at the Galleria Civica in

2122:

magazine, asking to be inserted at the head of a list of the best artists in the world, explaining that his latest

2107:

was the first to acquire one of his works. However, Cavellini enjoyed no success in Italy, for instance the critic

1598:

re-elaborated them to create a new work of art. In the same year Cavellini made a new postcard with his decalogue:

984: 511: 1736:. The interview was made on 22 May 1975 and it was shown at the international videotape congress organized by the 1143:

at the Flori Gallery, and finally in Rome at the Toninelli Gallery. However, the exhibitions were not successful.

335:. Vedova proposed to organize an exhibition in Cavellini's house, with the help of painter Giuseppe Santomaso and 130:

in Rome in 1957. In the 1960s Cavellini resumed his activity as an artist, with an ample production spanning from

2773: 363:. In June 1947 Cavellini met them in Paris with his wife, and there he visited the main museums of the city (the 1170:. With the help of fellow artist Sarenco, Cavellini was able to repeat the exhibition at the Aktionsgalerie in 615:, Léon Gischia and André-Pojet. Thanks to Gildo Caputo, director of the Galerie de France, he was able to meet 1995:

published a picture of Marco Lucchetti wearing clothes with Cavellini's story written on them. Dutch magazine

568: 1453:

umbrellas, cardboard and so on. He also wrote it on a white linen suit, which he often wore. He also created

2815:

in Brescia with a hundred works. On 2 October 1982 he went to New York City, where the following day he met

2669: 2414: 1083:

In 1967 his daughter Mariella was married, and for the occasion, Cavellini made an exhibition with works of

995: 872: 600: 323: 6662: 2029: 1331: 1092: 980: 1970: 6621: