Portrait of composer Gustav Mahler by Folco Chiti Battelli (Florence, 1932-2011) Charcoal on hardcardboard.
Signed twice and dated 1993.
Some biography notes about painter.
Biography In line with his character, his biography is also sparse with events, if not for the exhibitions – numerous – in which he began to participate from 1963 (the first was at the Saletta del Fiorino in via Tosinghi). The artist was then thirty-one years old (he was born in Florence in 1932) and had a training at the Institute of Art and the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence under the guidance of Gianni Vagnetti.
From there on, the exhibition events quickly happened. Some are mentioned in Italy and abroad: in 1970 at the Galleria Inquadrature in Florence, in 1986 at the Galleria Pro Arte in Lugano, in 1988 at the Galleria Pirra in Turin, in 1995 at the Galleria Poggiali e Forconi in Florence, in 1997 at the Galleria dell'Oficina in Brescia.
In 1977 Chiti Batelli also took part in the Premio del Fiorino, reaching the terna of the finalists. Extremely prolific was also his partnership with the Pananti Gallery, which presented his works on several occasions (1972, 1974, 1979, 1982, 1984, 1991, 2001).
Among the most recent exhibitions are the 2002 staff at the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno in Florence and the 2005 one at the Archaeological Museum of Fiesole. Since 2007 one of his self-portraits has become part of the Collection of Self-portraits of the Uffizi Gallery. He died in Florence in 2011.