Lucio Ranucci, one of the most significant representatives of the artistic movement known as realist cubism, was born in 1925 in Perledo, in the province of Como. His childhood and adolescence were marked by frequent moves caused by the work of his parents, both doctors. While his father and little sister Silvia moved between northern and southern Italy, Lucio spent eight years in boarding school in Perugia. 1933 brings a dramatic turning point in his life when his father, Bernardino, dies. The mother makes the decision to move to Milan with her sister Silvia, leaving Lucio in the boarding school in Perugia. The experience of separation and loneliness would profoundly influence his artistic path, inspiring his future works.
At the beginning of 1943, like many young Italians of the time, Lucio Ranucci enlisted as a volunteer in the Italian army and left for North Africa. This adventure should have been a heroic experience, but it soon turns into imprisonment in Tunisia, where he is captured. In January 1945, he returned to Italy as an interpreter for the Anglo-American troops.
After the war, Lucio Ranucci began working as a journalist in Milan, but his thirst for knowledge and desire to explore the world led him, in 1947, to undertake a journey to Latin America, initially to Argentina. His economic means are limited, and to support himself, he takes odd jobs as a sailor, hearse driver and photographer, moving across Chile, Bolivia and Peru. Despite frequent moves, he never sets aside his interest in painting and the cultural environment of Latin American countries.
Lucio Ranucci maintains a constant journalistic commitment, using his art as a vehicle to denounce poverty, oppression and the lack of freedom of the South American populations. In 1949, he exhibited for the first time at the Marini Gallery of Lima, Peru, and from that moment he began to exhibit regularly in various Latin American nations, in the United States, in Europe and in Italy. During the 1950s, he participated in important collective exhibitions, such as the Panamerican Bienal de Mexico in 1958 and the Bienal de Sao Paulo as representative of Costa Rica.
His style, with cubist and expressionist influences, reflects the sublimation of humanity, with solemn and frontal figures, painted with eyes without pupils that express the inner world of the subjects. In 1951, Lucio Ranucci established his homeland for ten years in Costa Rica, where he held the role of director of the University Theater and also dedicated himself to painting mural works, including a large panel at San Jose airport. His sensitivity to people's tragedies leads him to actively participate in Central American political events, even ending up in prison in Managua, Nicaragua. However, Ranucci does not consider himself just a journalist or a political activist; his true passion remains art.
Over the years, he exhibited in numerous countries, from the Americas to Europe, gaining recognition and appreciation for his ability to capture the soul of suffering humanity through his paintings.
After a period spent in Rome and Ischia, Lucio moved to the United States, to San Francisco, to exhibit his works and have contact with his audience of admirers. Subsequently, he lived for a period in Paris and finally settled on the Côte d'Azur, near Vence.
Lucio Ranucci not only dedicates himself to painting but also writes three books, including Someone walks above the sun(1949) eThe colonels (1965). Over the course of his long artistic career, he exhibited in more than fifteen countries and his works ended up in public and private collections around the world. His indomitable passion for art pushes him to fight for the return of art as the cradle of culture and memory and as a voice of protest against human tragedies.
Lucio Ranucci passed away in 2017, but his artistic legacy and his dedication to social denunciation remain a testimony to his legacy in contemporary art. His works continue to live on, bringing with them the strength of emotions and the call to social justice.
