Figure 1.--Celommi painted in a realistic style. He was a genre artist, specialing in beach seascapes. The painting we have is dated 1936, depicts the beach, probably in Roseto degli Abruzzi, before the development of beach tourism, that is, when many beaches were mainly frequented by fishermen's children.

Raffaello Celommi was an Italian artist, the son of the better known painter Pasquale Celommi. He was born in Florence (1881). In infancy he had serious respiratory ailments. As a result, his mother moved to Roseto degli Abruzzi, a sea-side town in the province of Abruzzo on the Italian eastern or Adriatic coast. Abruzzo is an Italian region, east of Rome, with both the Adriatic coastline and the Apennine Mountains. Inviting national parks and nature reserves dominate the rugged interior. There are also enchanting hilltop towns, dating to the medieval and Renaissance eras. The fishing villages have been turned into modern seaside resorts. When Celommi's mother moved to Roseto, it was still a basicaly untouched fishing village. Her hope was that hedr baby would benefit from the sea air and his breathing would improve. Roseto would become the family hometown. Celommi would spend most of his life in Roseto. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts of Rome. Celommi painted in a realistic style. He was a genre artist, specialing in beach seascapes. The painting we have is dated 1936, depicts the beach, probably in Roseto, a little erlier, as he remembers it as a boy or young man. (Notice all the sailboats.) This would have been before the development of beach tourism, that is, when most Italian as well a other southern European beaches were mainly frequented by fishermen's children.

Created: 5:13 AM 10/28/2024br>Last updated: 5:13 AM 10/28/2024