Ivan D'Alberto's Book Traces Pescara's Art Galleries 1955-1975

Ivan D'Alberto's 'Tutto è iniziato prima' is the seventh volume in the Fili d’Erba series published by Di Felice Edizioni, edited by Alessandra Angelucci. Unlike previous volumes by artists, this one features an art historian examining Pescara's gallery scene from 1955 to 1975. D'Alberto, curator of the CORPO performing arts festival since 2011, investigates the artistic ferment that made Pescara comparable to Bologna in gallery density relative to population. The book highlights the role of entrepreneurs and artists, including the founding of Italy's first art high school, Liceo Misticoni, in 1950 by Giuseppe Misticoni. Key spaces like Galleria Tre, launched on May 2, 1965, by Elio Di Blasio, Ettore Spalletti, and Franco Summa, attracted artists such as Emilio Vedova and Lucio Fontana. Critics like Giuseppe Rosato (Galleria Il Quadrivio) and Eugenio Riccitelli (Galleria Ponterosso) supported artists. The 1970s saw figures like Cesare Manzo, Mario Pieroni, and Baroness Lucrezia De Domizio Durini, who presented a Beuys performance in 1974. The book questions why this vibrant scene collapsed, leaving nostalgia among artists and gallerists.