Alberto Spadolini (Ancona 1907 – Paris 1972) landed in Romagna in the mid-1960s; he opened an atelier in Riccione, where he painted some of his masterpieces. Moreover, the newspapers of the time wrote, “He created the new atmosphere of the Night at the Grand-Hotel in Rimini, the lion of this Riviera“.

Thanks to the fortuitous discovery in an attic of photographs, documents and posters from all continents, it was possible to reconstruct Spadò‘s life. In his youth, he was a decorator at Gabriele d’Annunzio’s Vittoriale; he attended Anton Giulio Bragaglia’s Teatro degli Indipendenti where he was a set designer and painter, a pupil of Giorgio De Chirico. Having emigrated to France at the end of the 1920s, he became a dancer with Serge Lifar and Joséphine Baker (with whom he had a stormy love affair); an actor with Jean Gabin and Jean Marais; a director with Django Reinhardt and Suzy Solidor; a singer with Mistinguett (he recorded a few records in New York); a journalist for the Parisian magazine Sourire; a favourite model for the photographer Dora Maar … a secret agent in the anti-Nazi Resistance.

In December 2022, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of his death, the Atelier ‘Alberto Spadolini’ was reopened to the public in Riccione; furthermore, the magazine Mirà, published by the ‘Nouveau Musée National’ in Monte-Carlo, under the presidency of Princess Caroline of Monaco, dedicated the article “Spadolini, une vie dédiée à l’art, à l’amour et à l’espionnage” to him.

Thursday 30 March, 6 and 13 April at 4 p.m. – Fulgor Palace (Cinemino)
Three documentaries will be screened on the occasion of the exhibition:

“Rivage de Paris” (1950, 50′) by director Spadolini, restored by the Archives Français du Film.

“Nous, les gitans” (1951, 25′) by director Spadolini, restored by the Cinématheque Française and presented by director Martin Scorsese as part of the “Toute la mémoire du Monde” (Paris 2012) review.

“Spadò, il danzatore nudo” (2019, 46′), by directors Riccardo De Angelis and Romeo Marconi, with interviews with art historian Stefano Papetti and the President of the “Vittoriale” Giordano Bruno Guerri.

For more information on Alberto Spadolini’s life, consult the site dedicated to him