Filippo Franzoni
Undergrowth with Spring and Nudes (Monte Verità), 1900-1903
Oil on canvas, 61 x 41 cm
Collezione della Città di Locarno
Filippo Franzoni (1857–1911)
The Swiss-Italian painter and cellist Filippo Franzoni came from Locarno, training at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera in Milan. From 1903 to 1906, he explored theosophy at Monte Verità while painting Symbolist self-portraits. In 1904, he temporarily lost his sight. Due to a mental illness, he was admitted to the Mendrisio clinic, where he died in 1911.