Mario Cavaglieri
(
Rovigo 1887 -
Peyloubčre
F 1969 )
Often described as 'the most
French of the Italian painters', Mario Cavaglieri was born
in Rovigo, Italy in 1887 of a wealthy Jewish family. He
trained as a painter and by the age of 20 was already
holding exhibitions of his work. In 1911 he met Giulietta
who was to be his model, his inspiration and ten years later,
his wife. In 1925, for reasons he preferred to keep to
himself, Cavaglieri moved to France where he purchased the
Domaine de Peyloubčre, only leaving for a period during the
war when, as a Jew and an Italian, he felt a vulnerability
which led him back to his roots and family. He returned to
France in 1946 and died peacefully at Peyloubčre in 1969.
Cavaglieri's painting is
characterized by bold brush strokes and a firm skill with
line and design. Whether the subject is decadent and
bourgeois, as in his early years, or nature bathed in
sunlight, as in his later life at Peyloubčre, his colours
are vivid, pure and dramatic. Better known in Italy and the
United States, the works of Cavaglieri have nevertheless
been exhibited in France on several occasions and his
personal collection, recently left to the Mairie of Auch,
now forms the basis of a permanent exhibition in the town.
The exhibition includes several paintings of Peyloubčre
including the waterfall, the Venetian bedroom and a tea
party in the original dining room, now part of one of the
holiday cottages.
Just as Cavaglieri recorded
the terraces and gardens, salons and inhabitants of
Peyloubčre on canvas, so too he imprinted his own history,
philosophy and passion upon the house itself. He literally
painted the house, and the ceilings, walls and cupboards of
the Manoir are alive with his imaginative paintings full of
allegory, myth and symbols and scenes reflecting his Italian
origin and inspiration.