Virgilio Guidi biography

Virgilio Guidi was an Italian painter, poet, and essayist who left a significant mark on the 20th-century art scene. Born in Rome in 1891 to an artistic family, with a sculptor father and an architect grandfather, he developed a strong artistic inclination from a young age. After attending the Technical Institute in Rome, where he became passionate about geometry and drawing, Virgilio Guidi took evening classes at the Free School of Painting to cultivate his passion.
In 1908, he left the Technical Institute and joined the workshop of the restorer and decorator Giovanni Capranesi, who soon promoted him as his first assistant. However, in 1911, due to differences regarding the trends of modern painting, he left Capranesi's studio and enrolled in the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome. During this period, he studied works by artists such as Giotto, Piero della Francesca, Correggio and the French Chardin and Courbet. He also began to reflect on light as a determining element of his paintings and to write about his thoughts and artistic theories.
In 1913, he participates and wins the Lana painting competition organized by the Academy and begins to exhibit his first works. In 1914, during an exhibition of the Società Amatori e Cultori di Belle Arti in Rome, Virgilio Guidi comes into direct contact with the works of Cézanne and Matisse. The study of form and color of Cézanne helps him overcome the influences of his pan-Germanic training. During this period, his reflections range between Cézanne and the Italian 15th-century tradition, without neglecting the chromaticism of artists like Renoir and Armando Spadini.
In 1915, he participated in the III International Art Exhibition of the Roman Secession. However, to support his family's financial needs, in 1916 Virgilio Guidi was forced to work as a draftsman at the Civil Engineering Department in Rome. Between 1920 and 1923, he painted some of his most important paintings, exhibiting them at the XIII Venice Biennale in 1922. He began selling his works and frequented the third room of the Caffè Aragno, where he came into contact with important artistic figures of the time, including Giorgio De Chirico, Giuseppe Ungaretti, and Roberto Longhi.
In 1924, the artist achieved success at the XIV Biennale di Venezia with his painting Tram. Critics praised the artwork and he gained international recognition. Despite the offer from the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg to purchase the artwork, Virgilio Guidi preferred it to remain in Italy, and it is now exhibited at the Galleria di Arte Moderna in Rome. In 1926, he participated in the first "Novecento Italiano" exhibition in Milan, while maintaining a certain autonomy from the movement's directions. That same year, he married Adriana Bernardi, a sculptor with whom he had studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Rome.
Between 1928 and 1929, he participated in the XVI Venice Biennale, where he presented one of the most significant works of his Venetian period, titled Giudecca, in which the midday light freezes the image in an absolute spatiality. Over the years, the artist continued to write about his painting journey and to publish his thoughts on painting. He exhibited in numerous shows, including the XVIII Venice Biennale and the II Rome Quadriennale.
In 1935, due to the hostility of the Venetian environment, Virgilio Guidi decided to move to Bologna, where he taught at the Academy of Fine Arts. However, he maintained a studio in Venice. He exhibited in several important shows, including the XX Venice Biennale in 1936 and the Twentieth-Century Italian Art exhibition in 1949.
During the 1940s, he began writing poetry and devoted himself to graphic art, producing a series of lithographs. The artist's pictorial research developed through recurring thematic and compositional cycles, exploring the relationship between light, form, and color. His paintings approached abstraction but always maintained a close connection with reality.
Virgilio Guidi continues to exhibit regularly and receives numerous awards, such as the medal for culture from the Presidency of the Italian Republic in 1961. In the last years of his life, he continues to paint and dedicate himself to poetry. His poetic activity becomes a daily constant and will be published in various collections.
In 1984, at the age of 92, he died in Venice during an exhibition of his latest paintings. He is buried in the monumental cemetery of San Michele in Venice. The figure of Virgilio Guidi remains a milestone of 20th-century Italian art, with his constant exploration of light and his ability to express deep emotions and reflections through painting and poetry. His artistic legacy continues to inspire and influence subsequent generations of artists.