Although very committed to his native Aosta Valley, Mus spent short periods in 1913 working on
fresco and
restoration projects: first in
Lyon and then in
Lausanne and in Friesch near
Brig in the Swiss the canton of
Valais. He took part in the
First World War, and while on leave he met Giuseppina Crenna. After the end of the war they married and in due course had four children. In 1932 Mus was responsible for the
Saint-Vincent war memorial. The work, modelled in
clay and then
cast in
bronze in
Milan, was of an
Alpino holding a weapon in his hand and with a fallen comrade across his knees. No trace of this monument remains: it was melted down in 1940 when its
metal was needed for the
war effort. In 1938 the
art critic Guido Marangoni saw Mus’s works in his studio and was impressed enough to write an article in the art journal
Perseo, describing him as a “highly talented painter.” For a time he worked in his studio at Saint-Vincent with
Filippo De Pisis. In 1956 some of his paintings were shown in
New York City and
Buenos Aires. In the mid-1960s, while still active, he fell victim to a serious disease which prevented him from continuing to work. Italo Mus died in
Saint-Vincent on 15 May 1967. ==Work==