Nuorese Cultural DistrictMario Delitala (b. Orani, 16 September 1887–d. Sassari, 28 August 1990) was an Italian painter and engraver.
Mario Delitala
Description
He began his artistic career after studying accounting. He moved to Milan in 1907, working for an advertising agency and concentrating on illustration.
He then took lessons in lithography in Cagliari, meeting important Sardinian artists like Filippo Figari, Francesco Ciusa, Felice Melis Marini, Melkiorre and Federico Melis.
Between 1920 and 1924, he studied engraving in Venice.
His time in the lagoon city had a lasting influence on his style, especially in terms the rendering of colour and light effects, as well as the design of large murals.
In the years that followed, he alternated work in Sardinia with travel to other parts of Italy and a brief stay in Africa.
A talented draughtsman, Delitala distinguished himself for his work as a poster designer in Milan. He was a contributor to various Sardinian and Italian magazines, like Rivista Sarda, edited by Melkiorre Melis.
He painted a number of important murals, including for the Palazzo Civico of Cagliari, the Sala Consiliare of the Palazzo Civico of Nuoro, the cathedral of Lanusei and the Aula Magna of the University of Sassari.
He was also an engraving pioneer in Sardinia.
He played an active role in education, serving as head of art institutes in Urbino, Perugia, Pesaro and Palermo and founding art schools in Messina, Caltagirone and Comiso.
He returned to Sardinia in the 1960s and began to devote more of his time to painting, since problems with his eyesight were growing progressively worse, making it impossible for him to continue making engravings.
Nevertheless, he continued to participate in important cultural events, like the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of Sebastiano Satta’s death in 1964.
During this final period of his life, he returned to the towns in Barbagia that he had visited in the 1910s with Carmelo Floris from Olzai, which had been a source of inspiration for many of his works.