Beatrice "Bice" Lazzari (15 November 1900 – 13 November 1981) was an

Italian painter Following is a list of Italian painters (in alphabetical order) who are notable for their art. A *Niccolò dell'Abbate (1509/1512–1571) *Giuseppe Abbati (1836–1868) * Angiolo Achini (1850–1930) * Pietro Adami (fl. c. 1730) *Eugenio Agn ...

Early life

Beatrice Lazzari was born in

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

to Lorenzo (Luciano) Lazzari and Francesca Rinaldo. She was the second of three sisters, the youngest of whom, Onorina (Nini), married architect

Carlo Scarpa Carlo Scarpa (2 June 1906 – 28 November 1978) was an Italian architect and designer. He was influenced by the materials, landscape, and history of Venetian culture, as well as those of Japan. Scarpa translated his interests in history, regiona ...

. Beatrice was educated in Venice, first at the Benedetto Marcello Conservatory and then at the

Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia The (English: Academy of Fine Arts of Venice) is a public tertiary academy of art in Venice, Italy. History The Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia was founded on 24 September 1750; the statute dates from 1756. The first director was Giovann ...

, where she would later be invited back as a lecturer.

The Venice Years 1924–1934

Lazzari's first exhibition was a group show at the Bevilacqua La Masa Foundation in 1924. In 1928 she had her first solo exhibition at Galleria Botteghe D'Arte in Venice. In 1929 she had her second solo shows at the Galleria San Moise. On both occasions, she mostly exhibited figurative paintings. In the early 1930s, Lazzari hung out at the Artistic Circle of Palazzo dei Piombi e dal Caffè on the banks of the Zattere, where she met

, Mario Deluigi and

Virgilio Guidi Virgilio Guidi (April 4, 1891 – January 7, 1984) was an Italian artist and writer. He was born in Rome into an artistic family. His father was a sculptor.Cowling & Mundy 1990, p. 124. Guidi received his early training at the Scuola Libera ...

and was inspired to steer her work towards a more rationalist approach.Irene de Guttry, Maria Pia Maino, Mario Quesada, ''Le arti minori d’autore in Italia dal 1900 al 1930'', Bari, Italy: Laterza 1985 She made a clean break from figuration, and started working on abstract and geometric compositions.

The Rome Years 1935-1981

In 1935 Lazzari moved to Rome where, on top regularly exhibiting her paintings in gallery and museum shows, she started working on murals and decorative panels in collaboration with the architects Attilio and Ernesto Lapadula. In 1941 she married the Venetian architect Diego Rosa. After

World War Two World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilisi ...

, Lazzari focused exclusively on painting. In the 1950s she was invited to participate in the

25th Venice Biennale The 25th Venice Biennale, held in 1950, was an exhibition of international contemporary art, with 23 participating nations. The Venice Biennale takes place biennale, biennially in Venice, Italy. Winners of the ''Gran Premi'' (Grand Prize) includ ...

and the Rome Quadrennial. From the late 1950s to 1963, she worked mostly with oil to reinforce the application of other materials such as glues, sands and later acrylics. In 1964 her work took a minimalist turn, her work often consisting in graphite-drawned lines on monochrome backgrounds. Lazzari passed away in Rome in 1981.

Legacy

The Archive Bice Lazzari is based in Rome. It houses a significant number of her works, including paintings, poems and exhibition catalogues. Lazzari's work was included in the 2021 exhibition ''

Women in Abstraction Women in Abstraction. Another History of Abstraction in the 20th Century or ''Elles font l'abstraction. Une autre histoire de l'abstraction au XXe siècle'' was a major exhibition of 20th century abstract art created by women. It was curated by ...

'' at the

Centre Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the (), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English and colloquially as Beaubourg, is a building complex in Paris, France. It was designed in the style of high-tech architecture by the architectural team of ...

. In 2022 the Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art in London held a retrospective of her work entitled ''Bice Lazzari: Modernist Pioneer''. In 2023 her work was included in the exhibition '' Action, Gesture, Paint: Women Artists and Global Abstraction 1940-1970'' at the

Whitechapel Gallery The Whitechapel Gallery is a public art gallery in Whitechapel on the north side of Whitechapel High Street, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The original building, designed by Charles Harrison Townsend, opened in 1901 as one of the fi ...

in London. Lazzari's work is in the

National Museum of Women in the Arts The National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA), located in Washington, D.C., is "the first museum in the world solely dedicated" to championing women through the arts. NMWA was incorporated in 1981 by Wallace and Wilhelmina Holladay. Since openi ...

and

The Phillips Collection The Phillips Collection is an art museum founded by Duncan Phillips and Marjorie Acker Phillips in 1921 as the Phillips Memorial Gallery located in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Phillips was the grandson of James H. Laughli ...

in Washington, D.C.

Bibliography

* Guido Montana, ''Bice Lazzari: The Value of Signs'', Galleria Weber, Turin, 1980 * Paolo Fossati (ed.), ''Bice Lazzari: Works 1925-1981'', Electa, Milan, 1984 * Paola Watts, Claudio Strinati (eds.), ''Bice Lazzari 1900-1981/Works 1921-1981'', Multigrafica, Rome, 1987 * Sergio Cortesini, ''Bice Lazzari: L'arte come misura'', Gangemi, Rome, 2002 * Flavia Scotton, Renato Miracco (eds.), ''Bice Lazzari: The Abstract Emotion'', Mazzotta, Milan, 2005

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lazzari, Bice 1900 births 1981 deaths 20th-century Italian painters Italian modern artists 20th-century Italian women painters Academic staff of the Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia alumni