Renato Birolli (10 December 1905 – 3 May 1959) was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

painter.

Biography

Birolli was born at

Verona Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...

to a family of industrial workers. In 1923 he moved to

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

where he formed an avant-gardist group with artists such as

Renato Guttuso Aldo Renato Guttuso (26 December 1911 – 18 January 1987) was an Italian painter and politician. He is considered to be among the most important Italian artists of the 20th century and is among the key figures of Italian expressionism. His art i ...

Giacomo Manzù Giacomo Manzoni (22 December 1908 – 17 January 1991), known professionally as Giacomo Manzù, was an Italian sculptor. Biography Manzù was born in Bergamo. His father was a shoemaker and sacristan. Other than a few evening art classes ...

and

Aligi Sassu Aligi Sassu (17 July 1912 – 17 July 2000) was an Italian painter and sculptor. Biography Aligi Sassu was born in Milan, Lombardy, the son of Lina Pedretti (from Parma, Emilia) and Antonio Sassu (from Sassari, Sardinia). His father was one ...

. In 1937 he was a member of the artistical movement ''

Corrente di Vita ''Corrente di Vita'' was a biweekly Italian language, Italian culture magazine published between 1938 and 1940. The Corrente Magazine In 1938 artist Ernesto Treccani founded the magazine ''Vita Giovanile'' with the financial backing of his father, ...

''. In the same year, he was arrested by the Fascist government for opposing the regime. He subsequently cast painting aside to devote himself to supporting Communist causes and, later, the partisan resistance. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, in 1947, Birolli moved to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. Here his painting style changed under the influence of

Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual arts, visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, ...

and

Pablo Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

, moving first to a post-

Cubist Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement which began in Paris. It revolutionized painting and the visual arts, and sparked artistic innovations in music, ballet, literature, and architecture. Cubist subjects are analyzed, broke ...

position and then to a somehow abstract form of lyrism. He died suddenly in

in 1959. His son Zeno Birolli (1939–2014) was an art critic and historian.

External links

Article about Birolli's art (in Italian)
1905 births 1959 deaths Italian communists 20th-century Italian painters Italian male painters Painters from Verona {{Italy-painter-20thC-stub