Roberto Bertagnin Biography
Roberto Bertagnin (1914 - 2008), originally from Munster (Westphalia), arrived in Venice where he perfected his training as an artist at the Academy of Fine Arts. Throughout his career, he conducts his entirely personal research path, in proud autonomy, in Milan and in his residence in Vado Ligure. He graduated as a sculptor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice. He “studied” at Arturo Martini's school, becoming his assistant until the master's death. He will marry his daughter, Nena, working in Vado Ligure, in the house-museum that belonged to his father-in-law. Without particular predilections for an artistic expression on a figurative or abstract level, his sculpture pursues a pure and autonomous plastic discourse, revealed by the lines, the rhythm, the volumes in space and characterized by an accentuated stylization. His first solo exhibition was in 1944 in Venice. He was invited to the Roman Quadrennial in 1955 and exhibited in an entire room. He was also a talented ceramist: he created his first terracotta works at the beginning of the Second World War, at the Albisola furnace of Bianco d'Albisola. In 1951 he was present at the IX Triennale d'Arte in Milan and was invited to the Venice Biennale from 1948 to 1954. He was principal of the Arturo Martini Art School in Savona.
