EXTRACTS: British War Comics Illustrators Special © 2018 The Book Palace (144 PAGES in Full edition)

44 artist to America and paying him millions for his work. Giorgio’s reply was succinct: “Promise me you’ll never have me meet him.” In 2008 De Gaspari was offered the opportunity to participate in an exhibition centred on the La Domenica del Corriere cover artwork at the Palazzo Reale in Milan, but he declined the offer. He didn’t even open the door to the curator who had expressly gone over to meet him at his home! De Gaspari died on October 16, 2012, and, to this day, remains an almost unknown artist who never achieved the success he deserved during his lifetime. ● ● Special thanks to Giovanni Scarpa for loaning some of the images and his anecdotes on the artist. Text continued from page 39 RIGHT: Noah’s Ark , oil on canvas, 22” x 29” (undated). A rather bizarre painting, featuring various insects and animals walking onto an ark during a gloomy thunderstorm. The figure at the front, representing Noah, is the artist himself. Giorgio was inspired by various Biblical stories that he adapted for his paintings. This one is surely one of the most bizarre, until you look closely and see what it really represents. Surely Noah carried the 950,000 different species of insects in his ark, not to mention the tens of thousands of other living species. Notice at the top left an ‘angel’ on a flying contraption, making this painting quite science-fiction like as well. BOTTOM: De Gaspari as Foresto during his latter years. That craggy face would appear in countless paintings.