From Il Quotidiano del Sud of Sunday, April 5, 2026
Rende re-embraces the artist: the MAON brings home a beautiful work from 1943
This is a monotype of great interest. Friends of the Museum Play a Key Role
There is something profoundly symbolic about the return of a work of art to the places of its memory. When it concerns Achille Capizzano and his Rende, the gesture takes on the value of a love story that continues to surprise.
The MAON Museum has announced the acquisition of a signed work dated 1943, a crucial year in Italian history, marked by the armistice and profound wounds. The painting, identified on the antiques market thanks to careful research and monitoring, was "rescued" from oblivion and brought back to the museum through a lightning-fast crowdfunding campaign, supported by a vibrant and engaged community. Achille Capizzano and Rende share a bond that has never been broken, not even after the Master's passing. This thread has remained taut thanks to the passion of his son, General Giuseppe Capizzano, and his family, as well as the tireless work of Tonino Sicoli, the scholar who dedicated his life to exploring the artist. Today, Sicoli would have looked back with emotion at this new discovery, a sort of unexpected return that fuels the flame of a vibrant legacy.
The work—a monotype of extraordinary intensity—is almost poignant. Its rapid strokes and vibrant texture convey an intimate dimension: a rural scene, populated by essential figures immersed in the landscape, seemingly recalling fragments of childhood and visions embedded in memory. The colors, which oscillate between warm earth tones and darker accents, tell the story of a sensitive interpreter of peasant life, capable of reworking Italian tradition between Impressionism and Expressionist influences.
The operation was not only technical, but also collaborative. As explained by the Museum's management, the acquisition was made possible by a rapid mobilization of friends of the MAON and members of the community who, despite choosing to remain anonymous, made a decisive contribution. "This acquisition represents an important achievement for the Museum," says Antonio Coscarella, President of the Board of Directors of the "Achille Capizzano" Center. "It is the fruit of a collaborative effort between Roberto Principe (head of the collection), the art advisor, and the entire community. Bringing this piece back to the MAON strengthens a cultural project that makes the legacy of the great Calabrian masters accessible."
Achille Capizzano was born in Rende in 1907. His move to Rome in 1923 to undertake advanced artistic studies coincided with the "Return to Order," a movement that sought to reclaim the solidity of the Italian plastic tradition after the fragmentation of the avant-garde movements at the turn of the century. In the capital, Capizzano entered the orbit of Paolo Paschetto, professor of Ornamentation at Rome's Liceo Artistico, who trained him in the technical rigor of fresco painting and decorative design.
As early as 1928, Capizzano contributed to major public works, such as the decorative cycles for the Ministry of National Education in Rome, working alongside Paschetto. These early commissions featured broad narrative schemes, including eleven-meter friezes and several lunettes, which served as a practical laboratory for his later monumental works. In 1930, he earned his Academic Diploma, marking his transition from student to active participant in Roman architectural and artistic discourse.
The preservation of Capizzano's legacy is linked to his birthplace, Rende, and the establishment of the MAON – Museo d’Arte dell’Otto e Novecento (Museum of 19th and 20th Century Art). Founded in 2004 on the initiative of the "Centro per l'arte e la cultura Achille Capizzano," the museum serves as the primary repository for his works and the archive curated by his son, Giuseppe Capizzano.
The MAON collection includes over 85 works by Capizzano, documenting his career from the 1930s to the 1950s. The museum's digital cataloging efforts have provided access to architectural studies, preliminary sketches for state commissions, and mature monotones, ensuring that Capizzano's contribution to the urban and artistic fabric of modern Italy remains documented for future research.
Achille Capizzano was an artist of synthesis, capable of navigating the fine line between the monumental and the intimate. His legacy is engraved in the stones of the Foro Italico and the unfinished dreams of E42, but it also resides in the atmospheric paintings of a postwar Rome searching for its soul. As a master and "militant" creator, he remained dedicated to the essentiality of form and the rigor of Italian tradition, while filtering the lessons of Cubism and the Renaissance into a unique and personal language.
(Amina Letif contributed to the writing)
