Farewell to Pericle Guaglianone, Artribune’s esteemed columnist

Pericle Guaglianone, a highly regarded columnist for Artribune, has passed away at the age of just 54. Guaglianone passed away yesterday afternoon on the beach at Torvaianica ( a hamlet of Pomezia, Rome), struck down by a sudden illness while in the water. Despite the presence of numerous swimmers, who watched helplessly as the dramatic scene unfolded, every attempt to rescue him was unfortunately in vain. Guaglianone was a traffic police officer assigned to the Lazio-Umbria Department, where he had served for years, but he was also a well-known and highly regarded figure in the Italian cultural scene. An eclectic figure with a keen critical eye, Guaglianone was in fact a leading columnist for the publication Artribune, with which he had been collaborating since 2004, distinguishing himself through his sharp, ironic, and brilliant writing and a rare capacity for analysis in the field of contemporary art.

Born in Rome, Guaglianone—who held a degree in contemporary art history—is remembered as a passionate scholar of music, cartography, flags, and automotive design. In addition to his career in law enforcement, he had successfully built a parallel career as a critic, exhibition curator, and columnist. In announcing his passing, the editorial staff of Artribune, through Editor-in-Chief Massimiliano Tonelli, paid tribute to him, describing him as “a bedrock of wisdom and a constant source of inspiration.” His relationship with the newspaper never faltered over more than twenty years of collaboration. In addition to art reviews, his intellectual curiosity led him to explore music, cinema, literature, and even meteorology—a subject to which he had previously dedicated a closely followed column. He was also known for his constant presence at exhibition openings, where he always sought dialogue with artists and young talents, whom he often encountered in the gathering places of Rome’s artistic scene.

Among his most recent writings, Guaglianone had penned a detailed review of the 61st Venice Art Biennale, titled *In minor keys*. In the article, Guaglianone provided an in-depth analysis of curator Koyoh Kouh’s work, describing the exhibition as the most joyful seen in Venice this century. Guaglianone observed that the exhibition was characterized by an anti-modernist stance and a clear rejection of the “white cube” aesthetic, favoring sinuous installations, tactile materials, and a strong presence of elements linked to the Global South and nature. Particular attention was devoted to the concept of sewing and mending, a metaphor used to describe the dialogue between the historical avant-gardes and non-Western wisdom. However, as is typical of his writing, the critic did not fail to raise several critical observations, noting a certain lack of high-quality highlights and emphasizing the risk that an excessive rhetoric of slowness could weaken the vividness necessary for great visual art.

Another significant contribution of his recent work involved a sociological reflection on the current state of the cultural debate in Italy, a topic on which Guaglianone has often weighed in: in an article published by Artribune in July 2015, pointedly titled “Why Have Artists Stopped Insulting and Arguing with One Another?”, Guaglianone analyzed with regret how critical discourse among the leading figures of the cultural scene had, over time, become excessively muted. Refuting the claim that social media alone is responsible for the coarsening of language, he argued that the main problem was rather the disappearance of healthy intellectual debate—the kind that once animated discussions between great masters and rising talents. Drawing on figures such as Pasolini, Ceronetti, D’Annunzio, and Marinetti, Guaglianone lamented the absence of a heated yet honest exchange of views, calling for a rediscovery of the value of polemics as an essential tool for the vitality of culture.

Guaglianone’s passing, which came at a time of full human and professional maturity, deprives art journalism of a writer who knew how to combine rigor and lightness, analytical depth, and a perspective always focused on uncovering the unexpected.

Farewell to Pericle Guaglianone, Artribune’s esteemed columnist

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