Arcumeggia (a hamlet near Casalzuigno)

Arcumeggia is a small hamlet near Casalzuigno that lies at the very heart of the green valley of Valcuvia. In addition to being the most famous painted village in Varese Province, Arcumeggia was the first example of an "Open-air Fresco Gallery" in Italy. In 1956, the site was chosen by the then Varese Tourist Board as the venue for the event "Painters on holiday" ("Pittori in vacanza"), which would attract artists that represented Italian thought and the most important Italian trends of the second half of the twentieth century. The subjects painted include images of emigration, allegoric and symbolic figures, portraits of local inhabitants and crafts, as well as saints and religion scenes. Naturalistic representations and landscapes were added more recently.

Artists from Arcumeggia T he first artists who used the ancient and traditional fresco technique included: Achille Funi, Eugenio Torniolo, Gianfilippo Usellini, Francesco Menzio, Fiorenzo Tornea, Giovanni Brancazzo, Enzo Morelli, Bruno Saetti, and Ferruccio Ferrazzi. These were followed by other well-known artists, such as Aligi Sassu, Remo Brindisi, Giuseppe Migneco, Gianni Dova, Aldo Carpi, and Umberto Faini, and local painters, such as Innocente Salvini, Antonio Pedretti, and Albino Reggiori.

The Painter's House
The ambitious project of transforming Arcumeggia into an "Open-air Fresco Gallery", which is still being pursued today, required the building of facilities that could accommodate the artists while they were producing their works. And thus, in 1957, the Painter's House was built, as a place where they could spend the night and work on sketches for their frescoes. The House is home to several works, including panels, paintings, preliminary boards, and sketches on paper that bear witness to the visits and work of these artists.

Information: arcumeggia@provincia.va.it