Alberico Verzoletto was born in the Botto di Trivero hamlet on 20th December 1935. He attended primary school in Botto and immediately showed a natural talent for arts in general. Former classmates still remember to this day how he used to help them with the drawing homework they were given. 

Father Italo, a hardworking and industrious man, dies of a lung condition contracted during the war when Alberico is only 9 years old. Mother Egle, due to a heart condition, leaves him an orphan at 19 years old. These are painful times for the boy, and hard ones, so much as to be forced to maintain himself with heavy labour, ending up as a shop boy for a construction worker. Later, he refuses an offer as postman and instead accepts a position as factory worker for the Zegna wool industries. His family at the time is made up of some friends (Elio and Luciano, still living, and the late Tarcisio, who died young) who support him both physically and morally, often offering him lunch and dinner, and inviting him to join in adventures. His friends still recount the time when, during military service, they had decided to go see the sea for the first time, by bicycle, or that other time when they had gone to see a movie and Alberico, distracted by female company, had forgotten his Lambretta there at the club. Elio, the first of the group who’s able to afford a car, usually transports Alberico and his canvases, enabling him to participate to his first exhibitions. 

In 1955, the life of the young self-taught painter came to a turning point when he met Alvaro Rossetti, an expert painter who had just come back from Paris, that fascinated him with tales of the artistic vanguard there, inviting him to challenge himself with new painting techniques. After just a few months, he’ll say, about his pupil: “The student surpassed the master, and now walks on his own”. From that moment, Alberico knew his goal was to dedicate his life to art, and he started to participate to every collective exhibition and every local, and national competition he hears about, gaining important victories. Among these, he receives the prize for a competition in Rome titled “Man and the machine”, sponsored by the Ministry of Labour. In that same occasion, he is received by pope John XXIII. He wins the Sulmona Art Prize with “Tractor”, a work from 1967.

The ‘60s and ‘70s are marked by an intense artistic production, and the participation in numerous cultural events such as personal and collective exhibitions, competitions, concerts. 

His life changes again when he meets Giancarla Mazza. They get married within a few months, on February 13th 1971, and their union is blessed with the birth of Marie Egle, on 26th December of the same year. His wife remembers it wasn’t easy, living with such a reserved, silent man, who was always completely absorbed by artistic research, and yet capable of sudden bursts of affection. Giancarla recalls that Alberico kept her involved in his interests. He read a lot, and he would often leave an open book laying around, inviting her to discuss the theme of the work later. 

A strong personal and artistic connection is established between Alberico and his daughter, influencing his artistic production of that era, marked by a serene, sunny palette. Egle shows artistic inclinations too, mostly for sculpture, which leads her to attend art school in Biella and then in Carrara. In the ‘80s and ‘90s, Verzoletto works in the textile industry, doing nightshifts to be able to devote the daytime to his daughter, and mostly, painting. The painter retires in the ‘90s, and frequently travels to Tuscany, besides Umbria and Liguria, to meet his daughter, who is now a promising artist. He often gets hints and impressions from his stay in Tuscany, which he transforms into new works once he is back in Piedmont. In 1996, Egle attends a high education seminar held by Arnaldo Pomodoro in Pietra Rubbia, where one of her works is awarded the first prize, handed to her by the President of the Republic. In 1997, she participates, together with her father, to an exhibition sponsored by the Albertina Art Academy in Turin. In the following years, after an attempt at an academic career, she chose to learn new languages and seek for a future outside of Italy, in Germany first, and then the Canaries, where she currently resides. 

The departure of Egle around the 2000s is a hard hit for Alberico, who gets more and more introvert and solitary. His sadness is reflected in the sombre tones of the works from this period. He has been diagnosed with cancer tumour some years before, and faced surgery in Turin first, then in Aosta, between 1996 and the following year. Back in Trivero, he devotes all his energies, both mental and physical, to the creation of the chestnut painting series, which is presented in his personal exhibition in Ponzone, in 1996. The exhibition is quite successful with the public, even though a misunderstanding with the promoter drastically shortens the duration of the event, leaving him disappointed. His personal exhibition “The Voyage” opens in 2000. A new worsening of his health prevents him from going to the small hut in the Marone woods where he usually paints, so he moves his studio to Trivero, where he keeps working with wax and oils pastels, creating works with a strong dramatic impact. His exhibitions inevitably slow down, finally coming to a stop. The last exhibition, “Naturally”, held in Castagnea in 2006, is well received by the public. 

Alberico dies on 3rd November 2010 in Trivero.

Giancarla is left alone with a heap of troubles, but thanks to a group of friends the works are photographed, catalogued, and prepared for posthumous exhibitions, with the collaboration of the critic Giampiero Rabuffi, the same that will curate the texts of three different publishing projects dedicated to the memory of the artist.