Antonio Basoli - Decori e arredi (1794-1809) - 2000

Antonio Basoli (Castel Guelfo 1774 - Bologna, 1848), Decori e arredi. Florence, S.P.E.S. - 2000. Paperback, illustrated dust jacket, pages XX-251. With 237 color reproductions of Basoli's drawings. Edited by Vincenza Riccardi Scassellati Sforzolini. In excellent condition. Up for auction without reserve!!!!!

Antonio Basoli (Castel Guelfo, April 18, 1774 – Bologna, May 30, 1848) was an Italian painter and engraver, a key figure of Bologna neoclassicism.

Biography

The portico of S. Maria dei Servi, 1836
Originating from Castel Guelfo, a native of Bologna by adoption, he was the son of Lelio Andrea and Apollonia Fontana.

He was a painter and interior decorator, engraver, and a member of the Accademia delle Belle Arti of Bologna.

His education was nourished by an omnivorous and constant interest in classical works of art, classical and contemporary literature, repertoires and decorations, and the engravings of Piranesi. He learned the first secrets of art from his father Lelio Andrea Basoli.

Scenographies for Semiramide riconosciuta by Meyerbeer
Basoli, together with his brothers Luigi and Francesco, worked as a scenographer, decorator, and curtain designer for various theaters in the Bologna area, such as the Marsigli Rossi, the Comunale, the Teatro del Corso, and especially the Contavalli Theatre (1814); now there are only a few traces of these works, yet documented by the rich production of drawings, watercolors, and engravings, among which the etchings in the Collection of various theatrical scenes, produced from 1821.

Eclectic decorator, Basoli engaged in various styles, from Bologna ornate “stanza paese” or “tenda cispadana,” a French-origin decoration with a military character that would later become a “tenda civica,” to quadratura, Rococo painting, and grotesques, the latter influenced by his trip to Rome.[2]

The years from 1818 to the 1820s of the nineteenth century represent Basoli's peak artistic maturity in this field, with a trip to Milan and a visit to the “Sala di Sanquirico,” i.e., the studio of the Scala's chief scenographer, whom Basoli drew inspiration from for the scenery of Oedipus Rex at the Contavalli in 1822, the representation of Semiramide riconosciuta in 1820, and finally the painting of scenes and the theater of the Knights of the Union of Santarcangelo di Romagna.

His pupils included Francesco Cocchi and Domenico Ferri.

Antonio Basoli is buried in the monumental cemetery of the Certosa di Bologna, in the chest tomb LXIV/1 of Cloister V.[3]

Drop cap
Basoli drew innumerable drop caps. They were used at the beginning of every chapter of the Italian first edition, published by Longanesi, of The Neverending Story, Michael Ende's novel.