Lucca Exhibition Revives Forgotten Writer Enrico Pea

Eugenio Montale once called Enrico Pea a 'scalpellatore di parole e di uomini' (sculptor of words and men). Pea (Seravezza, 1881 – Forte dei Marmi, 1958) was a writer, translator, theater manager, and animator of the Quarto Platano cultural circle at Caffè Roma in Forte dei Marmi, where figures like Carlo Carrà, Giorgio de Chirico, Renato Guttuso, Henry Moore, and Elio Vittorini gathered. He was known for novels such as Moscardino (translated by Ezra Pound), Il Volto Santo, and Vita in Egitto. Now, an anthological exhibition titled 'Enrico Pea, scrittore d’eccezione' runs until January 12, 2025, in the Sala Tobino of Palazzo Ducale in Lucca. Promoted by the Associazione Amici di Enrico Pea and curated by Giovanna Bellora and Marcello Ciccuto, the show is divided into four sections covering Pea's life, featuring paintings, drawings, photographs, correspondence, and documents from the Archivio Pea-Bellora. Additionally, fifty works from his personal collection are displayed, including a portrait by Francesco Fanelli, Paesaggio Bucolico (1915) by Plinio Nomellini, Marina con conchiglie (1930) by Filippo De Pisis, and Marina del Cinquale (1947) by Leone Lorenzetti. The exhibition aims to rediscover a multifaceted figure and an entire cultural era. A catalog with scholarly contributions is published by Maria Pacini Fazzi Editore.