Mario Previ

During our roots trip of 2012, I was introduced to his honor, Giacomo Bernardi, a former Mayor of Borgotaro and the recognized historian of the town, by my good friend Giovanni Fenaroli of Genealogy and family history fame. Subsequently Giacomo introduced me to Mario Previ and opened a new world of art to me. That world is the Naif school of art. Mario's art is fast becoming a well known example of Naif art. Mario's life story is truly inspirational. Because of an accident in his teens he lost the use of legs along with severely restricted hand function. For a more complete treatment of Mario's art and times go to the following link:

RAI Program on Mario Previ

I have added this section to the site because of the subject matter. Mario paints many scenes from his childhood and delicately conveys the feelings and temper of those times. Looking at them so reminded me of the stories from my mother of growing up on those primitive farms where the extended family lived, worked and died together. Mario's paintings truly reach the depths of my feelings for my family. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

The following are scans of a few of Mario's paintings, in thumbnail form. To fit differently proportioned photos into standard thumbnail sizes causes distortions. To see a larger properly scaled photo, click the thumbnail form. You will also get the interesting story behind the photo.