Armando Pizzinato (Maniago, 7 October 1910 – Venice, 17 April 2004) was an Italian painter.

Biography

Armando Pizzinato was the elder son of Battista Pizzinato and Andremonda Astolfo. He started work at 15 to help his mother after the loss of his father. He made an apprenticeship with a house painter and later was employed in a local bank. Since childhood he had a passion for painting and drawing, and the purchase of the book ''

Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects ''The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects'' () is a series of artist biographies written by 16th-century Italian painter and architect Giorgio Vasari, which is considered "perhaps the most famous, and even today the ...

'' by

Giorgio Vasari Giorgio Vasari (30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance painter, architect, art historian, and biographer who is best known for his work ''Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects'', considered the ideol ...

(''The Lives'') played a large role in developing that passion even more. He was still a teenager when the manager of the bank arranged lessons for Armando with the painter Pio Rossi. Then, in 1930, thanks to the money he was earning, he could be enrolled in the Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia (School of fine arts of Venice). Shortly later he got to know some of his contemporaries such as Alberto Viani, Giulio Turcato, Mario De Luigi,

Ferruccio Bortoluzzi Ferruccio Bortoluzzi (December 6, 1920 – May 25, 2007) was an Italian modern painter, he was one of the founders of the ''Centro di Unità della Cultura L'Arco'' together with venetian artists and writers. Biography Born in Venice in 19 ...

(in the 40s), Carlo Scarpa, Afro Basaldella and Mirko Basaldella. In 1933 he takes part with five paintings to the exhibition ''Cinque giovani pittori veneti'' (''Five young painters from Veneto'') in the Gallery ''Il Milione'' in

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 ...

. In 1936 he obtains a Marangoni scholarship to go to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. In 1940 he is the winner of the second ''Premio Bergamo'' (''Bergamo award'') (National painting exhibition). In 1941 he marries Zaira Candiani, with whom he had a daughter, Patrizia, born 19 August 1943. Zaira will be a source of inspiration for many of Pizzinato's paintings. After Zaira's death in 1962 Pizzinato married his second wife, Clarice Allegrini. During

WWII 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 ...

Pizzinato was a socialist member of the

Italian resistance movement The Italian Resistance ( ), or simply ''La'' , consisted of all the Italian resistance groups who fought the occupying forces of Nazi Germany and the fascist collaborationists of the Italian Social Republic during the Second World War in Italy ...

, he was arrested by the

fascists Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social h ...

and imprisoned. After the war Pizzinato dedicates his life to art. He joins Italian

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

movements and participates, with Emilio Vedova and others, to the creation of the '' Fronte Nuovo delle Arti''. The ''Fronte'' movement made an exhibition at the

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...

in 1948.

Peggy Guggenheim Marguerite "Peggy" Guggenheim ( ; August 26, 1898 – December 23, 1979) was an American art collector, bohemianism, bohemian, and socialite. Born to the wealthy New York City Guggenheim family, she was the daughter of Benjamin Guggenheim, who we ...

, who visited that exhibition, bought there the painting ''Primo maggio'' (in English: ''May Day'') of Pizzinato and later donated it to the

MoMA The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

, where it still is. In turn, Pizzinato donated to Peggy Guggenheim a couple of paintings, such as ''Cantieri'', still part of the

Peggy Guggenheim Collection The Peggy Guggenheim Collection is an art museum on the Grand Canal in the Dorsoduro ''sestiere'' of Venice, Italy. It is one of the most visited attractions in Venice. The collection is housed in the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, an 18th-century ...

. In those years he created, among other works, a

mural A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' ...

with Emilio Vedova inspired by the Italian resistance. In 1949 works of Pizzinato were included by Alfred Barr and James Thrall Soby in the exhibition ''20th Century Italian Art'' at the

. In 1950 the Catherine Viviano Gallery in New York included works by Pizzinato in the exhibition ''Five Italian Painters''. The same year, Pizzinato was invited at the ''1950 Pittsburgh International Exhibition of Contemporary Painting'' (Carnegie International in Pittsburgh). The painting ''Un fantasma percorre l'Europa'', which is considered as one of Pizzinato's masterpieces, is dated 1950 (exhibited in the Galleria d'Arte Moderna Ca' Pesaro, Venice). From 1950 on he deliberately brought the themes of his paintings in line with his political beliefs (e.g. works entitled ''Terra non Guerra'', ''I difensori delle fabbricche'', ''Saldatori''). In 1952 he takes part to the exhibition ''Some contemporary Italian painters'' at the Crane Gallery in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

. The same year he participates to the ''Congress of People for Peace'' in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. In 1968 he makes a large exhibition in Germany, first at the ''Neue Berliner Galerie'' and then at the

Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden (, ''Dresden State Art Collections'') is a cultural institution in Dresden, Germany, owned by the State of Saxony. It is one of the most renowned and oldest museum institutions in the world, originating from the ...

. A work of Pizzinato is also part of the Verzocchi collection of the Pinacoteca civica di Forlì.

References

Bibliography

* Virgilio Guidi, ''Armando Pizzinato'', catalogo della mostra, Galleria del Milione, Milano, 1943 * Umbro Apollonio, "Armando Pizzinato", in Stefano Cairola (a cura di), ''Arte italiana del nostro tempo'', Istituto Italiano di Arti Grafiche, Bergamo, 1946 * Maurizio Chierici, "Al pittore veneziano Pizzinato il puledrino del 'Premio Suzzara'", in ''Gazzetta di Parma'', Parma, 15.9.1958 * Mario De Micheli, "Pizzinato: 30 anni di pittura", in ''L'Unità'', Milano, 1.9.1962, p. 6 * Franco Solmi, ''Immagini del Realismo. Pizzinato'', catalogo della mostra, Firenze, Galleria d'Arte Palazzo Vecchio, 1982 * Enzo De Martino, ''Armando Pizzinato. Opere dal 1949 al 1962'', catalogo della mostra, Museo di Capri, 1983 * Giancarlo Pauletto, ''Pizzinato al Museo di Pordenone'', catalogo della mostra, Edizioni Concordia, Pordenone, Museo Civico, 1983 * Giancarlo Pauletto, Luciano Padovese, ''Pizzinato a Maniago'', Centro Culturale A. Zanussi, Pordenone, 1984 * Marco Goldin, ''Pizzinato'', Electa, Milano, 1996 * Marzia Ratti, ''Armando Pizzinato. Dal Fronte Nuovo delle Arti ai Giardini di Zaira'', Silvana Editoriale, La Spezia, 2001 * Giancarlo Pauletto, Luciano Padovese, ''Armando Pizzinato'', Centro Culturale A. Zanussi, Pordenone, 2005,

External links

Biography of Armando Pizzinato in rogallery.com

Biography of Armando Pizzinato in arsvalue.com, including an extensive bibliography

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pizzinato, Armando 1910 births 2004 deaths People from the Province of Pordenone 20th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 21st-century Italian painters Italian modern painters Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia alumni 20th-century Italian male artists 21st-century Italian male artists