Showing posts with label Alassio. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alassio. Show all posts

22 September 2022

Mario Berrino - painter

Artist who was also a popular entrepreneur 

Berrino captured many scenes from life on the coast of Liguria in and near his home in Alassio
Berrino captured many scenes from life on the
coast of Liguria in and near his home in Alassio
The painter and entrepreneur Mario Berrino was born on this day in 1920 in Alassio, the coastal town in Liguria where he spent almost all his life.

Berrino took up painting full time in his 50s and his simple yet atmospheric and evocative works became sought after by collectors, often selling for hundreds of euros at auction.

Alassio has a gallery dedicated entirely to his work, as does the jet set playground of Monte Carlo, about 100km (62 miles) along the riviera coastline to the west, not far from Italy’s border with France.

Before that, Berrino had lived a colourful life in and around his home town, his entrepreneurial spirit shining through in many projects that left a lasting impression on Alassio.

As a young man, he helped his father and brothers run a bar and restaurant in Alassio, the Caffè Roma, which earned fame in the years between the First and Second World Wars as a hang-out for writers, artists, and musicians, among them the American novelist Ernest Hemingway, who was a frequent visitor to Italy and became a close friend of Berrino.

It was when Hemingway was in Alassio in 1953 that Berrino hatched the idea of attaching brightly coloured tiles to the low wall of a public garden opposite the Caffè Roma bearing the signatures of artists who had visited the restaurant.

Il Muretto di Alassio, which Berrino created on a wall outside the Caffè Roma, still attracts visitors
Il Muretto di Alassio, which Berrino created on a
wall outside the Caffè Roma, still attracts visitors
He asked a ceramicist to create some tiles and he and Hemingway crossed the road between the Caffè Roma and the garden one evening, using cement to attach the first three - one bearing Hemingway’s own signature and a second with the signature of a guitarist Cosimo de Ceciglie. The third carried all four signatures of a singing group, Il Quartetto Cetra.

The wall became known as Il Muretto di Alassio and remains a tourist attraction today, with close to 1,000 tiles, the criteria for inclusion expanded to include personalities from cinema, television, fashion, entertainment and sport.

In the same year as the wall came into being, Berrino launched a beauty contest, Miss Muretto, which was held every year until 2013. The winners include several women who have gone on to achieve a degree of fame, including the TV presenters Simona Ventura, Maria Teresa Ruta, Elisa Isoardi and Melissa Satta.

Berrino launched himself with enthusiasm into several other entrepreneurial ideas, cashing in on Alassion’s reputation for invigorating sea air by selling l’Aria Pura di Alassio in 500 litre jars, for which he received orders from all over Europe.

Berrino on the occasion of a 90th birthday celebration in Alassio
Berrino on the occasion of a 90th
birthday celebration in Alassio
He also successfully organised the Sciaccagiara, in which Formula One racing drivers including world champion James Hunt and the popular Swiss-Italian Clay Regazzoni, raced each other on steamrollers.

He was a popular figure in Alassio, usually seen driving his red Fiat Ghia 500 Jolly, a specially adapted Fiat 500 with a removable canopy top and wicker seats that was favoured by celebrities and VIPs ranging from the Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis to Italian Communist leader Enrico Berlinguer.

Berrino set aside a wall of the Caffè Roma, called La buca del Muretto, to allow artists to exhibit, which was his inspiration to take up painting himself. Using watercolour, tempera, encaustic and oil techniques, he had become an established painter in the 1960s and from 1976 onwards devoted himself to painting full time.

Two years earlier, he had survived the ordeal of being kidnapped by a gang who demanded 300 million lire be paid for his release. Berrino managed to escape from captivity to the safety of a Carabinieri station.

Berrino remains a personality held in deep affection by the town of Alassio, who staged a celebration of his life on the 100th anniversary of his birth in 2020, nine years after his death in Alassio in August 2011.

A painting by Berrino that captures the beauty of Alassio's location on the coast of Liguria
A painting by Berrino that captures the beauty
of Alassio's location on the coast of Liguria
Travel tip:

Alassio is an attractive town on the Riviera di Ponente, the stretch of coastline that stretches southwest of the Ligurian capital of Genoa to the town of Ventimiglia, close to the French border. Renowned for its sandy beaches and blue seas, Alassio is popular for bathing in the summer and as a health resort in the winter.  It is a tourist-friendly town not least for having a narrow, pedestrianised street known as Il Budello which runs the length of the town just a few steps away from the beach. The English composer Edward Elgar is said to have written an overture while staying in Alassio during the winter of 1903-04, having been drawn to the area by its reputation for mild winters.  Read more...

The Caffè Roma remains a thriving business in Alassio today
The Caffè Roma remains a thriving
business in Alassio today
Travel tip:

The Caffè Roma, in Via Dante Alighieri, remains a thriving part of the life of Alassio, a symbolic monument to the town and its history as one of the resorts most favoured by writers, artists and musicians. The Muretto di Alassio remains a draw for visitors, who often spend many minutes trying to decipher the signatures on the ceramic tiles. The restaurant and cafe itself is housed in an attractive building in the Italian variant of Art Nouveau known as Stile Liberty.



Also on this day:

1929: The birth of motorcycle world champion Carlo Ubbiali

1955: The birth of Mafia ‘pentito’ Leonardo Messina

1958: The birth of tenor Andrea Bocelli

1979: The birth of writer Roberto Saviano


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25 November 2017

Giorgio Faletti – writer and entertainer

Comedian who became best-selling novelist


Giorgio Faletti had a varied career before becoming a best-selling novelist
Giorgio Faletti had a varied career before
becoming a best-selling novelist
Giorgio Faletti, who became a best-selling thriller writer, was born on this day in 1950 in Asti in Piedmont.

He was a successful actor, comedian, and singer-songwriter before he turned his hand to writing fiction. His first thriller, I Kill (Io uccido), sold more than four million copies.

Faletti’s books have now been published in 25 languages throughout Europe, South America, China, Japan, Russia and the US.

Faletti graduated from law school but then began a career as a comedian at the Milanese Club ‘Derby’.

In 1983 he made his debut on local television before appearing alongside the popular hostess and former actress, Raffaella Carrà, on RAI’s daytime game show, Pronto, Raffaella? He was cast as a comedian in the popular variety show, Drive In, which was followed by other television successes.

He wrote the soundtrack for a TV series in which he was one of the main actors and then released an album of his songs.

In 1992 he took part in the San Remo Music Festival with Orietta Berti with the song Rumba di tango.

The cover of Giorgio Faletti's  debut thriller, I Kill
The cover of Giorgio Faletti's
debut thriller, I Kill
In 1994, performing his own song, Signor tenente, he came second at San Remo.  In all, he recorded six albums. His last, entitled Nonsense, was released in 2000.

A motor racing enthusiast, Falleti began his writing career by penning a column for the Italian weekly magazine, Autosprint.

His first book was the humorous book, Porco il mondo che cio sotto I piedi! in 1994. His second book came as a surprise, the thriller, I Kill (Io uccido).

The book sold four million copies and the follow-up, The Killer In My Eyes (Niente di vero tranne gli occhi), three million and a half copies.

The writer Jeffery Deaver said of Faletti: ‘In my neck of the woods, people like Faletti are called larger than life, living legends.’

In November 2005 Faletti received the De Sica Prize for literature from the President of the Italian Republic.

The following year, in which he released his novel Outside Of An Evident Destiny (Fuori da un evidente destino) he starred in the film Notte prima degli esami (First Night of the Exams), in which he was nominated for the David di Donatello Award for best supporting actor.  It was the first of several acting roles.

In recognition of his literary achievements, Faletti was appointed president of the Astense Library, the civic library of Asti, in 2012.  The library subsequently became home to the Fondazione Biblioteca Astense Giorgio Faletti.

Faletti was asked to sign his name on the Muretto di Alassio
Faletti was asked to sign his name on the Muretto di Alassio
After his successes in music and literature, he was invited to sign his name on the Muretto di Alassio, a wall in the Ligurian resort of Alassio embedded with ceramic tiles, each bearing the signature of a celebrity.

Married to Roberta Bellesini, with whom he shared a house on the island of Elba, he died of lung cancer in Turin in 2014, aged 63.

Travel tip:

Asti, where Faletti was born, is a city in the Piedmont region of Turin, famous for its high-quality wines, Moscato d’Asti, a sparkling white wine and Barbera, a prestigious red wine.

Piazza Castello is at the heart of royal Turin
Piazza Castello is at the heart of royal Turin
Travel tip:

Turin, where Faletti died, was once the capital of Italy and its shopping streets reflect its former prestige, with 18km (11 miles) of arcades featuring the top names in fashion and jewellery. It is an important business centre and has architecture demonstrating its rich history, which is linked with the Savoy Kings of Italy. Piazza Castello, with the royal palace, royal library and Palazzo Madama, which used to house the Italian senate, is at the heart of ‘royal’ Turin.