Piero Guccione biography

- PIERO GUCCIONE PAINTER

 

Piero Guccione, born on May 5, 1935, in Scicli, a small town in eastern Sicily, was a versatile Italian artist, known for his career as a painter, engraver, and illustrator.

Since a young age, he has shown a great passion for art, abandoning classical studies to dedicate himself completely to painting and drawing. After graduating from the Istituto d'arte di Catania in 1954, he moved to Rome, where he came into contact with the neorealist painters of the Galleria Il Pincio, located in Piazza del Popolo.

During the 1950s and 1960s, Piero Guccione actively participated in paleo-ethnological missions in the Libyan Sahara desert, under the guidance of Professor Fabrizio Mori. The aim of these missions was to document rock paintings and engravings of prehistoric Saharan civilizations. Thanks to this experience, the artist organized an exhibition of rock paintings at Columbia University in New York in 1961, which was later hosted by other major American universities.

Piero Guccione's artistic career officially takes off on April 23, 1960, when he holds his first solo exhibition at the Galleria Elmo in Rome. The exhibition was presented by art critic Duilio Morosini and marks the beginning of a successful artistic journey. Over the years, Guccione participates in numerous exhibitions and shows both in Italy and abroad, solidifying his reputation as one of the leading contemporary Italian painters.

During his career, Piero Guccione stands out for his conceptual interpretation of painting, especially through his famous series of works on the theme of the sea. His marine views, characterized by a realistic yet strongly conceptual rendering, convey a sense of tranquility and invite the viewer to reflection and meditation. The artist believes that the horizon line that unites the sky and the sea is capable of evoking a sense of calm and inner connection.

Despite his national and international success, Piero Guccione always maintains a strong connection with his homeland, Sicily. In 1979, he decides to return to Sicily, settling between Scicli and Modica, where he builds a house-studio. This choice makes him a point of reference for other Sicilian artists, giving rise to a group called Gruppo di Scicli, which shares a passion for painting and sculpture.

Throughout his career, he experiments with various artistic techniques, moving from oil painting to drawings and pastels. During the Eighties, he temporarily abandons oil painting to focus mainly on drawings and pastels, creating works that explore themes such as the carob tree and a tribute to Caspar David Friedrich, one of his favorite artists.

Guccione's works have been exhibited in important artistic institutions, including the Venice Biennale, where he was invited several times, and the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art in New York. He has received numerous awards and recognitions for his artistic career, including the Special Prize for Culture from the Presidency of the Council of Ministers in 1999 and the Gold Medal from the Presidency of the Italian Republic in 2004.

After his passing in 2018, his daughter Paola Guccione established the Archivio Piero Guccione, an association dedicated to the promotion and cataloging of the artist's works. The archive organizes exhibitions and other initiatives to make Guccione's works accessible to the public, preserving his valuable contribution to contemporary art.