Rubaldo Merello (16 July 1872 – 31 January 1922) was an Italian painter and sculptor.

Life and career

frazione A ''frazione'' (: ''frazioni'') is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' ('municipality') in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidat ...

of Madesimo, Merello was the son of a customs inspector. In 1881 he moved to

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

with his family, and there Merello trained at the Accademia Ligustica di Belle Arti, graduating in 1892. He held his first exhibition in 1894.Alessandra Imbellone (2009).
Merello, Rubaldo
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Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani The ''Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani'' () is a biographical dictionary published in 100 volumes by the Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, started in 1960 and completed in 2020. It includes about 40,000 biographies of distinguished Italia ...

- Volume 73''.

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. Following the disappointment for the rejection of one of his works by the

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...

in 1895, Merello embraced a life of total isolation; in the same years he approached

Divisionism Divisionism, also called chromoluminarism, is the characteristic style in Neo-Impressionist painting defined by the separation of colors into individual dots or patches that interact optically..Homer, William I. ''Seurat and the Science of Pain ...

, inspired by the works of Plinio Nomellini and Giuseppe Pellizza da Volpedo. Merello held his first solo exhibition in 1909. In 1913 he became professor of painting at the Accademia Ligustica di Belle Arti. Around 1914 he moved to

Portofino Portofino (; ) is a ''comune'' located in the Metropolitan City of Genoa on the Italian Riviera. The town is clustered around its small harbour, and is known for the colourfully painted buildings that line the shore. Since the late 19th centur ...

. In 1915 he illustrated Sem Benelli's poem ''Le nozze dei centauri''. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he focused on sculpture.

References

External links

* 1872 births 1922 deaths People from the Province of Sondrio 20th-century Italian sculptors 20th-century Italian male artists Italian male sculptors 19th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 20th-century Italian painters Accademia Ligustica di Belle Arti alumni Academic staff of the Accademia Ligustica di Belle Arti 19th-century Italian male artists Academics from Genoa Painters from Genoa {{Italy-artist-stub