Carlo Carrà biography

- CARLO CARRA' PAINTER

 

Carlo Carrà was an Italian painter. He was born in 1881 in Quargnento, a small town in the province of Alessandria.

Son of a blacksmith, he began his artistic training at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera in Milan, where he also started collaborating with artists like Umberto Boccioni and Gino Severini, founders of Futurism. 

In this period, Carlo Carrà explores the concept of dynamism, that is, the representation of movement through the deformation of forms and the use of bright colors. In 1910, he participates in the collective exhibition of futurists at the Galleria Sprovieri in Rome. It is during this period that he develops his interest in Metaphysical Painting, beginning to represent the real world through the creation of unusual spaces and objects, in an unreal and suspended atmosphere. It was precisely the Metaphysical phase that brought him the greatest success and made him one of the leading figures of the early 20th-century artistic avant-garde. Today, Carlo Carrà is considered one of the founders of the Metaphysical movement, along with artists like Giorgio de Chirico and Filippo de Pisis.

In 1915, he enlisted in the army and was sent to the front in the Trieste area. This period was very difficult for the artist, who suffered from the death of his war companions and the conflict that had destroyed his country. This experience is reflected in his works, which gradually became darker and more melancholic.

In 1916, the painter created the artwork La metafisica del dopo pranzo, which would become one of his most famous works. This artwork depicts an empty and unreal interior, where objects are placed in an unusual way and where light and shadows create a sense of unreality. The artwork is characterized by the precision in the representation of details, which contributes to making the image even more mysterious and surreal. In "La metafisica del dopo pranzo," Carrà uses the idea of an internal space as a backdrop, where objects are represented in an irregular and suspended manner, creating a sense of uncertainty and mystery. The artwork represents a sort of theater of the absurd, where objects do not have a precise function but become scenic elements of the representation.

After the end of the First World War, Carlo Carrà returns to Milan and joins the group of metaphysical painters. During this period, he also begins to experiment with figurative painting, drawing inspiration from the Renaissance tradition and Italian popular culture.

In the 1920s, Carlo Carrà meets the artist and writer Ardengo Soffici, with whom he collaborates on the magazine Valori Plastici. This magazine represents an important place for artistic and cultural debate, where the painter can present his ideas on painting and Metaphysics.

In 1929, he left Italy to move to France, where he came into contact with the artists of Surrealism, which ended up influencing his art. In the 1930s, he approached the Novecento movement, founded by the art critic Margherita Sarfatti. Novecento represented a return to figurative tradition and Italian culture, in contrast to the international avant-garde. During this period, Carlo Carrà created numerous works that depict Italian daily life, such as Piazza del Popolo and La fune del tram. These works are characterized by the accurate reproduction of details and the use of vibrant colors.

During the Second World War, he took refuge in Switzerland to escape fascist repression. It was during this period that he began to take an interest in religious painting, creating works such as La Madonna del Voto and La Madonna della Neve.

After the end of the war, the artist returns to Italy and in 1948, together with Renato Guttuso and Giuseppe Santomaso, founds the Fronte Nuovo delle Arti. This movement represents a reaction to academic painting and the conventional representation of Italian art.

In the 1950s and 1960s, he created numerous works depicting nature and the Italian landscape, such as Le coltivazioni, Il giardino botanico, and Il lago di Como. These works were characterized by the precision of details and the use of natural colors.

Carlo Carrà continued to work until the end, creating works such as The Last Supper and The Passion of Christ. He died in Milan in 1966, leaving behind an important and influential artistic legacy.