Virgilio Guidi

Virgilio Guidi was born in Rome on April 4, 1891. His artistic inclination developed already in the family environment in contact with his father, sculptor and poet, and his grandfather, architect and decorator. In 1911 he enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts, following the course of Painting held by G. A. Sartorio. After only two years he left the Academy and in this period, as self-taught, he devoted himself to the study of the masters of the past: among others, Giotto, Piero della Francesca and Correggio. But his attention is also directed to contemporary art: in fact he is particularly influenced by Cézanne and Matisse. Between 1920 and 1923 he painted some of his most important paintings of figures and exhibited some of them at the XII Venice Biennale. In 1924 he achieved success at the 14th Venice Biennale: the favorable opinion of the critics established an international recognition. From that year, until 1964, he exhibited a good seven times at the Biennale, presenting in 1928 one of the recurrent themes of his Venetian period: the "GIUDECCA". In 1926 he took part in the first "NOVECENTO ITALIANO" exhibition in Milan and later took part in the second one in 1929. In 1935 he moved to Bologna where he taught at the Academy of Fine Arts. He has a personal room in the II National Art Rome. In 1946, interested in graphic design, he started his business publishing a series of lithographs. Between 1947 and 1950 he created "MARINE" in a scheme of pure color plans, and figures in space. He takes part in the space movement, led by Lucio Fontana. In 1962 the city of Venice organized a large anthological exhibition. In 1963 he began the new thematic cycles: prisoner, abstract marine, marine. In 1983, ninety-two years old he created the cycle of paintings on the theme "L’UOMO E IL CIELO". On 7 January 1984 he died in Venice while an exhibition of his last paintings is under way.