Walter Piacesi biography

Walter Piacesi, born in Ascoli Piceno in 1929, was a multifaceted painter, engraver, sculptor and Italian ceramist. After spending a long period in Ancona, in 1948 he moved to Urbino to attend the State Institute of Art for book decoration, where he later became holder of the chair of Calcography until 1975. In that year, he was called to the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence to teach Engraving Techniques.
Walter Piacesi created over two hundred plates and etchings, illustrating numerous literary works and exhibiting in renowned Italian art galleries. Among the galleries with which he collaborated steadily for decades are Ghelfi in Verona and the Galleria Piero Della Francesca in Arezzo.
His fame as an excellent engraver has never overshadowed his intense and qualitative pictorial activity, which is characterized by a biting and sarcastic style. The artist loves to represent modern life in all its facets, from man to things, transmitting both the positive and problematic sides of human existence. His subjects range from landscapes to urban suburbs, from animals to men, from things to moments of social hardship. His works tell stories and events with an unmistakable style, permeated by subtle humor.
The woman is a dominant theme in his artistic production, represented in her explosive femininity without ever lapsing into vulgarity, often is exalted and described as a multifaceted being, capable of arousing contrasting emotions.
His work has obtained acclaim both from critics and from writers and poets, who appreciated his ability to capture the essence of humanity and nature. Despite his success and fame, Walter Piacesi has always remained a humble and open artist, maintaining strong ties with his hometown and with Urbino. His artistic sensitivity is characterized by a gaze full of humanity and tenderness, which allows him to represent the painful aspects of life with a smile behind the mask of pain. His style, trait and tone, is unique and recognisable, belonging to the Urbino School, of which he is a part together with other great artists such as Paolo Sanchini, Umberto Franci and Marcello Lani.
His artistic career is rich in participation in important exhibitions and reviews both in Italy and abroad. Despite the numerous awards and recognitions obtained throughout his career, Walter Piacesi always remained faithful to his passion for art and continued to create with vitality, imagination and disenchantment.
After over 60 years of extraordinarily fruitful artistic activity, Walter Piacesi passed away in 2023 in Cà Spinello di Fermignano, in the countryside near Urbino, where he lived and worked permanently. His work will remain as evidence of a great talent and a painful humanity that expressed itself through art.