Background
Bruno Cassinari was born in 1912 in Piacenza, Emilia-Romagna, Italy.
Bruno Cassinari was born in 1912 in Piacenza, Emilia-Romagna, Italy.
Bruno Cassinari began his artistic training at the Gazzola Institute of Piacenza in the twenties, a period which was followed by the transfer to Milan, where he followed courses at the Umanitaria, the school of the Castello Sforzesco. Subsequently, from 1934, he attended the Brera Academy, where he graduated in 1938, under the guidance of Aldo Carpi.
After winning, in 1939, the Littoriali prize, in the city of Milan he was involved in the climate that animated the group of Corrente, with which he exhibited at the Permanente and at the Galleria Grande, remaining in constant contact with it throughout the course of one's career. In 1941 the setting up of his first solo exhibition was held in the Bottega degli artisti of Corrente and accompanied by the presentation of Elio Vittorini. The award ceremony was followed by the III Premio di Bergamo, an event in which, the following year, he established himself as one of the most significant artists of his time, among those who wanted to break away from the rigor of official taste.
In the following years he continued his expositive activity, which resumed even after the Second World War, motivated also by the fact that, in 1946, he joined the New Artistic Secession developed in Venice, moving away before it became a New Front for the Arts. After a French stay, through which he met Picasso, he returned to Italy where he exhibited at the XXV Venice Biennale, in 1950, where he was consecrated among the major Italian painters. Participation in the Venice Biennials successfully resumed throughout the course of his career.
The exhibition activity of Cassinari was always very fervent, leading him to participate in the most important Italian and foreign artistic events, such as the Biennale di San Paolo and Kurt Valentin in New York, both in 1953, always getting prizes, awards and considerable success public and critical. In 1954 a personal exhibition was held at the Galleria Il Milione in Milan, followed by additional staff at the Nordisk Kunsthandel in Copenhagen. Alongside his work as a painter he also worked on sets and costumes for the España ballet, by Emmanuel Chabrier, which took place at the La Scala theater in Milan. In addition, he participated in the Kassel Documentation World Exhibition.
At the VIII National Exhibition of the Fiorino Prize in Florence in 1957, he obtained the Golden Diploma of the city. There were uninterrupted participation in competitions and events, even outside the national borders, such as London, Munich and Berlin, where he organized important personal exhibitions, promoting his art with considerable success. For the publisher Cappelli di Bologna he wrote the cover of the essay by Anna Frank "Il mago e altri racconti." At the same time as his exhibition activity, in 1962, he was commissioned an important work for the church of Santa Barbara in Metanopoli, La Madonna della Speranza, which was placed in its headquarters in 1966.
His activity continued unabated, touching important international destinations, alongside artists of great stature. In 1968 the publisher and printer De Tullio of Milan published a folder with thirty-five, between etchings and aquatints, the artist's production system, an alternative to traditional painting, much appreciated by the publishing houses who used it as an illustrator. Among these works there was an illustration of "Petronius' Satyricon for the Palazzi Editor of Milan", drawings that he later presented in 1972 at the Galleria Pace in Milan. The Electa publishing house also published a monograph on Cassinari edited by Carlo Pirovano, which was also translated into French in 1970.
In the eighties, at the height of his career, he continued to participate in solo and group exhibitions, and several were the anthological exhibitions dedicated to him when he was still alive, like the one promoted by his hometown, in 1983, at Palazzo Farnese, in which in addition to the paintings were exhibited sculptures, engravings and drawings. The last solo exhibition, held when the artist was still alive, was held at the Galleria Montrasio of Monza in 1992. He died suddenly in his studio in 1992, but his works did not cease to be frequently exhibited at the most important Italian artistic events, through anthological exhibitions dedicated to him.
The characteristics of Cassinari's work are the female figures, the landscapes and the marinas, built with an essential trait and enriched by a bright color. Starting from the attention to the Fauves and German Epressionism, he gradually approached a Cubist language. He seems to meditate deeply on his own productions, using color as the main expressive tool, both when this lights up in bright tones, and when it sinks into darker colors. His way of placing colors in contrast rather than placing them in graduated colors inevitably affects the viewer.
Bruno was married to a woman named Enrica.
