FABBI, Fabio

He was born in Bologna on 18 July 1861 to Giuseppe and Emilia Negri. In 1876 he obtained 'honourable mentions' in various disciplines (statuary sculpture, portrait from life, figure elements, printmaking) as a student at the r. accademy of fine arts in Bologna (cf. Stivani-Borgogelli, 1981). He moved to Florence soon afterwards and attended sculpture courses at the Academy of Fine Arts, under the guidance of Augusto Rivalta, drawing on his verist manner, in the direction of an academic eclecticism, also coming into contact with the Florentine portrait painting tradition, strongly influenced by Giuseppe Bezzuoli. He graduated in 1880 (the following year he was mentioned in the governmental competition of encouragement) and in 1883 for his bas-relief entitled Una questione d'onore (A Matter of Honour) he was awarded the governmental prize of the Accademia di Firenze (owned by the same; cf. De Gubernatis, 1889, p. 189).

The illustration of numerous almanacs dates back to the early years of F.'s activity, almost always in collaboration with his brother Alberto (cf. Almanacs and Strennas..., 1985).

The first of a series of numerous trips to Egypt and other Mediterranean countries dates back to 1886, to which both his artistic production and that of his brother Alberto, who stayed abroad even longer than Fabbi, are significantly connected.

F., a representative of the Orientalist painting current that can be traced back in the Emilian arch to Alberto Pasini, exercised a constant adherence to the picturesque genre over the course of thirty years of activity, associating the themes of exoticism and travel with a rapid and lively sketchiness.

Among the few paintings by F. whose location is known are two oils on cardboard, Moschea (Bologna, Gall. com. d'arte moderna), and a view of Bologna, Quattro torri (owned by the Cassa di Risparmio, see Varignana, 1972). The rest of F.'s works, mostly in private collections, are difficult to find, also due to their approximate titles and repetitive subjects. The most important source for photographic documentation remains the catalogue of the exhibition held in 1981 at the Il 2 di Quadri gallery in Bologna, which owns several works by Fabbi.

In. 1888, F. exhibited at the exhibition of the Circolo degli artisti di Firenze Un terrazzo ad Alessandria (ill. in Stivani-Borgogelli, 1981, table XI), with a strongly photographic slant, Donna araba, Il vasaio, Vecchio musulmano. At the Munich International Exhibition, he was awarded prizes for the paintings The Sale of a Slave (ibid., pl. V) and The Seven Deadly Sins. The decoration of the fumoir of the Sorani Villa in Florence with six large tempera paintings of oriental subjects (ibid.) dates back to the late 1880s, as does L'Egitto, album di ricordi e disegni originali published by Alinari, Florence s.d. (De Gubernatis, 1889, p. 190). In 1896, he collaborated on the Florentine magazine Fiammetta, producing the periodical's poster in 1897.

In those years he also devoted himself to paintings with religious subjects; in fact, alongside the Muslim Saint, in 1896 he presented The Annunciation and Christ Mocked at the Florence Art and Flower Exhibition (cf. L'Ill. ital., 11 Apr. 1897, pp. 232, 238). He always maintained constant and lively relations with Emilia; he signed with his brother Alberto a S. Giovanni decollato, probably completed at the turn of the century, in the archpriestal basilica of S. Giovanni in Persiceto and a Sacro Cuore with S. Anthony Abbot and St. Anthony Maria Zaccaria founder of the Barnabites (1902) for the church of S. Antonio Abate in Bologna.

In 1893 he was appointed professor in Florence, in '94 academician in Bologna and in 1898 he became a knight of the Italian Crown. In 1899 he took part in the first of the competitions announced by Vittorio Alinari on the theme 'Madonna and Child', presenting two paintings (Mammina and Madonna alla spiga); in 1902 he took part in the second competition on the theme 'Alla vita della Madonna' (together with G. Costetti, A. Martini, G. Kienerk) and, finally, in the same year he produced three oil paintings dedicated to the 13th canto of Paradise for La Divina Commedia illustrata nuovamente da artisti italiani. Also by F. is the large painting Morte di Anita Garibaldi from the early 20th century (Florence, Biblioteca ed Archivio del Risorgimento).

In 1906 he presented some models of medals executed with the lost wax technique at the Sempione International Exhibition in Milan. In 1911 he participated in the Paris Exhibition of Modern Christian Art, alongside the late P. Puvis de Chavannes, E. Carrière and M. Denis. A collaborator of Bemporad in Florence, he illustrated, together with other illustrators, mainly from Tuscany, L. Rasi's trilogy (Il libro dei monologhi, Il secondo libro dei monologhi, Milan 1888 and 1893 respectively, and Illibro degli aneddoti, Modena 1890).