BIOGRAPHY OF ALDO SALVADORI

ALDO SALVADORI was born in Milan , Italy , in 1905. His family was originally from Tuscany , where he returned for his artistic training at the Art Institute of Florence. Convinced that practice is as important as academic work, he also spent long hours at the "Galleria degli Uffizi", studying the old masters in the rich collection of prints and drawings of that museum. At the age of 20 he was so engrossed in the works of Piero della Francesca that he copied the original of his "Resurrezione" at Borgo Sansepolcro.

In 1926 he went to Paris to study the Impressionists. His conception of light and space was greatly inspired by the works of Renoir, Manet, Degas and later by Cézanne and Matisse.

In 1929 he started teaching at famous art institutes: first at the Villa Reale in Monza , where he was in contact with artists such as Arturo Martini, Pio Semenghini, Marino Marini, then in Venice from 1941 to 1944. He taught at the "Scuola libera del nudo" of the Academy of Brera ( Milan ), until 1968, when he decided to settle in the upper town of Bergamo , to devote himself entirely to his creative work. At the age of 94, he still lives there with his wife and model Giovanna.

What is most striking in Salvadori's works is the quest for perfection in the artistic expression of the inner self. He could not allow himself to work on oils until he considered he had mastered the art of drawing to perfection. Withdrawn, sensitive, reticent and of noble heart, Salvadori has never been interested in the commercial aspect of art. Nevertheless, his skills and renown are such that his works are in great demand on Italian and international art markets.

During his long life Salvadori has participated in few but selective expositions in Italy, including several editions of the "Biennale" of Venice and of the "Quadriennale" of Rome (where, in 1943, he was awarded the first price for drawings). Other remarkable exhibitions of his works took place at Palazzo Strozzi in Florence, at Palazzo della Permanente in Milano, at the Galleria d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea in Bergamo, and at the Villa Reale in Monza. Salvadori has been a member of the famous Accademia di San Luca in Rome since 1963.

Salvadori's international exhibitions include the "Anthology of Contemporary Italian Painting" of 1938 in New York (together with Carrà, De Pisis, De Chirico and Morandi) and the "Franco-Italian Exhibition" of 1939, organised by the Cometa Art Gallery, in Paris, London and Brussels (also featuring works of Morandi, Cagli, Mafai, Mirko, Balthus, Bonnard, de Segonzac and Vuillard).

In 1980, twenty editions of Salvadori's screenprints, produced in collaboration with Christie's Contemporary Art of New York and London , were exhibited in various world capitals: Tokyo, New York, Copenhagen, Brussels. An exhibition on one of his favorite thing "the woman" has been held at the UN European Head Quarter in Geneva in July 2000.

Salvadori is also known as an illustrator of famous poetry and prose books, including: Petrarca's "Canzoniere", Rimbaud's "Soleil et chair", Apollinaire's "Filles fleurs", Mallarmé's "L'Après-midi d'un faune", García Lorca's "La casada infiel", Verlaine's "La bonne chanson". Some of these volumes will be displayed at the exhibition along with a set of letters, dated from the forties to the sixties, documenting his long friendship with Giorgio Morandi, whom he greatly admired.