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Antonio Ligabue (18 December 1899 – 27 May 1965; born Antonio Laccabue) was an Italian painter. He was one of the most important
/ref> In 1965, after his death, a retrospective of his work was held in the context of the Ninth Quadrennial of Rome.
Antonio Ligabue (18 December 1899 – 27 May 1965; born Antonio Laccabue) was an Italian painter. He was one of the most important Naïve art
Naïve art is usually defined as visual art that is created by a person who lacks the formal education and training that a professional artist undergoes (in anatomy, art history, technique, perspective, ways of seeing). When this aesthetic is ...
ists of the 20th century.
Biography
He was born inZürich
, neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon
, twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco
Zürich ...
, Switzerland on 18 December 1899, to Elisabetta Costa, a native from Cencenighe Agordino, and supposedly to Bonfiglio Laccabue (the true identity of the father is still unknown), native from Reggio Emilia. His mother, Elisabetta, and three brothers died in 1913 as a result of food poisoning.
In 1942 the painter changed his surname from Laccabue to Ligabue, presumably because of the hate towards his father, whom he considered guilty of the uxoricide
Uxoricide (from Latin ''uxor'' meaning "wife" and -cide, from ''caedere'' meaning "to cut, to kill") is the killing of one's own wife. It can refer to the act itself or the person who carries it out. It can also be used in the context of the ki ...
of his mother. In September 1900 he was entrusted to the Swiss Johannes Valentin Göbel and Elise Hanselmann. He began to work occasionally as a farm hand and conducted a wandering life. After an altercation with his foster mother, he was hospitalized in a psychiatric clinic.
In 1919, following the complaint by Hanselmann, Ligabue was expelled from Switzerland. From Chiasso
Chiasso (; lmo, Ciass ) is a municipality in the district of Mendrisio in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland.
As the southernmost of Switzerland's municipalities, Chiasso is on the border with Italy, in front of Ponte Chiasso (a frazione of Co ...
he was moved to Gualtieri, in the province of Reggio Emilia
The Province of Reggio Emilia ( it, Provincia di Reggio nell'Emilia, Emilian: ''pruvînsa ed Rèz'') is one of the nine provinces of the Italian Region of Emilia-Romagna. The capital city, which is the most densely populated comune in the provin ...
, the hamlet of origin of the adoptive father but, not knowing a word of Italian, he tried to return to Switzerland.
Ligabue lived with support from the City Hospice of beggars. He began to paint in 1920. In 1928 he met Renato Marino Mazzacurati, who appreciated his artistic capabilities and taught him the use of oil painting. In those years Ligabue devoted himself to painting and continued to wander aimlessly along the River Po.
In 1937 he was hospitalized in a mental hospital in Reggio Emilia for self-mutilation. In 1941 the sculptor Andrea Mozzali helped him to get out of the psychiatric hospital and welcomed him to his home in Guastalla
Guastalla ( Guastallese: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Reggio Emilia in Emilia-Romagna, Italy.
Geography
Guastalla is situated in the Po Valley, and lies on the banks of the Po River. Guastalla is located at around from the citie ...
, near Reggio Emilia. During 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 opposing ...
Ligabue served in the Italian Army as an interpreter for the German troops. In 1945, after beating a German soldier with a bottle, he was interned in a mental hospital and remained there for three years.
In 1948 he began painting more intensely, and journalists, critics and art dealers began to be interested in him. In 1957 Severo Boschi, a journalist at the ''Il Resto del Carlino
''il Resto del Carlino'' is an Italian newspaper based in Bologna, and is one of the oldest newspapers in Italy. Its rather evocative name means "the change you get from a ''carlino''", which the smallest part of the Papal ''baiocco'' (no longe ...
'' newspaper, and photographer Aldo Ferrari went to Gualtieri to meet him. The result was the currently best-known photograph of Ligabue.
In 1961 his first solo exhibition was held at the La Barcaccia gallery in Rome. He had a motorcycle accident and the following year he was stricken with paralysis. Guastalla dedicated him a major retrospective in 1963.
By now ill, asked to be received in the Catholic Church and, shortly after being baptized and confirmed, Ligabue died in Gualtieri on 27 May 1965./ref> In 1965, after his death, a retrospective of his work was held in the context of the Ninth Quadrennial of Rome.
See also
* '' Ligabue'' (1978 film) * '' Hidden Away'' (2020 film)References