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Michele ROSA (born 1st September 1925) is an Italian painter. A native of Sora, province of Frosinone, he has been a teacher of 'Drawing and history of art'.

The studies and beginnings
His first known painting, now exhibited in a private collection, is dated 1938, when he was thirteen. His studies led him to live in several towns. He continued his studies by enrolling at the Rome University School of Architecture and had the chance to enrich his training under the influence of great masters like Luigi Vagnetti, Vincenzo Fasolo and Enrico Del Debbio. During this time he joined cultural and jet-set environments such as the Trinity of the Mountains, the Spanish Steps and the Margutta Street. He has fruitful exchanges with artists, intellectuals and representatives of the world of film industry and entertainment of that time. In 1950 he moved to the University of Naples to attend the courses of prof. Roberto Pane.

The american years
In 1953, while still very young, the desire for new experiences pushed him to move to the United States of America, where he abandoned his architectural studies to attend the courses at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Champaign, Illinois.

Here, he also worked as a researcher in the Department of Nuclear Physics under the direction of Gilberto Bernardini, scientist and scholar who, since the thirties of the twentieth century, had been part of the team of the Nobel Prize Enrico Fermi.

Cultural activities
At the end of 1956 he left the US and returned to Europe where, before landing in Italy, he sought important cultural stimuli by visiting sites and museums throughout the old continent. He then settled in his hometown, where has been engaged as a teacher of Art History and Design until 1986. Plays a rich series of parallel activities to painting and teaching, such as, for example, the founding in 1958 of the "Pro-Loco" agency in Sora (a sort of cultural office promoting local singularities). He is constantly dedicating himself to reviewing and publishing critical notes and artistic reflections. In 1961 he established the art gallery "La Saletta", in Corso della Repubblica in Frosinone; in the role of Director he created a circle of associated artists in order to spread and share passion and art issues, and he opened the hall in which are cyclically hosted the works of the most representative painters of the period.

In April 1963, in the painting contest "Pittura in Ciociaria", hosted at the Abbey of Casamari, he is a member of the jury presided over by Giorgio De Chirico

Meanwhile, he is dedicating a series of "Biennale d'arte sacra" (Biennial of sacred art) of Painting and Sculpture from 1963 to 1970. His contacts led him several times to Paris, as well as to other European capitals, on both side of the courtain between east and west.

He also worked as a columnist and art critic in the roman monthly magazine "Terra Nostra" (1963-1964) and in the international magazine of art, culture, tourism and current events “La Sonda” (1967-1971).

Momentary interruption and new initiatives
He stop his experience as a gallerist, in 1977 for the onset of a serious illness and, in the late 70s of the twentieth century, reduced his visibility in the art scene. After the improvement of his health condition, he decided to travel again, seeking new stimuli for his art, and gradually intensified the review activities of theatrical works, paintings and music. His painting style also changes. He start another project, "Arte Expo", an artistic coterie around which flourished a cultural activism marked, in particular, by a deep need of transmitting art itself, corroborated by a combination of editorial proposals and programs for the proper training in various fields of creativity next to the more usual exhibitions and place where he gladly presented his works. In the 80s of the twentieth century began for him a new long stay in Paris meanwhile he took part in important national and international awards.

Important awards
In order to seal his long and intense activity, the Head of State Giorgio Napolitano, by decree of December 27, 2013 due to the proposal of the Prefecture of Frosinone, has awarded Michele Rosa, next to the threshold of the nineties, the highest decoration of the Republic: the “Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana” (award of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic) with the title of Knight.

Honors/Awards
Cavaliere Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana Su proposta della Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri Roma, 27 dicembre 2013.

Articles and Reviews

 * "Pittura tedesca dal Reno al Danubio, dalle Alpi alla Vestfalia", Edizione: Arte Expo, SBN IT\ICCU\RMS\2547640
 * "Michele Rosa: 30 gennaio-21 febbraio 1971", SBN IT\ICCU\VEA\1028801
 * Monografia di "Michele Rosa", SBN IT\ICCU\UM1\0105092
 * Monografia: "Life", SBN IT\ICCU\RMS\2547684
 * Monografia: "Spazio a spiragli", SBN IT\ICCU\LO1\1090877