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Francesco Menzio (3 April 1899 – 28 November 1979) 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.


Childhood and training

He was born in
Tempio Pausania Tempio Pausania (; ) is a town of about 14,000 inhabitants in the Gallura region of northern Sardinia, Italy, in the province of Sassari. It is one of I Borghi più belli d'Italia ("The most beautiful villages of Italy"). History Cultural and de ...
, Sassari in
Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...
, to Pietro Angelo Menzio, a high school teacher, and Augusta Pic, both originally from
Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...
. He and his five siblings spent their childhood following the father in his frequent work moves. They moved to
L'Aquila L'Aquila ( ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' in central Italy. It is the capital city of the Province of L'Aquila and the Abruzzo region in Italy. , it has a population of 69,902. Laid out within medieval walls on a hill in the wide valley of the A ...
, when Augusta, the mother, died in 1902. They finally settled in
Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...
in 1912, where Pietro Angelo married his second wife Argia Avetrani. In Turin, Francesco completed his high school and enrolled for a year at the Accademia Albertina di Belle Arti, after which he completed his art training by himself. He served in the Army in the Infantry Battalion during the first World War, among the last young men drafted in combat, the so-called "Ragazzi del '99" ("The boys from 1899").


Career


Early years

Upon his return home, he dedicated himself entirely to painting, entering in contact with
Felice Casorati Felice Casorati (4 December 1883 – 1 March 1963) was an Italian painter, sculptor, and printmaker. The paintings for which he is most noted include figure compositions, portraits and still lifes, which are often distinguished by unusual ...
who would help him greatly in the years to come. In 1921, he participated in an exhibition held at the
Mole Antonelliana The Mole Antonelliana () is a major landmark building in Turin, Italy, named after its architect, Alessandro Antonelli. A ''wikt:mole#Italian, mole'' in Italian language, Italian is a building of monumental proportions. Construction began in 186 ...
, organized against the more conservative show of the " Societá Promotrice delle Belle Arti" on display yearly at the
Parco del Valentino Parco del Valentino (also known as Valentino Park) is a popular public park in Turin, Italy. It is located along the west bank of the Po (river), Po river. It covers an area of 500,000m², which makes it Turin's second largest park (Turin's large ...
. In 1922 he was invited to show at the "Esposizione Artistica Piemontese-Sarda" in the town of Alessandria, where he exhibited a self-portrait (''Autoritratto'', 1922, now in the Civic Museum). In the year that follows he showed extensively in local and national venues such as the ''Quadriennale'' in Turin in 1923, the ''II Biennale'' in Rome and the ''Exhibition of Twenty Italian Artists'' at Galleria Pesaro in Milan in 1924 and in 1925 at the “Promotrice” in Turin, where he exhibited the ''Portrait of the Sister'' (''Ritratto della sorella'', 1925, now in the Gallery of Modern Art in Turin Galleria d'Arte Moderna di Torino). In 1926 he was invited for the first time to show in the Venice Biennale and soon after at the First "Mostra del Novecento" and at the "Esposizione delle vedute di Torino" ("The Exhibition of Landscapes of Turin"). In 1927 he displayed 18 paintings in the "Exposition d’artistes italiens contemporains" ("Exhibition of Contemporary Italian Artists") in Geneva with an introduction written by
Giacomo Debenedetti Giacomo Debenedetti (Biella, 25 June 1901 – Rome, 20 January 1967) was an Italian writer, essayist and literary critic. He was one of the greatest interpreters of literary criticism in Italy in the 20th century, one of the first to embrace the l ...
. During this period, he cultivated relationships with individuals such as
Edoardo Persico Edoardo Persico (Naples, 8 February 1900 – Milan, 10 January 1936) was an Italian architecture and art critic, designer and essayist. Early years Persico was born in Naples, where he attended high school. In 1920, he moved to Paris to study law. ...
; Lionello and
Adolfo Venturi Adolfo Venturi (3 September 1856, Modena – 10 June 1941, Santa Margherita Ligure) was an Italian art historian. His son, Lionello Venturi, was also an art historian. Biography He received his education in Modena and Florence, and in 1878 ...
;
Piero Gobetti Piero Gobetti (; 19 June 1901 – 15 February 1926) was an Italian journalist, intellectual, and anti-fascist. A radical and revolutionary liberal, he was an exceptionally active campaigner and critic in the crisis years in Italy after the Fir ...
(who would die soon after) and his wife Ada Prospero;
Mario Soldati Mario Soldati (17 November 1906 – 19 June 1999) was an Italian writer and film director. In 1954, he won the Strega Prize for ''Lettere da Capri.'' He directed several works adapted from novels, and worked with leading Italian actresses, s ...
;
Alfredo Casella Alfredo Casella (25 July 18835 March 1947) was an Italian composer, pianist and conductor. Life and career Casella was born in Turin, the son of Maria (née Bordino) and Carlo Casella. His family included many musicians: his grandfather, a f ...
;
Roberto Longhi Roberto Longhi (28 December 1890 – 3 June 1970) was an Italian academic, art historian, and curator. The main subjects of his studies were the painters Caravaggio and Piero della Francesca. Early life and career Longhi was born in December 1 ...
; and
Riccardo Gualino Riccardo Gualino (25 March 1879 – 6 June 1964) was an Italian business magnate and art collector. He was also a patron and an important film producer. His first business empire was based on lumber from Eastern Europe and included forest concessi ...
(who would help the painter economically until the advent of fascism). Thanks to
Riccardo Gualino Riccardo Gualino (25 March 1879 – 6 June 1964) was an Italian business magnate and art collector. He was also a patron and an important film producer. His first business empire was based on lumber from Eastern Europe and included forest concessi ...
who sponsored the "Teatro di Torino" and Gigi Chessa who designed sets, Menzio got to know foreign artists such as
Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century c ...
,
Sergei Diaghilev Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev ( ; rus, Серге́й Па́влович Дя́гилев, , sʲɪrˈɡʲej ˈpavləvʲɪdʑ ˈdʲæɡʲɪlʲɪf; 19 August 1929), also known as Serge Diaghilev, was a Russian art critic, patron, ballet impresario an ...
and members of the
Habima Theater The Habima Theatre ( ''Te'atron HaBima'', lit. "The Stage Theatre") is the national theatre of Israel and one of the first Hebrew language theatres. It is located in Habima Square in the center of Tel Aviv. History Habima was founded as an ...
that expanded his vision above the marginality of the Italian art of those years. Gualino's patronage allowed Menzio to visit Paris in 1927, where he established his studio in rue Falguière. He was influenced by
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, ...
, Bonnard, and
Dufy Dufy is a French surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Jean Dufy (1888–1964), French painter * Raoul Dufy Raoul Dufy (; 3 June 1877 – 23 March 1953) was a French painter associated with the Fauvist movement. He gained recogn ...
and adopted a post-Impressionist style. In 1928 he participated in the "Exposition of Italian painters", at the "XIVème Salon de L'escalier". At the end of 1928 he was invited again to participate in the Venice Biennale.
Mario Soldati Mario Soldati (17 November 1906 – 19 June 1999) was an Italian writer and film director. In 1954, he won the Strega Prize for ''Lettere da Capri.'' He directed several works adapted from novels, and worked with leading Italian actresses, s ...
reviewed his work in a September 4, 1928, article in ''
La Stampa (English: "The Press") is an Italian daily newspaper published in Turin with an average circulation of 87,143 copies in May 2023. Distributed in Italy and other European nations, it is one of the oldest newspapers in Italy. Until the late 1970 ...
''. In 1929 Menzio resolved to break with the traditional poetics and together with Jessie Boswell, Gigi Chessa, Nicola Galante,
Carlo Levi Carlo Levi () (29 November 1902 – 4 January 1975) was an Italian painter, writer, activist, Independent Left (Italy), independent leftist politician, and doctor. He is best known for his book ''Christ Stopped at Eboli (novel), Cristo si è fe ...
and Enrico Paulucci, they founded the " Gruppo dei Sei" ("Group of the Six") looking for an intellectual freedom and independence criticizing the rising fascist ideology. The group first exhibited at Galleria d'Arte Guglielmi in Turin in January 1929, and soon Menzio had there his first personal exhibition, introduced by
Edoardo Persico Edoardo Persico (Naples, 8 February 1900 – Milan, 10 January 1936) was an Italian architecture and art critic, designer and essayist. Early years Persico was born in Naples, where he attended high school. In 1920, he moved to Paris to study law. ...
. In the following months he participated in all of the exhibitions of the "Gruppo dei Sei" (at “Circolo della Stampa” in Genoa and Galleria Bardi in Milan in 1929). After the showcase at the Venice Biennale in 1930, in which Menzio was personally attacked by the fascist establishment, and following a series of international exhibitions at Bloomsbury Gallery in London in 1930, at the Galerie Jeune Europe in Paris and at the Quadriennale in Rome in 1931, the Gruppo dei Sei was dissolved. In the following years, Menzio's work developed a personal expression; some examples are "Interno" ("Interior"), now at the Galleria d'Arte Moderna di Torino and "Cappello blu", exhibited at the Royal Palace in Milan in 1929, works that showed soft brush strokes and "forms that vanished in the light". Other works such as "Nudo Rosa" or "Figura (con cappello)" (1929; now in private collections, Turin) or "Corridore podista" (1930) show 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
Amedeo Modigliani Amedeo Clemente Modigliani (; ; 12 July 1884 – 24 January 1920) was an Italian painter and sculptor of the École de Paris who worked mainly in France. He is known for portraits and nudes in a modern art, modern style characterized by a surre ...
. Between 1930 and 1931 Menzio continued his personal investigation, marked by experimentalism and restlessness, elements that were present in some paintings such as "Natura morta con ciliegie" (1931; in the Galleria d'Arte Moderna della cittá di Torino), where the rigorous and essential composition is substituted by objects that had restless and defined colors and outlines. Between 1934 and 1935 he created the frescos in the Psychiatric Hospital of Collegno and inside the Church. In 1936 he installed a room at the Venice Biennale dedicated to his friend Gigi Chessa, who had died the year before of phthisis. In 1938 he married Gigi Chessa’s widow, Ottavia Cabutti, who already had two children: Luciana and
Mauro Chessa Mauro may refer to: Given name * Mauro (footballer, born 1932), Brazilian footballer * Mauro Silva (footballer, born 1978), Brazilian footballer * Mauro (footballer, born 1984), Portuguese footballer * Bruno Mauro (born 1973), Angolan footballe ...
. Together they had three more: Paolo, Silvia (who died in infancy in 1942), and Eva. In 1937 he had a solo show in 1937 at the Galleria del Milione in Milan; in 1938, at the Galleria della Cometa in Rome and at the 21st Biennale in Venice.


1930s–1940s

In 1942, Menzio's family was staying at
Felice Carena Felice Carena (13 August 1879 – 10 June 1966) was an Art in Italy, Italian painter. Biography Born at Cumiana, he studied in Turin's Accademia Albertina, where he attended Symbolism (movement), symbolist poets such as Arturo Graf and Giova ...
's house in San Domenico di Fiesole when the bombardment of the town began. Because of that, the poor health of the newborn Silvia, and of his anti-fascist feelings, he moved the family to the town of Bossolasco, near Turin where Ottavia's family was from. Soon after, Silvia died of pulmonary tuberculosis. The same year he started a collaboration as an illustrator with the publisher
Giulio Einaudi Giulio Einaudi (; 2 January 1912 – 5 April 1999) was an Italian book publisher. The eponymous company that he founded in 1933 became "a European wellspring of fine literature, intellectual thought and political theory"Saxon, Wolfgang ''The Ne ...
, for whom he designed covers for the series of "Narratori Stranieri Tradotti" NST and the "Universale Economica" UE series until 1946. The year ended with Menzio winning the prestigious "Premio Bergamo" award with the painting "La famiglia" ("The Family"). In 1945, right after the liberation, Menzio moved back to Turin where he established, together with
Luigi Einaudi Luigi Numa Lorenzo Einaudi (; 24 March 1874 – 30 October 1961) was an Italian politician, economist and banker who served as President of Italy from 1948 to 1955 and is considered one of the founding fathers of the 1946 Italian institutional ...
,
Massimo Mila Massimo Mila (14 August 1910 – 26 December 1988) was an Italian musicologist, music critic, intellectual and anti-fascist. Biography He studied at the Liceo classico Massimo d'Azeglio in Turin, where he was a pupil of Augusto Monti and where h ...
, Franco Antonicelli,
Norberto Bobbio Norberto Bobbio (; 18 October 1909 – 9 January 2004) was an Italian philosopher of law and political sciences and a historian of political thought. He also wrote regularly for the Turin-based daily '' La Stampa''. Bobbio was a social lib ...
,
Cesare Pavese Cesare Pavese ( ; ; 9 September 1908 – 27 August 1950) was an Italian novelist, poet, short story writer, translator, literary critic, and essayist. He is often referred to as one of the most influential Italian writers of his time. Early ...
,
Ludovico Geymonat Ludovico Geymonat (11 May 1908 – 29 November 1991) was an Italian mathematician, philosopher and historian of science. As a philosopher, he mainly dealt with philosophy of science, epistemology and Marxist philosophy, in which he gave an orig ...
, and
Natalia Ginzburg Natalia Ginzburg (, ; ; 14 July 1916 – 7 October 1991) was an Italian author whose work explored family relationships, politics during and after the Fascist years and World War II, and philosophy. She wrote novels, short stories and essays, f ...
the "Unione Culturale" ("Cultural Union") of which he was the first President. He took an active role in the civil and cultural reconstruction of the postwar city, organizing art initiatives and promoting film and theatre events. In 1946 he designed the set for ''
Woyzeck ''Woyzeck'' () is a stage play written by Georg Büchner. Büchner wrote the play between July and October 1836, yet left it incomplete at his death in February 1837. The play first appeared in 1877 in a heavily edited version by Karl Emil F ...
'' by
Georg Büchner Karl Georg Büchner (17 October 1813 – 19 February 1837) was a German dramatist and writer of poetry and prose, considered part of the Young Germany movement. He was also a revolutionary and the brother of physician and philosopher Ludwig Büchn ...
, the first theatre event in Turin after the war.


Later years

In the succeeding years Menzio immersed himself in painting. In 1956, together with
Felice Casorati Felice Casorati (4 December 1883 – 1 March 1963) was an Italian painter, sculptor, and printmaker. The paintings for which he is most noted include figure compositions, portraits and still lifes, which are often distinguished by unusual ...
, he was commissioned to paint a fresco depicting the ''Life of Santa Caterina'' for the
church of San Domenico Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...
in
Cagliari Cagliari (, , ; ; ; Latin: ''Caralis'') is an Comune, Italian municipality and the capital and largest city of the island of Sardinia, an Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Italy. It has about 146,62 ...
and in 1958 with the help of his student Piero Martina he painted the ceiling of the Great Hall of the
University of Genoa The University of Genoa () is a public research university. It is one of the largest universities in Italy and it is located in the city of Genoa, on the Italian Riviera in the Liguria region of northwestern Italy. The original university was fou ...
. In 1951 he started teaching painting at the
Accademia Albertina The Accademia Albertina di Belle Arti ("Albertina Academy of Fine Arts") is an institution of higher education in Turin, Italy History In the first half of the seventeenth century, there was a "University of Painters, Sculptors and Architects" ...
in Turin, and the same year he was awarded the Prize of the Italian Republic given personally by the President of the Italian Republic and friend
Luigi Einaudi Luigi Numa Lorenzo Einaudi (; 24 March 1874 – 30 October 1961) was an Italian politician, economist and banker who served as President of Italy from 1948 to 1955 and is considered one of the founding fathers of the 1946 Italian institutional ...
("Premio del Presidente della Repubblica"). In 1960 he was elected National Academician by the
Accademia Nazionale di San Luca The Accademia di San Luca () is an Italian academy of artists in Rome. The establishment of the Accademia de i Pittori e Scultori di Roma was approved by papal brief in 1577, and in 1593 Federico Zuccari became its first ''principe'' or director; ...
in Rome. Francesco Menzio died in
Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...
on 28 November 1979, and is buried with his wife Ottavia Cabutti in Bossolasco.


External links


Francesco Menzio. La qualità sensibile della pittura , Palazzo Mazzetti''Landscape with Yellow House'' by Francesco Menzio





MENZIO, Francesco in "Dizionario Biografico"

Francesco Menzio, una pittura di luci e colori

Francesco Menzio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Menzio, Francesco 1899 births 1979 deaths People from the Province of Sassari 20th-century Italian painters Italian male painters Accademia Albertina alumni Academic staff of Accademia Albertina 20th-century Italian male artists