232 - Piero Vignozzi (1934)

Piero Vignozzi (1934) Staircase Pencil, charcoal, tempera, and pastels on paper 44.8 x 67 cm (image size) Signature: “Vignozzi” in pencil on the front Distinctive features: label from the Cassa di Risparmio di Fabriano e Cupramontana with inventory references; similar anonymous label Provenance: Cassa di Risparmio di Fabriano e Cupramontana; Veneto Banca SpA in LCA Condition. Support: 60% (impact and abrasion damage: scratches and a tear in the cardboard) Condition. Surface: 70% For direct WhatsApp assistance before and during the live auction: +39 346 12 999 80 // Direct assistance via WhatsApp before and during the auction: +39 346 12 999 80 Piero Vignozzi was born in Florence, in the working-class neighborhood of San Niccolò, and has been living and working in the Florentine Valdarno for several years. From the very beginning, his artistic journey was unconventional, taking many different paths—such as that of a short-story writer (some of whose stories were published by Romano Bilenchi in the *Nuovo Corriere*)—before he discovered his calling as a painter. He earned his diploma as an external student at the Porta Romana Art Institute. He did not begin exhibiting in group shows until 1957, and the influence of a friend and mentor like Alfonso Gatto was undoubtedly decisive in shaping his final artistic choices. In 1958, he embarked on an informal and independent artistic journey within the Tuscan art scene, which culminated a few years later with his first solo exhibition at the Galleria Il Fiore in Florence in 1961. His return to figurative art passes through an unconventional “pop” filter aimed at identifying a theme of refined craftsmanship: it is a process of “contemplation” of the object and the everyday reality of experience, which led him to discover an “intimate” vein, yet one rich in spectacular ambiguities. He participated in major national and international exhibitions: the Rome Quadriennale, the Michetti Prize, Taccuino delle Arti, Arco in Madrid, FIAC in Paris, ART in Basel, and the International Contemporary Art Fair in Los Angeles. His solo exhibitions have been presented in leading galleries in Italy and abroad. In 1987, with the support of the City of Florence, he held his first retrospective in the Sala d’Arme of Palazzo Vecchio, which was repeated in 1991 at the Palazzo dei Diamanti in Ferrara. He painted the sets for Tchaikovsky’s *Swan Lake* for the Teatro Comunale in Florence. In 2001, the Casa dei Carraresi in Treviso hosted the exhibition *Vignozzi: The Moss of the Evening*, curated by Marco Goldin. In 2008, he held a solo exhibition at the Galleria Bambaia in Busto Arsizio and in 2009 at the Fabbriche Chiaramontone in Agrigento. Also in 2009, he held a solo exhibition in Milan at Antonia Jannone’s gallery and at the Galleria Art’è in Arcireale (“Un velo d’altra ruggine. Piero Vignozzi”). In 2011, he was invited to the 54th Venice Biennale, Italian Pavilion. In 2012, the Pananti Gallery—Archivi del Novecento—dedicated a solo exhibition to him. In 2015, at the request of Antonio Natali, he donated the self-portrait for the Vasari Corridor. He was invited to the 6th Beijing Art Biennale.