JOSEPH AJMONE

Giuseppe Ajmone, one of the most significant artists of 20th-century Italian painting, was born on February 17, 1923, in Carpignano Sesia, a small town in the Novara area. His artistic and personal development was marked by experiences that would guide him to become a reference point in the Italian art scene. From the beginning, Ajmone was able to combine a deep aesthetic sensitivity with a personal vision of art.
From a young age, Giuseppe Ajmone shows a natural inclination towards art. His first formative experience takes place at the studio of the sculptor Riccardo Mella, who introduces him to drawing and modeling. This period marks a first turning point for Ajmone, as he understands the importance of technique and rigor in creative work. In 1941, after tragically losing his father, Ajmone enrolls at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera, where he attends the courses of Achille Funi and Carlo Carrà.

These two masters will play a fundamental role in shaping Giuseppe Ajmone's pictorial language. Funi imparts to him the Italian classicism, while Carrà introduces him to the visual culture of Futurism and Metaphysics.
During the Braidense period, the artist Ajmone forms significant friendships with other emerging young artists such as Bruno Cassinari, Ennio Morlotti, and Cesare Peverelli. These relationships foster an exchange of ideas and a cultural ferment that characterizes Milan of the time, with Brera as the hub of artistic activities. In this context, Giuseppe Ajmone develops a painting style initially close to Picasso's post-cubism, as can be seen in works like "Portrait of an Old Woman" from 1944, where the dramatic atmosphere of the war is conveyed with a mature and personal language."
In 1946, Giuseppe Ajmone was among the signatories of the Manifesto of Realism, also known as "Beyond Guernica", published in the magazine Numero. This manifesto, signed together with Bergolli, Morlotti, Dova and others, represents a crucial moment for Ajmone, who begins to define himself within the Italian artistic scene as a painter committed to theorizing a contemporary form of realism. At the same time, Ajmone starts a collaboration with the publishing house Einaudi as a curator of the graphic design of books, suggesting the involvement of contemporary artists for the covers of the publications. This work allows the artist to come into contact with prominent intellectuals such as Cesare Pavese, Italo Calvino, and Natalia Ginzburg.
The 1950s mark a phase of growth and consolidation for Giuseppe Ajmone. In 1951, he won the prestigious "Premio Senatore Borletti" for young Italian painting, an accolade that established him among the leading figures of post-war Italian art. Ajmone participated in the Venice Biennale in 1948, 1950, and 1952, further solidifying his international presence with exhibitions at the São Paulo Biennale and the Tokyo Biennale. During these years, Ajmone developed a pictorial language that transcended post-cubism, moving towards a more lyrical and personal vision of reality.
Giuseppe Ajmone's painting is characterized by a particular chromatic sensitivity, with French influences, especially from Braque and Matisse. Artworks like Frutta from 1954 demonstrate this synthesis, where color takes on a predominant role and realism merges with a poetic dimension. Ajmone also explores the themes of nature and landscape, drawing inspiration from the enclosed garden of his Milanese studio. This experience translates into canvases where light and color engage in an intense dialogue, as in the famous cycle dedicated to the hortus conclusus of the 1950s.
In the 1960s, Ajmone continued to evolve artistically. In 1962, he was invited to the Venice Biennale with a personal room, where he exhibited recent works, demonstrating a constant search and a marked ability for renewal. Among the most representative works of this period stands out Il grande fiume, a painting of extraordinary expressive power, in which the landscape loses its realistic connotations to become pure emotion and light. Ajmone always maintains a connection with reality, but his painting transcends objective representation to reach a lyrical and spiritual dimension. The 1970s and 1980s saw Giuseppe Ajmone participate in numerous solo and group exhibitions, both in Italy and abroad. In these decades, Ajmone intensely tackled the theme of nudes, creating works of extraordinary beauty and intensity. In 1982, he exhibited at the Permanente di Milano the series of "grandi nudi annegati", inspired by a tragic news event that occurred in Romagnano Sesia. These works demonstrate Giuseppe Ajmone's ability to transform human suffering into art, exploring the tragic dimension of life with sensitivity and depth."
Ajmone continued his work until the 2000s, participating in important anthological and group exhibitions. In 2000, he exhibited at the Galleria Montrasio in Monza and at the Permanente in Milan in the group exhibition Miracoli a Milano. Giuseppe Ajmone's last major solo exhibition was held in 2004 at the Galleria Montrasio Arte in Milan, marking the end of a long and extraordinary career. Ajmone died on April 8, 2005, in Romagnano Sesia, leaving behind an artistic legacy of inestimable value."}
Giuseppe Ajmone traversed the entire twentieth century with consistency and sensitivity, leaving an indelible mark on contemporary Italian painting. His artwork is characterized by a profound exploration of light and color, combined with a lyrical realism that makes each painting a fragment of visual poetry. Ajmone was able to blend tradition and innovation, experimenting with new expressive forms without ever losing his own identity.