Giuseppe Migneco - Contadino che zappa - 1949

Giuseppe Migneco (1908–1997) was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

painter of the

Novecento Italiano Novecento Italiano () was an Italian artistic movement founded in Milan in 1922 to create an art based on the rhetoric of the fascism of Benito Mussolini, Mussolini. History Novecento Italiano was founded by Anselmo Bucci (1887–1955), Leonardo ...

. He often painted scenes of laborers at work in a

naïve Naivety (also spelled naïvety), naiveness, or naïveté is the state of being naive. It refers to an apparent or actual lack of experience and sophistication, often describing a neglect of pragmatism in favor of moral idealism. A ''naïve'' may b ...

and

expressionist Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

style.

Biography

Migneco was born in

Messina Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in ...

. His father was a train station master and his mother was a school teacher. He grew up in the neighbourhood of Ponteschiavo. At the age of 23, he moved to Milan to enroll in the

International Medical School, University of Milan The International Medical School (IMS) of the faculty of medicine of the University of Milan is a public English-language medical school located primarily in Milan and neighboring Segrate, Italy, with other teaching clinics in the Milan metrop ...

, but started gravitating around the local art scene, where he met

Renato Birolli Renato Birolli (10 December 1905 – 3 May 1959) was an Italian painter. Biography Birolli was born at Verona to a family of industrial workers. In 1923 he moved to Milan where he formed an avantguardist group with artists such as Renato Guttuso ...

Raffaele De Grada Raffaele De Grada (Milan, 1885–1957) was an Italian painter. Biography Initially trained by his father, a decorator, in Argentina and then from 1899 in Zurich, De Grada attended the academies of Dresden and Karlsruhe over the period 1902–05 ...

, Beniamino Joppolo and

Aligi Sassu Aligi Sassu (17 July 1912 – 17 July 2000) was an Italian painter and sculptor. Biography Aligi Sassu was born in Milan, Lombardy. He was the son of Lina Pedretti (from Parma, Emilia) and Antonio Sassu (from Sassari, Sardinia). His father ...

. Migneco eventually landed a job as an illustrator for the weekly magazine for children ''

Corriere dei Piccoli The ''Corriere dei Piccoli'' (Italian for "Courier of the Little Ones"), later nicknamed ''Corrierino'' ("Little Courier"), was a weekly magazine for children published in Italy from 1908 to 1995. It was the first Italian periodical to make a re ...

''. He lost interest in his medical studies, and decided to be a painter. In 1937, he helped founding the anti-fascist ''Corrente'' group, a movement affiliated with the journal ''

Corrente di Vita ''Corrente di Vita'' was a biweekly Italian culture magazine published between 1938 and 1940. The Corrente Magazine In 1938 artist Ernesto Treccani founded the magazine ''Vita Giovanile'' with the financial backing of his father, Senator Giovanni ...

'', and participates in the group's exhibitions. He exhibited his work at Galleria La Spiga in Milan in 1942. The following year, he was conscripted into the fascist army. After the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Migneco was able to reprise his artistic career when he had an exhibition at the Galleria Santa Redegonda in Milan in 1945. He was invited to show his work at the

Rome Quadriennale The Rome Quadriennale (Italian: ''Quadriennale di Roma'', also called in English the ''Rome Quadrennial'') is a foundation for the promotion of contemporary Italian art. Its name derives from the four-yearly exhibitions it is required to host by ...

in 1948, 1951, 1956, 1959, and last in 1986. In 1952, his solo exhibition at the 26th

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

was introduced by

Salvatore Quasimodo Salvatore Quasimodo (; August 20, 1901 – June 14, 1968) was an Italian poet and translator. In 1959, he won the Nobel Prize in Literature "for his lyrical poetry, which with classical fire expresses the tragic experience of life in our own time ...

. In 1954, he exhibited at the

Leicester Galleries Leicester Galleries was an art gallery located in London from 1902 to 1977 that held exhibitions of modern British, French and international artists' works. Its name was acquired in 1984 by Peter Nahum, who operates "Peter Nahum at the Leiceste ...

in London, and at the Venice Biennale again in 1958. In 1983, his work was the subject of a large retrospective at the Palazzo Comunale in his native Messina. Migneco died in Milan in 1997.Confederazion General Italiana del Lavoro (CGIL)
, biography by Andrea Romoli.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Migneco Giuseppe 1908 births 1997 deaths Painters from Messina 20th-century Italian painters Italian male painters Italian illustrators 20th-century Italian male artists