Piero Gauli biography

- PIERO GAULI PAINTER

 

Piero Gauli was an Italian painter and set designer. He was born in Milan in 1916. 

He trained at the Istituto Superiore di Architettura di Venezia and from 1937 began working as a set designer for various experimental theaters, then for the Palcoscenico group in Milan. In 1938, he debuted as a painter by presenting some works at the Mostra Universitaria Triveneta.

In 1940, he moved to Milan and joined the Corrente group, with whom he exhibited the following year in the group show held at the Galleria La Bottega. His strongly expressionist style is characterized by figures that are carved and loaded with color. His works recall the work of the Comacine masters but are also influenced by Northern Europe, particularly by Oskar Kokoschka.

He participates in the Second World War by leaving for the Russian front in 1942. Imprisoned, he is interned in the Polish camp of Cholmin. During this period, he produces several drawings that depict his experience as a soldier. 

Returned from captivity, he begins to devote himself to artistic ceramics while continuing to focus on painting and drawing, particularly watercolor.

In 1947, he set up his first solo exhibition at the Galleria il Naviglio di Milano, and in 1948, he participated in the Biennale di Venezia and the Quadriennale di Roma. After moving to Umbria, he frequented the ceramic workshops of Gubbio and in the following years participated in exhibitions in Faenza, Gubbio, and Pesaro.

In the early 1950s, he was in Rome, while in 1957 he returned to Milan where he exhibited in a solo show at the Galleria dell'Annunciata. The early 1960s saw him engaged in various exhibitions in Paris, New York, and Munich.

Piero Gauli died in Milan in 2012.