Franco Costa biography

Franco Costa was an Italian painter and artist. He was born in Rome in 1934. He studied music at the Accademia di S. Cecilia in Rome and art at the Ecole des Arts et Metiers in Paris. Before dedicating himself exclusively to painting and silk-screen printing, he experimented with different techniques and artistic forms, creating tapestries, ceramics, fabrics for haute couture, glass work, sets and costumes for television, cinema and theatre.
L Franco Costa's impressive artistic production reflects his lively personality and joie de vivre which he expresses with works that contain a kaleidoscope of colours. His paintings, prints and silk-screen prints communicate his creative energy and optimism through a harmony of brilliant colours, spaces, lines and sinuous shapes. His art is influenced by meetings with personalities such as Nicolas De Stael, Matisse, Le Courbusier, Picasso and Fellini, but also by numerous trips around the world.
Franco Costa ranges between typically pictorial themes such as landscapes, flowers, the sea, but also sporting events such as sailing races, tennis, skiing, horse riding, car racing. Memorable are the official images created for events such as the America's Cup, Whitbred Round World Race, Sky Race Vesalloppet and the sailing races of the Barcelona Olympics on behalf of the French Sailing Federation. Equally important are the works created for some significant humanitarian initiatives such as the International Year Of Child for Unicef, Food for All for FAO, 2000 Enfants pour l'Anne 2000 for Telethon France with various artists including including Jean Michel Folon and Never more Holocaust donated by Rabin to His Holiness Pope John Paul II, on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the end of the Holocaust.
His works have been exhibited in New York, Washington, Newport, Paris, London, Copenhagen, Oslo and many other cities. Franco Costa died in Rome in 2015.