«Having given the paintings and collages, which you will admire together with those provided by Tommaso De Filippo, was a pleasure and a privilege. I hope that the new generations can get to know a little-known aspect of my grandmother’s artistic personality and, thanks to them, also discover her talent as an actress.” Anna Caterina Carloni refers to Titina De Filippo. Her brother Eduardo celebrated her with these verses in 1983, a year before his death: «My Titina, / Tití… / What do you want to say… / If you were here for a moment, / for half an hour, / now solemnly, / given ten years / ‘and this life of mine…»…
Titina was a “sublime actress”, as he defined her Luca De Filippo; Titina pianist, who entertained her friends by playing Schubert, Chopin, Mozart to her memory; Titina poetess; Titina painter, creator of oils and papier collés. The pain in her heart, which denied her the stage too soon, on the other hand gave her the leisure and time to express her flexible talent as a woman of art in other forms.
From today to 28 June, nine of his works of figurative art will be exhibited in the rooms where he lived, on the first floor of Palazzo Scarpetta, today the headquarters of the foundation named after Eduardo, directed by Francesco Somma and presided over by Tommaso De Filippo, Luca’s son. It is no coincidence that the exhibition is entitled “Coming Home”. It was curated by the director Francesco Saponaro, among other things the author of the essay «Titina, Napoli and Filumena», included in the collective book DIRE-IL-VERO. Naples in the second half of the twentieth century, a controversial identity, edited by Attilio Belli (publishers’ guide), presented before the inauguration, scheduled for 6pm.
«A great oil with Pulcinella; another with women playing cards; the beautiful collages of a terrace facing the sea and of a little girl in front of a doll’s house; then, an extraordinary fan, inlaid with little Pulcinellas… then, two collages, dedicated to Tea Prandi, Luca’s mother, and Pulcinella & Colombina. Another portrays the company of Eduardo and him; yet another, small, depicts the behind the scenes of a theater show. The exhibition is enriched by historical posters of Eduardo and Titina’s theatre, and by photos (some unpublished), which establish the artistic and love partnership between the two brothers”: Saponaro illustrates the subjects of the works on display and thanks, «for the precious collaboration, Francesco Canessa, relative by marriage of the Carloni family, former superintendent of San Carlo and historical memory of the second half of the twentieth century in Naples».
Carloni: «I have no memories of her in life. I was three years old when Titina died, but I am happy to have entrusted her artistic legacy, including her precious diary, to the Homeland History Society. Thanks to the donation we managed to reawaken interest in a magnificent and multifaceted artist.” And Saponaro: «Already as a young woman, Titina dedicated herself to collage. Thanks to her creations she became friends with De Chirico, she was praised by Jean Cocteau, exhibited in Italy and abroad”. In this regard, Eduardo’s verses are eloquent: «With a thousand cultured cartridges, / paper scissors and hand / stuck the enchanted dress / ‘and a sunset; / even nu malotiempo / adventava / under ‘a soybean scissors / a celebration ‘and light / around a new vico astritto, all mbrielle…’… Eloquent like Luca’s tenderness: ‘One regret… never having it followed on stage, but my memories are perhaps more intimate, dear, precious. I saw her create her beautiful collages, carefully cut out those little pieces of colored paper to give them life with care, with sweetness, with a smile.” «Great and humble», says Saponaro. «Titina sought dryness, but disdaining stardom and ambition did not prevent her from emerging as an artist and as a woman in a chauvinistic and patriarchal environment».
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