Bruno Saetti biography

Bruno Saetti, born in Bologna on November 21, 1902, and passed away in the same city on July 10, 1984, was a prominent Italian artist in the panorama of 20th-century art. Painter and engraver, he stood out for his skill in using various artistic techniques and for his distinctive style, which combined expressionist realism and precise compositional rigor.
Bruno Saetti's artistic training began at the Academy of Fine Arts of Bologna, where he graduated in 1924. It was in this city that he started his artistic career, organizing his first solo exhibition in 1927, thanks to the Società Promotrice per le Belle Arti "Francesco Francia". This exhibition marked the beginning of a long and fruitful career.
In 1928, Bruno Saetti was admitted to the prestigious Venice Biennale with the artwork "The Judgment of Paris", inaugurating a lasting relationship with the event, in which he participated in 14 editions. On these occasions, he received important recognitions, such as a personal room in 1938 and various awards in the 1950s. 1929 was another significant year for the artist, who won the Baruzzi prize with "Bathers" and participated in the International Exhibition of Barcelona, further strengthening his artistic profile.
Bruno Saetti did not limit himself to painting but also explored graphics, engravings, lithographs, glass decorations, and mosaics. In 1961 he was engaged in a significant project of glass tesserae for the church of San Giovanni Battista in Florence, also known as the Church of the Autostrada del Sole. In 1949-1950, he created "The Rice Harvester" at the request of entrepreneur Giuseppe Verzocchi, who wanted to create a collection of paintings on the theme of work. This artwork, along with a self-portrait, is now preserved in the Verzocchi Collection at the Civic Art Gallery of Forlì.
Starting from 1930, he became a teacher at the Academy of Fine Arts of Venice, later also assuming the role of director from 1950 to 1956. Among his students were Giorgio Bordini, Olghina di Robilant, Federico De Rocco, and Riccardo Schweizer.
Bruno Saetti distinguished himself especially as a master in the art of fresco, a technique he began practicing from 1935, inspired by a visit to Pompeii. Among his best-known frescoes are "Holy Family" (1958, University of Padua) and "Conversation with the Angel" (1974, fresco on canvas in the Modern Art Gallery of Bologna). His mastery in this field led him to be invited by the Japanese government to give a lecture at the University of Tokyo in 1970.
Bruno Saetti's artworks have been exhibited in numerous international and retrospective exhibitions, including those organized in Prague, Warsaw, Krakow, Budapest, Vienna, Sofia, and Bucharest. After his death, his work was the subject of a large retrospective at Palazzo Strozzi in Florence. His artworks are found in major Italian and foreign museums, such as the Museo Novecento in Florence, the MAMbo in Bologna, and in various European cities and Tokyo.
In 2002, on the centenary of his birth, the "56" gallery in Bologna dedicated a tribute to him. Between late 2004 and early 2005, the retrospective exhibition "Bruno Saetti 1902-1984 - Between Intimism and Sublimation", curated by Rossana Bossaglia, was held at Palazzo Sarcinelli in Conegliano.
Bruno Saetti was a painter of sensual female nudes, of maternity and landscapes, as well as symbolic figures such as angels. Rejecting avant-garde languages, he adhered to an expressionist realism, supported by a strict compositional rigor. His passing in 1984 at the age of 82 marked the end of an era in Italian art, but his artistic legacy continues to influence and inspire.