Enrico Accatino (August 20, 1920 – July 16, 2007) was an Italian

abstract painter Abstract art uses visual language of shape, form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 19t ...

, sculptor, designer, and advocate of a new Italian culture tied to textiles. He was awarded a gold medal by the President of the Italian Republic for "Benemerito della Scuola, della Cultura e dell'Arte".

Early years and education

Enrico Accatino was born in the city of

Genova Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of Ge ...

in 1920 into a farming family. He studied drawing in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) 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 1938 to 1940 with

Felice Casorati Felice Casorati (December 4, 1883 – March 1, 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 unusua ...

. Mobilized in the declaration of war, Accatino was assigned to an artillery regiment at Manduria, in southern Italy. At the end of the war, graduated from the Rome Fine Arts Academy, he moved to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, where he mixed with artists such as

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

, Severini,

Giacometti Alberto Giacometti (, , ; 10 October 1901 – 11 January 1966) was a Swiss sculptor, painter, Drafter, draftsman and Printmaking, printmaker. Beginning in 1922, he lived and worked mainly in Paris but regularly visited his hometown Borgonovo, ...

, and Manessier. He developed a figurative style inspired by social themes, reflecting the influence of his friend

Renato Guttuso Renato Guttuso (26 December 1911 – 18 January 1987) was an Italian painter and politician. His best-known works include ''Flight from Etna'' (1938–39), ''Crucifixion'' (1941) and ''La Vucciria'' (1974). Guttuso also designed for the theatre ( ...

Life and work

Aniconic paintings and collages were created in the second half of the 1950s, when he started to investigate circularity (circles, disks, ellipses) and

Arte Informale Arte Informale is a term coined in 1950 by the French critic Michel Tapié to refer to the art movement that began during the mid-1940s in post-World War II Europe. This movement also paralleled the Abstract Expressionism movement that was taking p ...

style. From 1966 Accatino was intensely dedicated to the re-launching of

textile arts Textile arts are arts and crafts that use plant, animal, or synthetic fibers to construct practical or decorative objects. Textiles have been a fundamental part of human life since the beginning of civilization. The methods and materials u ...

as language, creating bi- and tri-dimensional solutions such his double faced diaphragm tapestries (plastic elements suspended in space). Accatino's works can be found in the permanent collections of several museums around the world, and during his long and intense artistic career he attained important national and international recognition. He created a prolific amount of graphic work with abstract motifs. From 1960 to 1964 he was responsible for the planning of a new method of teaching art, through hundreds of television transmissions (RAI - Radio Televisione Italiana). He also published important texts on Visual Arts and the History of Art. He died in 2007 in Rome. His works are in museums and private collections including

Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna The ("national gallery of modern and contemporary art"), also known as La Galleria Nazionale, is an art gallery in Rome, Italy. It was founded in 1883 on the initiative of the then Minister Guido Baccelli and is dedicated to modern and contempora ...

of Rome, Permanent Collection of Modern Art of

Vatican Museums The Vatican Museums ( it, Musei Vaticani; la, Musea Vaticana) are the public museums of the Vatican City. They display works from the immense collection amassed by the Catholic Church and the papacy throughout the centuries, including several of ...

, Foundation Simon Wiesenthal of Los Angeles, Museum of Contemporary Sculpture of Matera.

Bibliography

* Madeileine Jarry. ''La Tapisserie art du XX siecle'', Office du Livre Paris, 1974 * Giorgio di Genova. ''Enrico Accatino - La circolarità dello Spirito'', Istituto Grafico Editoriale - Roma, 1991 * Francesca Franco. ''Enrico Accatino - Dal realimo all'astrazione alla sintesi delle arti'', Introduzione di Giuseppe Appella—De Luca Editore, Roma, 2005

External links

* * http://archivioitaliano.blogspot.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Accatino, Enrico 1920 births 2007 deaths 20th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 21st-century Italian painters 20th-century Italian sculptors 20th-century Italian male artists Italian male sculptors Italian military personnel of World War II 21st-century Italian male artists