Hometown Art

One of the primary reasons for this trip was to pick up some paintings done by Luisa's father, the late Donato Frisia (senior.) Gauss’s cousin, Donato (junior) is the curator of the family collection, so while we were in Milan, we took the train to Luisa's hometown of Merate for an afternoon visit.

Lago di Sartirana, where Gauss fished as a little kid 
Donato and his wife, Anna, live in his parents’ former home, and Donato has a studio on the lower level. We had a short visit, and then Anna had to leave for a computer class. While she was gone, Donato drove Gauss and me to Lago di Sartirana where Gauss used to fish when he was kid. I asked if he ever caught anything, and this was his answer: "I just bent a pin and tied it to a string. I didn't catch anything, but it was fun to be out there." The area has been turned into a little nature preserve—and has benefited from the resulting cleanup, according to Gauss.

Sambuca
Ducks. I loved the baby ducks' red heads.
We walked most of the way around the lake, stopping from time to time while Donato explained the animals and plants we were seeing: sambuco, sycamore trees, ducks and ducklings, tortoises. Despite a hazy sky, we were able to see the foothills of the Alps north of town.

This house, with mountains in the background, was the subject of many of Donato Frisia's paintings
A group of local men gathered to play cards in a glade near the park entrance, and Gauss asked Donato if we could pause nearby so he could eavesdrop on their dialect. Even I could hear the French and German influence in the vowel sounds.

We returned to Donato's house/studio where the paintings have been stored. Anna came back, and their grandson, Luca (Donato and Anna also have a son, Luca, and we have a son, Luca) stopped by. Luca is their window cyberspace, and now that Anna is learning how to use a computer, we exchanged email addresses. 

Donato; his grandson, Luca; Donato's wife, Anna; and Gauss in Donato's living room in Merate
Donato gave us the two canvasses from his grandfather, portraits of Gauss's grandmother, Maria—packaged as only Donato can package them, in PVC sewer pipe that he gets from the lumberyard. The larger of the two was 110 cm wide, a challenge to transport on the plane.


Donato Jr's Paintings

Throughout this trip, “la Crisi”—“The Crisis” has dominated conversation. Donato said that since the economic downturn of 2008, he has not sold any of his own artwork. He has had exhibits, and he keeps painting since that’s what makes him tick, but the works continue to accumulate in his studio. Here are some that I photographed in the most casual way—let me know if you’re interested!











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